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The Russian State and the Jews: a change of the state

Translated from the Russian

THE RUSSIAN STATE AND JEWS: A CHANGE OF THE STATE

A. Frenkel     In Moscow, the "Jewish wars" flared up again. In order to notice this phenomenon, you no longer need to be an attentive reader of the International Jewish Newspaper or, say, the newspaper Ami / My People. It is enough just to watch the news programs of NTV or ORT on a regular basis ... With the support of all the central mass media, four Jewish "roof" structures - two secular and two religious - are fighting for the right to speak on behalf of the "Jews of All Russia." Moreover, what is characteristic, the main fault line runs precisely along religious structures - which, given the universal irreligiousness of Russian Jews, have the least rights to national representation. This is the paradigm of social development, as political scientists like to say.

     The style of conducting "combat operations" is also characteristic. ORT, a supporter of one of the parties, readily transferred to the "Jewish street" the experience of waging information wars, gained during the recent election campaigns. One of the opposing Jewish groups in our country is just the hirelings of American imperialism. And the other is real Russian patriots ... A glossy magazine published in Moscow stunned readers with the message that President Putin has known about Hanukkah and Shabbat since childhood. And all this in the style of "Lenin loved children very much" ... The opposite side is also trying to keep up. Each issue of the already mentioned "MEG" opens like a summary from the theater of hostilities, with a message about how many days the communities of Russia have been deprived of the Torah Scrolls from state depositories - because of the opposition of the opposing side, of course ...

Let the ironic tone of my presentation not mislead the reader and the reader should not think that the Jewish quarrel at the foot of the Russian throne amuses me, or, all the more, pleases me. It's just that the farcical nature of everything that happens does not allow using any other tone. Well, do not begin to seriously analyze the topic "Putin's childhood and the Jews"?

     But I must say bluntly - in everything that happens, I see a certain positive. In fact, the process of the growing of the organized Jewish community of Russia into the political system of the country is going on in a painful and contradictory way. It can be said more broadly - the process of formation of a civil society is underway, of which the Jewish community is a part. Increased conflict is a sure sign that significant changes are taking place. We are probably witnessing the beginning of a qualitatively new stage in relations between Russian Jewry and the state.

     Even some 12-13 years ago, it was impossible to talk about the relations of the country's Jewish community with the state - an organized Jewish community simply did not exist. No. Even puppet, fictitious, paper. Even from the "Anti-Zionist Committee of the Soviet Public" an all-Union structure was not created. Everyone was crushed to such an extent that when in the late 1980s it was necessary to urgently build an alternative to the independent (underground) Jewish movement loyal to the authorities, absolutely nothing came of it.

     In 1989-90, an independent Jewish movement came to the surface. From the beginning of the 90s, the rapid formation of community structures - educational, charitable, religious, cultural - began. In a very short time, an organized Jewish community emerged in independent Russia. It emerged and found itself in a situation of absolute social vacuum. After decades of total control (and total prohibition) of all Jewish social manifestations, a situation of complete indifference to all these manifestations suddenly arose. Overnight, the picture turned upside down. Now Jewish activists tried to attract the attention of government officials, politicians, journalists to their activities - and to no avail.Sometimes the situation looked paradoxical - the delegations of American congressmen arriving in Russia considered it their duty to meet with local Jewish leaders. But getting an appointment with a minor ministerial official was a problem for the same Jewish leaders. Jewish charitable organizations distributed colossal amounts of humanitarian aid, including among non-Jews. But it was practically impossible to achieve coordination of this work with state social services ... Creation of channels of interaction with the state became the most important task of the organized Jewish community.But it was practically impossible to achieve coordination of this work with state social services ... Creation of channels of interaction with the state became the most important task of the organized Jewish community.But it was practically impossible to achieve coordination of this work with state social services ... Creation of channels of interaction with the state became the most important task of the organized Jewish community.

The breakthrough came in 1996. It is marked by two events. The first is the adoption by the Duma of the Federal Law on National-Cultural Autonomy. Initially inoperable, legally indistinct, this law, nevertheless, declared the existence of certain obligations of the state in relation to national minorities. In a state with non-working laws, declarations are sometimes more important than legal norms (unfortunately, of course ...).

     The second event is the establishment of the Russian Jewish Congress (RJC) in Moscow, headed by media magnate Vladimir Gusinsky. The willingness of the country's largest entrepreneurs to join the organized Jewish community (and not in ordinary roles, of course) has radically changed the situation. The personal influence of the group of businessmen began to transform into the influence of the community. Demonstration of patronage to Jews has become a rule of good form in the circles of the political elite. The President of the country was opening a new synagogue - so much further. But not even ten years have passed since they planted Hebrew and lectures on the Torah ... No matter how the public fate of the RJC and the personal fate of Vladimir Gusinsky develops in the future, they have a significant place in the modern history of Russian Jewry. It was they who broke the barrier of shameful rejection of the Jewish community by the country's political system.

Today we are witnessing the formation of a new stage in relations between the Jewish community and the state - the stage of the destruction of the monopoly on Jewish representation. In a minimally democratic, minimally competitive social environment, no self-proclaimed group can claim a monopoly. Sooner or later, there will be another group - no less rich and influential. This means that it is necessary to look for compromises and build more civilized forms of public dialogue. This means that different voices should sound on the public stage. This means that the state should not be the supreme arbiter determining the life of autonomous public corporations. These commonplace truths will sooner or later have to be understood by all participants in the events taking place today. And to government officials who think they can choose "good Jews"for political representation. And to the Jewish leaders, who are so irresponsible today taking internal Jewish problems, including theological ones, to the mocking judgment of newspaper reporters.

     No matter how dirty the processes are, no matter how everything that happens undermines the authority of the Jewish community, in all this there are grounds for restrained (very restrained!) Optimism. Our community is becoming more mature. Civil society in Russia is becoming more mature. The country's political system is becoming more mature. Growing up is painful and accompanied by wild manifestations. But it would be naive to count on something else.

Pessimists can say - well, what are the grounds for optimism when on stage - all the same faces. And the chief rabbi, around whose chair such a fuss broke out, is still the same. And the country's president is a former Chekist. And the style of the TV reports is as if the same "specialists on the Jewish question in civilian clothes" who "prevented" Jewish activists in the 80s are operating ... Yes, the faces are the same. But the rules of the game have changed! Under these new rules, the president considers it necessary to pose for television cameras in company with people in black wide-brimmed hats, while television channels compete to condemn vandalism at the Jewish cemetery. This is still a long way from civilized and responsible social behavior. But - again - compare with what happened a dozen years ago.

Behind the Moscow "Jewish wars" one event turned out to be little noticed, which also clearly testifies to a change in the rules of the game in Russian public life. The notorious general Albert Makashov was unable to collect the required number of signatures to register as a candidate for governor of the Samara region. More recently, he was one of the brightest leaders of the "left-wing patriotic opposition," one of the most prominent figures in the country's largest political party, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. And now - complete political marginalization. This is the price for public anti-Semitism, for loud "Jews" from the Duma rostrum. The rules of the game today clearly do not provide for "Jews". An instructive collapse of a political career. Maybe it will make someone think about it.

Alexander Frenkel

From the editor.
     The material was written and published before the arrest by the Prosecutor General's Office of Vladimir Gusinsky on 13 July. The author and the editors decided not to make any changes to the article. The Ami newspaper will undoubtedly return to the events in Moscow in subsequent issues.

Source: https://ami-spb-ru.translate.goog/A233/A233-11.htm?_x_tr_sch=http&_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=nui