The Moral Dilemma of Russian Jewry, and Its Rabbis
Almost every week reports emerge of new outbursts of anti-Jewish prejudice.
November 14, 2022
The Moral Dilemma of Russian Jewry, and Its Rabbis
Almost every week reports emerge of new outbursts of anti-Jewish prejudice.
In the past few months, religious leaders in Russia have found themselves under growing pressure to show their support for the war against Ukraine, while the government has become ever more hostile to dissent. The chief rabbi of Moscow left the country, and has since denounced Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile Berel Lazar—the more prominent of Russia’s two chief rabbis—issued a carefully crafted public statement calling for peace, and has avoided any criticism of the Kremlin even as he has refrained from showing explicit support for the war. Maxim D. Shrayer, returning to questions he addressed in Mosaic in 2017, examines the current dilemmas facing Russian Jewry and its clergy:
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