- Aleem Maqbool
- BBC News, religions editor
4 hours
image source, Conference of European Rabbis
Pinchas Goldschmidt, Moscow’s chief rabbi since 1993, left Russia this year.
Russia faces mass emigration of its Jewish community. At least one in eight of the Jews residing in the Eurasian country have left it since the war with Ukraine began.
The Jewish Agency, an organization that helps Jews from around the world to relocate to Israel, says that since March some 20,500 of the 165,000 Jews that are estimated to be in Russia.
Thousands more have moved to other countries.
Without a doubt, the specter of the historical persecution that this group has suffered seems to have caused this sudden mass migration.
overboard
In Moscow, since the collapse of the communist system, a group of leaders and personalities have made a great effort to develop the Jewish community. Among them are Pinchas Goldschmidt, chief rabbi of the city since 1993.
image source, Getty Images
Since the fall of communism in the early 1990s, synagogues and Jewish schools have opened their doors across Russia.
“We started from scratch with synagogues, schools, nurseries, social services, teachers, rabbis and members of the community,” he recalled.
Nevertheless, two weeks following the start of the invasion of UkraineRabbi Goldschmidt and his family left Russia, first for Hungary and then for Israel.
Outside the country, he resigned from his post and condemned the Kremlin’s aggression.
“I felt that I had to do something to show my total disengagement and disagreement with this invasion of Ukraine, but I would have put myself in danger if I had done it by staying in Moscow,” he explained.
Some Russian Jews criticized him for go away and talkworried that it would mean more scrutiny from the community, but Rabbi Goldschmidt said most supported him.
image source, Getty Images
The Jewish community, inside and outside of Israel, has positioned itself once morest the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“I received some messages that said: ‘How can you leave us alone?’ .
Goldschmidt asserted that if he stayed he would not have been able to speak out once morest the invasion, because doing so would endanger the community.
attending to history
Since the spiritual leader of the Muscovite Jews left, a large number of people have followed his example.
Many have jumped at the chance to move to Israel, where the Law of Return entitles anyone to citizenship who can prove they have at least one Jewish grandparent.
“I’ve been thinking quite a bit regarding why there’s such a rush to go, because we’re not seeing a huge wave of anti-Semitism,” said Anna Shternshis, a professor of Yiddish studies at the University of Toronto and a specialist in Russian Jewish history.
image source, Getty Images
Throughout history, Jews in Russia have served as “scapegoats” for the disasters or problems that the country has faced, which has caused them to suffer persecution and attacks.
“But then, putting on my historian’s hat, I see that every time something happens in Russia, some upheaval, some change, Jews are always in danger“, he recalled.
The historian referred to the milestones that led to acts of violence once morest Russian Jews, such as the economic crisis at the end of the 19th century, the 1917 revolution (which established the communist regime) and World War II.
Between 1880 and 1920 there were several pogroms (mass lynchings) once morest Jewish communities throughout the country, whom the Russian Orthodox blamed, without any evidenceof being behind the assassination of Tsar Alexander II and later for opposing the Bolshevik revolution.
Shternshis, who was born and raised in Russia, said she is particularly appalled by the way Jews feel, once once more in world history, that despite the effort to build a life, it can suddenly be taken from them.
The BBC spoke with a man, who is trying to leave, and he said he feels unsafe. The interviewee wanted him to be known as Alexander, a false name, for fear of the consequences that speaking might bring regarding.
“After February 24, my family realized that we were absolutely once morest this war, but we didn’t know how to protest. One of my sons is of military service age, so that’s another reason why nos we want to go“, he commented.
image source, Getty Images
The Russian authorities have shown little tolerance for those who oppose their war in Ukraine and have cracked down on any protests once morest their “Special Operation”.
His voice hides the anguish caused by the possibility of leaving his home and his country. Also, he admitted that he is worried regarding not being able to find work abroad and not having big savings.
But, as Shternshis suggested, Alexander’s anxiety regarding his family’s future in Russia goes beyond mere opposition to the war.
“The authorities in Russia are unpredictable and have a bad tendency; Jews become one of their propaganda targets, traditionally we are a good way to find internal enemies. My great-grandparents and grandparents suffered through those times,” he said.
Alexander stated that he only knows two other Jewish families and that the community has not been an important part of his life.
However, he acknowledged that he fears that, no matter how integrated he is into Russian society, this will not matter if anti-Jewish sentiments change. In anticipation he has already applied for Israeli citizenship and is due to be interviewed in the coming weeks.
One of the things that has alarmed Alexander is the Kremlin’s declared intention to close the branch of the Jewish Agency in the country.
“Suddenly we see it on the news, and we ask ourselves: what is next? We feel very insecure and think that we might lose our jobs, or go to jail. Things have become very scary,” he settled.
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