Chief Rabbi of Russia summed up the year

Author: VK

In late December, the Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar told the journalists about the results of the year in the Jewish life of the country and the "Magnitsky Act" at the press conference.

"For the Jewish community the year was just good. In general, the Jewish community is rapidly developing; we see even more interest in people, we are building new centers, new synagogues, new schools and kindergartens throughout Russia. This year we opened our centers in Togliatti, in Smolensk, Tula. Many "mikvah," traditional pools, were built in Russia. This is one of the most important components of the Jewish centers. Perhaps, in Russia today there is one of the most active Jewish communities in the world, and it pleases us, because we see how young people, children are drawn to religion, how they want to participate in this. This year we have opened a lot of clubs, new centers for young people, and we are pleased that for them it is necessary today.  

It can be stated that today anti-Semitism in Russia is much less than it was before, the situation is much better than what we see in Europe, largely due to the government, which has taken the right steps. In the past, there were different incidents, but I would say that the main thing is the fact that today the people, society is more tolerant. If we talk about tolerance, I think the main event of the year for us was the opening of the Russian Jewish Museum and the Tolerance Center. This project was conceived very long ago. Russia is one of the small number of countries, where up to now there has not been an opportunity to tell about our history. The fact that the Russian Jewish Museum was opened was very important for us. People can learn more about our traditions, our history. But together with the Museum the Tolerance Center was opened - for us it's a really important event of the year and, perhaps, the most important event of the decade. Because in Russia today, despite the fact that I have already said that anti-Semitism, thank God, is getting less and less, there is a big problem in international relations. Tolerance Center was created in order to try to somehow improve the understanding, the relationship, so that the young people, the younger generation have a new look at the problem as a whole and at the attitude to other people. I had a meeting with the Minister of Education, which supports this initiative and thinks that it is right that children from public schools go there as part of the educational program. So we see that there is the desire to change the situation in Russia today".

Commenting on “Magnitsky Law”, Berel Lazar said: “It is clear that firstly the United States, the Congress, the Senate made a decision. It does not matter whether it's right decision for us, or wrong, but it was exactly the wrong time. As you know, the law was adopted simultaneously with the repeal of the Jackson-Vanik amendment. Senators Jackson and Vanik decided to punish Russia for the fact that it was not allowed to leave the country, mostly to the Jews. From then until now so much has changed. Several years we have visa-free regime between Israel and Russia. The fact that Jews can go for permanent residence to Israel, or wherever they like is the twenty-year story. But in the end they decided to eventually repeal the amendment this year. When it was decided, thank God, they found something else and put together with this story with Magnitsky. I do not think it was necessary, but no matter, it is my personal opinion, I do not do politics, my guess is not enough important. But why was it again associated with the Jackson-Vanik amendment? What do the Jackson-Vanik amendment and Jews have to do with Magnitsky? This is not connected in any way. Unfortunately, when adults do not understand each other, children suffer. Indeed, Russia has a big problem with orphaned children. It is known that many thousands of children are currently in orphanages. The fact is that today in Russia, unfortunately, people have not yet produced an understanding that they need to think about these children, to find a solution to their problem - it's embarrassing. It is a shame that the world is looking at Russia as a country where many children are in need of adoption. This is not good for Russia. This is a poor indicator of the level of responsibility of the country as a whole".