In 2010, according to the census, a little over 156,000 Jews lived in Russia, or 0.16% of the total population. This people, persecuted for centuries, lives quite comfortably on Russian soil, builds synagogues, opens Jewish schools, and celebrates Jewish holidays. The chief rabbi of Russia, whose name is Berl Lazar, is fighting for the further improvement of the life of Jews. Who is he? Where did it come from? How did you manage to earn the unprecedented trust and strong friendship of the most senior officials?
Positions and titles
Some are sure: a rabbi is someone who serves in a synagogue, like the Orthodox ministers of the church. In fact, rabbis are not clergy at all. From Hebrew, this word can be translated as “great”, “teacher”, which means it is an academic title (like “professor”, “academician”) for someone who studied the Torah and Talmud. In addition, in some countries rabbis may work as government officials. Knowing these subtleties helps to better understand who Lazar Berl is and what he does. He received his rabbi diploma in 1988, after graduating from the yeshiva (higher religious institute) "Tomchei Tmimim", located in New York. The title indicated in his diploma -dayan, that is, a judge. Based on this, Lazar Berl is engaged in jurisprudence in Jewish communities, resolves issues of divorce proceedings, economic and other business disputes. In addition, he is actively involved in government activities as a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, which he became according to the Decree signed by President Putin in 2005. The Chief Rabbi of Russia also actively cooperates with international organizations, participates in congresses of the World Congress of Russian Jews (as chairman), leads delegations, reads sermons, and writes books in his spare time.
The beginning of life's journey
In 1964, on a wonderful spring day, May 19, in the family of the Milanese rabbi, the emissary of the Rabbi of Chabad - the famous Mendel Schneerson, a boy was born, named Shlomo Dov-Ber Lazar Pinhos, and abbreviated as Berl Lazar. His biography is quite happy, without black spots of repression and persecution. Little Berl grew up, absorbing Jewish traditions and the ideology of Chabad with his mother's milk. As Lazar himself recalls, as a child, he had two idols - his father, who always helps those in need, and Sherlock Holmes. Little Berl adored Conan Doyle and dreamed of becoming a detective. Until the age of 15, he studied at an ordinary Milanese Jewish school. He did not stand out with outstanding physical abilities, he was thin and frail, but he excelled in his studies. At the age of 15, he moved to America, where he entered a Jewish college, and after graduating from it, he went to receive higher education at the Tomchei Tmimim yeshiva. At the age of 23, Lazar Berl passed the rite of ordination (initiation), and at the age of 24 he received a diplomarabbi and the title of dayan.
Marriage
Successful in science and life, young Berl was in no hurry to get married, which he told his fellow students in the yeshiva many times. However, his mother passionately waited for her grandchildren. When Berl was about to engage in Jewish activities in Russia, his mother agreed that he should go there, but only after his marriage. Berl had to comply. His wife was an American citizen, a Jew by nationality, a teacher by profession, Hannah Deren, who at that time was 20 years old. Lazar Berl met his bride not by himself, but with the help of a matchmaker. Hanna's family lived in Pittsburgh. Her father, Ezekiel Deren, also a rabbi, raised his daughters (Hannah has 2 sisters) in national traditions and strictness, taught them to respect and observe the laws of Judaism. Young people approached each other like walls to a house, and after 2 months they got married. They lived in America for a year, then moved to Russia.
Children
Hannah Deren considers herself a happy woman and does not get tired of repeating what a wonderful husband Lazar Berl is. Family is the most important thing for him. The couple currently has 13 children, each of whom is immensely loved. Their very first daughter Haya died at the age of 6. If this had not happened, Lazar would have had 14 heirs. According to Jewish law, there should be as many children as God gives them. This family clearly enjoys his favor. The difference between the children here is only a year or two. Hanna, answering the question of how she manages to cope with such a “team”, says that the elders always help the younger ones and,of course, mom. Education here takes place on the basis of the laws of Judaism. Both parents believe that it does not matter who their children become, the main thing is that they live with true faith in their souls. The second postulate of education is to tell children only the truth, even if it is a harmless fiction, so that the baby eats unloved semolina. Despite so many household chores, Hanna finds time to run a private Jewish school, and the children have been studying there since the age of 2.
Eldest daughter
Lazar Berl and Hannah have 8 girls and 5 boys. The eldest daughter, Bluma, born in 1991, in the month of June, married Isaac Rosenfeld, whose father is also a rabbi and also a Chabad messenger, only in Colombia. The young people met with the help of Hanna Lazar, who, as a girl, often visited the Rosenfeld family. The groom flew to Moscow to get acquainted with the bride from the warm Colombian summer to the frosty Russian winter. After several meetings, the young people decided to get engaged, and four and a half months later, in June 2011, their wedding took place. It was organized in one of the major parks of the capital. More than 1,500 people from America, Israel, Colombia, Russia, Ukraine and other countries where there is a Chabad organization came to congratulate Bluma and Isaac, as well as testify their respect to the Chief Rabbi of Russia.
Berl Lazar emphasized that even 2 decades ago it was unthinkable to even dream of an open Jewish wedding, and now it happened almost in the center of Moscow, that is, there is great progress in improving the situation of Jews inRussia.
First acquaintance with the capital
Rabbi Berl Lazar first came to Moscow as a yeshiva student. It happened in 1987, just after his ordination, during the period of perestroika, when the mighty country was literally being torn apart. As Berl himself recalls, at that time no one knew him yet, so he could freely walk the streets, ride the subway, which he loves very much. Now the chief rabbi can no longer afford this. He moves around the city exclusively with security. The first visit to Russia was not only a tourist voyage. The young emissary of Chabad arrived here to connect the Russian Jewish community with the outside world. In those days, in the dying USSR, no one was interested in what Chabad Lubavitch was, what his grandiose plans were, so the mission was completed successfully. What impressed Berl the most? Openness, sincerity and hospitality of the then Soviet people, ready to share the last.
Moving to Russia
Impressed by visiting the Soviet state, Berl Lazar began to learn Russian, in addition to Italian, English, Yiddish, Hebrew, French, which he is fluent in. In 1989, he took part in the opening of a new Jewish school in Moscow, and in 1990 he and his family moved to Russia for a long-term residence and almost immediately (in early 1991) became a rabbi in the synagogue located in Maryina Roshcha. The difficulties that took place in those years were due to the fact that many Jews, as soon as the Soviet Union collapsed and the borders opened, urgently emigrated to Israel and America.
But gradually, under the leadership of Berl Lazar, the Jewish community began to revive. Moscow is the most beautiful and largest city in Europe, where several dozen nationalities of people live. There are about 200,000 Jews here. The largest community in Moscow (MEOC) is located in Maryina Roshcha. There is not only a synagogue here, but also children's comprehensive schools, a women's club, sports clubs, a theater where amateur and professional groups perform, the Solomon business club, whose goal is to create a global Jewish business.
The everyday life of the Chief Rabbi
The Russian people were and remain unusually friendly to representatives of all nationalities, opening their doors wide for students from all countries, for tourists and for refugees. We have the same attitude towards the Jews. Berl Lazar always speaks respectfully about Russians (at least in public). He is glad that his children are friends with Russian children, and that their main language is Russian. Unfortunately, in any country there are citizens who are negatively inclined towards representatives of national minorities. Cases of vandalism also happen in Russia. So, in Malakhovka the Jewish cemetery was destroyed. On this occasion, Berl Lazar offered a large financial reward to those who would help find the perpetrators. He also provided financial assistance and personally visited Tatyana Sapunova in a hospital in Israel, who suffered in Moscow for removing a sign with an anti-Semitic inscription. These are all the troubles that poison the everyday life of the chief rabbi. But there are also many good things, such as the opening of new synagogues andJewish centers not only in Moscow, but throughout Russia. To this end, Berl Lazar makes trips to different cities (Perm, Barnaul and others), meets there with measures and other officials.
Relations with the President of Russia
Foreign press calls Berl Lazar none other than "Putin's rabbi". Indeed, it was with the assistance of the president that Mr. Lazar added a third, Russian, to his two citizenships, Israeli and American, in 2000. In the future, the cooperation of these two people grew into an unprecedented friendship. According to Hanna Lazar, when a husband is going to the Kremlin, the children will certainly ask to take them with them, or at least say hello to their adored uncle Vova. Putin often visits the Jewish community and attends Jewish holidays. Berl Lazar does not hide his trusting relationship with the president either. "Jewish Russia" is his new book, in which the rabbi says that Putin consults with him on many issues, and Berl gives him advice in the form of parables.
Although, perhaps, the translator exaggerated something. However, one cannot be mistaken in our president's interest in the affairs of Jewish Russian society, because for all his busyness, he finds time to visit the new Jewish museum, created with the participation of Berl, go to Israel to open a Jewish monument, set aside an hour or two for a private conversation with a rabbi.
Awards
Lazar Berl does an extraordinary amount for Russia, which is marked by medals, orders and diplomas. Decrees for receiving awards signed personallyPresident Putin.
The Russian rabbi received two orders in 2004. The first is the Order of Minin and Pozharsky, the second is the Order of Friendship.
The following year, 2005, the Order of Peter the Great was awarded, given for courage and courage in the performance of civil or military duty and for activities for the benefit of strengthening Russia, and the medal "60 Years of Victory in World War II".
In 2006, the Russian rabbi was awarded the Golden Badge of Public Recognition, and in 2014, the Order of Merit for the Fatherland.
Berl Lazar and Chabad
The whole world knows what the Chabad movement is now. Created in the 18th century with the aim of spreading the teachings of the Torah on the basis of wisdom, understanding and knowledge, in recent years it has become reactionary, as some members of this movement openly say in public speeches.
In particular, they declare that Jews are special, chosen, sacred people, and everyone else should serve the chosen ones. In Russia, this movement is led by Lazar Berl. Chabad in his face does not fit in with barbarism and Nazism. The Chief Rabbi stands for the peaceful coexistence of peoples, while striving for the maximum improvement in the situation of the Jews. He wants to conduct another census, as he is sure that there are much more of his fellow believers in the country than the official figures say.
Tolerance
This term in sociology means tolerance for other worldviews and customs. In 2012, through the efforts of Berl Lazar, the Tolerance Center was opened in Maryina Roshcha,where a branch of the Russian State Library soon appeared. There you can take to read the works of Schneerson, the last Rabbi of Chabad. Berl Lazar's book also found its place in the Center. All Russians are allowed to use the library. This is good news.
Book of the Chief Russian Rabbi
The greatest number of disputes and rejection in Russian society was caused by the book, the author of which is Berl Lazar. "Jewish Russia" - that's what it's called. This work is written in Hebrew, but you can find a Russian translation of individual chapters. Some of the things that are in it may be surprising. Of course, it is quite possible that the whole thing is a mistranslation. You can find out by reading the book in the original.
