HAARETZ
March 2, 2012- According to the chief rabbi of that country, the majority of Jews in Russia will probably vote for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Sunday's presidential elections.
"Maybe if there was a more serious option of the candidates who would vote for someone else. But I have not yet met a single Jew who will be voting for [Russian tycoon Mikhail] Prokhorov, for example," said Jabad Rabbi Berl Lazar, in an interview with the newspaper Haaretz.
And he added: "I think the fact that a new young leader has not yet stepped forward in Russia is a problem: [Gennady] Ziuganov, [Vladimir] [Zhirinovsky presidential candidates for the Russian communist and liberal parties, respectively] - we have heard his sermons before ... they are the usual people."
Lazar has the delicate task of threading the needle between the Moscow government and the Jewish community, - of which many members have participated in the protests against Putin in recent months.
In a meeting held two weeks ago with the country's religious figures, Putin - the main presidential candidate - asked Lazar, "Tell me, what does a Jew have to do on Saturday?" to which the rabbi replied: "Observe the Shabbat."
"And where should I be?" Putin insisted.
"In the synagogue, praying," Lazar said.
"So, what are all these manifestations?"
"I'm not going to tell Jews how to vote"
"When the first demonstration was held on Saturday, everyone in the synagogue asked me if they should go or not," Lazar said in an interview with Haaretz newspaper. "I told them: for us Jews there is no doubt: we have to be in the synagogue, praying." Lazar's office in the Jewish Community Center of Moscow, in Maryina, Roshcha District, contains many books but not a single photograph of him with Putin.
"I told Putin not to interfere: the choice is personal. We are in favor of stability. We don't need the communists, and the fact that people are taking to the streets means that there are complaints, and everyone has the right to think about how to make life better. But I'm not going to tell Jews how to vote," Lazar said.
The rabbi rejects the widely spread idea that the meeting with religious leaders would be a sign of support for Putin. "I only thanked him for everything he does for the community," said Lazar, who praised at length the response capacity demonstrated by Prime Minister and President Dmitry Medvedev to the needs of the Jewish community of Russia and his aggressive fight against anti-Semitism.
"We do not interfere in political matters - neither for good nor for worse; we leave it to the experts," Lazar said. "But when it comes to Judaism, the attitude in the country is special, and it is not due to the influence of the United States."
With eight kosher restaurants, including a Chinese one, near the Kremlin and the Tel Aviv restaurant, which has Israeli food, photographs of the city of the same name and Israeli television, Moscow has a very active Jewish community. The most recent census counts only 150,000 Jews in Russia, but Lazar says that the number is misleading. “They didn't ask about religion. Only those who wanted to declare their religion did so. We believe there are a million Jews in Russia, half of them in Moscow."
Lazar does not believe that Putin has a special relationship with the Jews, but "recognizes that they are a kind of force. It is not a political or economic force, as in the United States, that it needs for the election; it is rather an appreciation of the Jewish brain, of the young entrepreneurs here. The Jackson-Vanik amendment used to be a big problem. Now the authorities here say it's no longer important," Lazar said.
The Jackson-Vanik amendment
During the Cold War, the Jewish community of the Soviet Union became a bargaining chip for rival superpowers. In 1974, the United States imposed trade restrictions on countries that limited Jewish emigration – a measure that aimed at the Soviet bloc. The Jackson-Vanik amendment is still in effect.
Source: https://www.enlacejudio.com/2012/03/02/la-mayoria-de-los-judios-votara-a-favor-de-putin-en-las-proximas-elecciones-rabino-principal-de-rusia/
HAARETZ
March 2, 2012- According to the chief rabbi of that country, the majority of Jews in Russia will probably vote for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Sunday's presidential elections.
"Maybe if there was a more serious option of the candidates who would vote for someone else. But I have not yet met a single Jew who will be voting for [Russian tycoon Mikhail] Prokhorov, for example," said Jabad Rabbi Berl Lazar, in an interview with the newspaper Haaretz.
And he added: "I think the fact that a new young leader has not yet stepped forward in Russia is a problem: [Gennady] Ziuganov, [Vladimir] [Zhirinovsky presidential candidates for the Russian communist and liberal parties, respectively] - we have heard his sermons before ... they are the usual people."
Lazar has the delicate task of threading the needle between the Moscow government and the Jewish community, - of which many members have participated in the protests against Putin in recent months.
In a meeting held two weeks ago with the country's religious figures, Putin - the main presidential candidate - asked Lazar, "Tell me, what does a Jew have to do on Saturday?" to which the rabbi replied: "Observe the Shabbat."
"And where should I be?" Putin insisted.
"In the synagogue, praying," Lazar said.
"So, what are all these manifestations?"
"I'm not going to tell Jews how to vote"
"When the first demonstration was held on Saturday, everyone in the synagogue asked me if they should go or not," Lazar said in an interview with Haaretz newspaper. "I told them: for us Jews there is no doubt: we have to be in the synagogue, praying." Lazar's office in the Jewish Community Center of Moscow, in Maryina, Roshcha District, contains many books but not a single photograph of him with Putin.
"I told Putin not to interfere: the choice is personal. We are in favor of stability. We don't need the communists, and the fact that people are taking to the streets means that there are complaints, and everyone has the right to think about how to make life better. But I'm not going to tell Jews how to vote," Lazar said.
The rabbi rejects the widely spread idea that the meeting with religious leaders would be a sign of support for Putin. "I only thanked him for everything he does for the community," said Lazar, who praised at length the response capacity demonstrated by Prime Minister and President Dmitry Medvedev to the needs of the Jewish community of Russia and his aggressive fight against anti-Semitism.
"We do not interfere in political matters - neither for good nor for worse; we leave it to the experts," Lazar said. "But when it comes to Judaism, the attitude in the country is special, and it is not due to the influence of the United States."
With eight kosher restaurants, including a Chinese one, near the Kremlin and the Tel Aviv restaurant, which has Israeli food, photographs of the city of the same name and Israeli television, Moscow has a very active Jewish community. The most recent census counts only 150,000 Jews in Russia, but Lazar says that the number is misleading. “They didn't ask about religion. Only those who wanted to declare their religion did so. We believe there are a million Jews in Russia, half of them in Moscow."
Lazar does not believe that Putin has a special relationship with the Jews, but "recognizes that they are a kind of force. It is not a political or economic force, as in the United States, that it needs for the election; it is rather an appreciation of the Jewish brain, of the young entrepreneurs here. The Jackson-Vanik amendment used to be a big problem. Now the authorities here say it's no longer important," Lazar said.
The Jackson-Vanik amendment
During the Cold War, the Jewish community of the Soviet Union became a bargaining chip for rival superpowers. In 1974, the United States imposed trade restrictions on countries that limited Jewish emigration – a measure that aimed at the Soviet bloc. The Jackson-Vanik amendment is still in effect.
Source: https://www.enlacejudio.com/2012/03/02/la-mayoria-de-los-judios-votara-a-favor-de-putin-en-las-proximas-elecciones-rabino-principal-de-rusia/
