[Insight News] About this in an interview with The Guardian said the former chief rabbi of Moscow, Pinchas Goldschmidt, who left Russia due to pressure from the authorities.
"If you look at Russian history, you can see that every time the country’s political system was in danger, the government tried to redirect the anger and discontent of the masses to the Jewish community. This happened both during the tsarist times and at the end of the Stalinist regime," the rabbi said.
According to Goldschmidt, the level of anti-Semitism is increasing in Russia, and the country itself is turning into a "new type of Soviet Union" in which "the iron curtain is gradually falling."
"That is why I believe that the best option for Russian Jews is to leave," he summarized.
| Just like in Egypt, some will choose to remain, despite all the warnings. The last Jew only left Afghanistan recently, and I think there are still a handful in Yemen. |
Goldschmidt left Russia in May, citing his father’s illness. Despite this, in June he was re-elected as the main Jew of the capital for another seven years. Later, the rabbi’s daughter-in-law Avital Chizyk-Goldschmidt said that the departure was connected with the demand of the authorities to support the invasion of Ukraine.
"Finally, I can report that my father-in-law and mother-in-law, the chief rabbi of Moscow, Rabbi Pinchas, and their child, Dara Goldschmidt, were pressured by the authorities, they were asked to support a "special operation" in Ukraine, and they refused", she wrote.
Goldschmidt has held the post of chief rabbi of Moscow since 1993. After his re-election in early June, articles appeared in several European media explaining the real reasons for his departure.
According to YNetNews, he does not return to the aggressor country, fearing persecution for helping Ukrainian refugees.
In comments to The Times, Goldschmidt said he could not publicly condemn the invasion because he was responsible for the survival of Russia’s 500,000-strong Jewish community.
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