Rishon L’Tzion Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef Shlita during a recent shiur explained to participants that a period of time ago, he attended a rabbinical conference in Moscow. He stated he was asked to give a shiur, which he did, and following the event, he was told he and a number of others were being taken to meet with President Putin.
“I thought he would shake our hands and that would be it” he explained, “but the meeting lasted for an hour and a quarter”.
Rabbi Yosef quotes President Vladimir Putin saying “The Egyptians with the magicians are gone, as are the Greeks with their culture as are the Romans. The only ones who survived are the Jews. Can you tell me why this is?” President Putin is quoted adding “Permit me to respond. You survived in the merit of your Torah and your rabbis”.
Rav Yosef:
I heard what he said and asked him to repeat it. שניים מקרא ואחד תרגום. Listen rabbosai, he is a president who is a goy. He is not a Jew and did not convert, not by Tzohar or anyone, שלא עשני גוי. That he did not make me Obama and Putin…
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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13 Responses
Woe
Putin is a tzadik while unnamed person in the white house is a rasha.
Its interesting that he he said we survived in the merit of our Torah and our rabbis. The russians certainly tried their hardest to get rid of our Torah and our Rabbis.
Mark Twain said this in 1899 and ends off “All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains.”
wow!guy has pumped sarin gas(illegal to have since warsaw convention after WWI)into theater filled with innocent civilians.shot down civilian airliners,poisoned and shot anyone who dared oppose him politically,has assisted assad in syria’s genocide,need i say more?oh,by the way this “TZADDIK” refuses to return great Lubavitch library stolen from its rightful owner!
#5 there is a large Chabad population in Moscow who utilize the library, they are more protected than the Jews in Crown Heights who de bozo allows to get attacked all the time.
Said it a year ago in the Yazdim shiur right after he got back.
Yes, he is a former KGB’er, etc. but he has been good to the Jews — for which we must be thankful. He once told Rabbi Berel Lazar that, as a child, his parents would come home from work very late and he would stay home alone for many hours. His upstairs neighbours noticed this and invited him to join them with their family in their apartment till his parents came home. He especially remembers fondly Friday nights around the Shabbos table — as they were Orthodox Jews — the love and the warmth and the beauty. He never forgot how special they were and how wonderful he was treated. He also told Rabbi Lazar that the Gefilte fish today doesn’t compare to the Gefilte fish at that table…
Putin is a politician, says what he thinks people want to hear. But whatever he tries to be he’s always Putin the Russian.
Ouch in vey such a tzadik.
With such tzadikim who needs rashuim
#5, stop with all the propaganda accusations! His people pumped gas to capture terrorists (btw, Israel tortures terrorists). He never shot down any airliners — pro-Russian rebels did it by mistake in a war-zone. Returinig the library is, probably, illegal because of some law. Syrian GENOCIDE? Give us a break.
mdd has never heard of the book “Blowing up Russia”. It is banned in Russia for divulging “state secrets”. Hmm. Russian “denial” might actually be a “confirmation”. Remember, Putin said he wasn’t going to annex Crimea….
AviLONDON(exactly!), you have been brainwashed by the British anti-Russian hysteria! And, btw, he does not need to be so nice the Yidden for political reasons.