By Vestnik Kavkaza
Recent events in Europe and the world, connected with the tragedy at the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo and the activities of the terrorist group Islamic State, make us seek for answers to questions – how deep the threat of radical Islam to the South Caucasus is; who is provoking clashes of civilizations; what mechanisms of fighting terrorism and extremism could be used in the Caucasus.On February 26th a round-table discussion “Inter-Religious Dialogue: Factor of Stable Development of the South Caucasus” will take place in Baku, where leading experts will present a joint assessment of the situation in the Middle East and its negative influence on the South Caucasus.
Zinovy Kogan, the vice president of the Congress of Jewish Communities, told Vestnik Kavkaza about the role of traditional religions in the development of inter-religious and inter-ethnic dialogue in the region.
- Is inter-religious dialogue acute in Russia and the CIS space?
- Inter-religious dialogue in Russia is as acute as life itself. It is a lifestyle. Of course we have customs, prayers, but it is a lifestyle. This is a dialogue of civilizations. It is very important for us, as new tendencies give an impulse to new feelings, emotions. I mean teaching the fundamentals of traditional religious cultures, your religion. At the same time a child should know about other traditional religions to understand different people. For example, my daughter wanted to study Islam, as she knows Judaism from her family. She would like to study Christianity as well. Her friends – students of high school and colleges – are Christians, Muslims, and it would be useful to know these religions. Moreover, to be a united, monolithic state, we should not prohibit, like the Communists did, but show up our traditions, cultures, religions and see what unites us. And there are many things which unite us.
For example, Jews have a similar way of life to Muslims: they have halal, we have kosher. We are very close to each other. However, differences between Christianity and Islam don’t cause hatred in Russia today. These are Abrahamic religions – one God, common prophets. This unity makes us strong. If an enemy wants to attack us, Chechens, Russians, Jews who showed their stuff in Israel will unite. So, we shouldn’t fear enemies. To make Russia stronger, we should believe that God blessed us with diversity. Thank God!
- A forum on inter-religious dialogue will soon take place in Baku. Do you think such arrangements are important?
- I think communication between religious leaders is necessary, as they can state important things and listen to significant ideas during open dialogue. Russia should build a social state, a state for everybody. This is our goal. When Orthodox Russians see that Muslims do good things for everybody, not only for Muslims, as well as Jews, it will unite us. This is the point. We are like fingers on God’s hand; he loves everyone. And it is important that each finger is sound and believes that God loves us all. That’s when we are a strong hand.
- Are Jewish communities powerful in the South Caucasus? Do you have contacts with them?
- Yes, we do. There are contacts with Crimean communities, Pyatigorsk, the Caucasus communities in general. They are strong communities with communal traditions. I mean not just passionate prayers, but true communal traditions: raising children, preserving family, respecting the elderly, remembering the deceased, kosher food, and so on. We don’t have such strong traditions as the Caucasus Jews have.
