Berel Lazar
Encyclopedia
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
, Chabad-Lubavitch
Chabad
Chabad or Chabad-Lubavitch is a major branch of Hasidic Judaism.Chabad may also refer to:*Chabad-Strashelye, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism*Chabad-Kapust or Kapust, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism...
Hasidic
Hasidic Judaism
Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...
rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
. He is presently Chief Rabbi of Russia
Chief Rabbi of Russia
The Chief Rabbi of Russia is the leader of the Jewish communities in Russia since 1990. Currently there are two Chief Rabbis of Russia: Rabbi Berel Lazar of Chabad and Adolf Shayevich from the Congress of the Jewish Religious Organizations and Associations in Russia...
, and chairman of the Federation of Jewish Communities
Federation of Jewish Communities
Federation of Jewish Communities may refer to*Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia*Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS...
. In September 2005 Lazar became a member of the Public Chamber of Russia
Public Chamber of Russia
The Public Chamber is a state institution with 126 members created in 2005 in Russia to analyze draft legislation and monitor the activities of the parliament, government and other government bodies of Russia and its Federal Subjects. It has a role similar to an oversight committee and has...
.
Biography
A native of MilanMilan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Rabbi Lazar was born in 1964 to parents who were among the first emissaries of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Menachem Mendel Schneerson , known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or just the Rebbe among his followers, was a prominent Hasidic rabbi who was the seventh and last Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. He was fifth in a direct paternal line to the third Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, Menachem Mendel...
. Until the age of 15, he studied in Milan’s Merkaz Jewish Day School. Afterwards, he went on to study in New York and pursued a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in religious studies at the Rabbinical College of America
Rabbinical College of America
The Rabbinical College of America is one of the largest Chabad Lubavitch Chasidic Yeshivas in the world. The Yeshiva is located in Morristown, New Jersey and has trained thousands of Rabbinic students. The Yeshiva is supported by Jewish philanthropists such as David T. Chase, and Ronald Lauder of...
in Morristown, New Jersey
Morristown, New Jersey
Morristown is a town in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 18,411. It is the county seat of Morris County. Morristown became characterized as "the military capital of the American Revolution" because of its strategic role in the...
. At the age of 23, he was ordained at the Central Lubavitch Yeshiva
Tomchei Temimim
Tomchei Temimim is the central Yeshiva of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Since 1990 Berel Lazar has been Rabbi of the synagogue in Maryina Roshcha District
Maryina Roshcha District
Maryina roshcha |Mary]]'s grove) is a district in North-Eastern Administrative Okrug of Moscow, Russia. Population: The historical area of Maryina roshcha, which emerged in the middle of the 19th century on the site of Sheremetev family lands, retained its low-rise, country style until the...
of Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
.
In 1992 Lazar became acquainted with Israeli diamantaire Lev Leviev
Lev Leviev
Lev Avnerovich Leviev is a Bukharian-Israeli billionaire businessman, with a net worth of roughly $1.5 billion following the 2008 global financial crisis. Leviev is one of the most prominent Mizrahi Jewish individuals in the world and has been a major philanthropist for Jewish causes in Eastern...
, who introduced him to Russian businessmen Boris Berezovsky and Roman Abramovich
Roman Abramovich
Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich is a Russian businessman and the main owner of the private investment company Millhouse LLC.In 2003, Abramovich was named Person of the Year by Expert, a Russian business magazine. He shared this title with Mikhail Khodorkovsky...
. The latter became the major benefactor of the synagogue in Maryina Roshcha.
In 1992, Lazar was appointed chairman of the Rabbinical Alliance of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
In early 1990s Lazar participated in activity of Congress of the Jewish Religious Organizations and Associations in Russia
Congress of the Jewish Religious Organizations and Associations in Russia
The Congress of the Jewish Religious Organizations and Associations in Russia was established in February 1993.CJROAR unites 100 Jewish organizations in 68 cities of Russia. This body possesses no administrative powers, but it performs consulting, coordinating and representative functions...
, was an active participant of founding congress of Russian Jewish Congress
Russian Jewish Congress
The Russian Jewish Congress is a non-profit charitable fund and the largest secular organisation of Russian Jews. It was established in 1996 by the initiative group of the Jewish businessmen, active workers and religious figures for revival of the Jewish life in Russia...
in 1996 and even was a member of RJC Presidium.
In 1997 he helped establish the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS
Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS
Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS is a Jewish organisation dedicated to restoring Jewish life, culture and religion in the Commonwealth of Independent States , the former Soviet Union...
representing Chabad communities in 15 countries of the former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
At the first congress of Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia
Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia
Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia — Russian religious organization, unifying communities of «orthodox» Judaism, mostly of Chabad Hasidic movement...
opened on November 15, 1999 he was elected chief Rabbi of FJCR. According to many analytics, FJCR structure was created as counterbalance to the Russian Jewish Congress
Russian Jewish Congress
The Russian Jewish Congress is a non-profit charitable fund and the largest secular organisation of Russian Jews. It was established in 1996 by the initiative group of the Jewish businessmen, active workers and religious figures for revival of the Jewish life in Russia...
(headed by Vladimir Gusinsky
Vladimir Gusinsky
Vladimir Aleksandrovich Gusinsky is a Russian media baron, is known as the founder of Media-Most holding that included Most Bank, the NTV channel, the newspaper Segodnya and magazines.-Life and career:Gusinsky was born in Moscow....
) and CJROAR (chief Rabbi — Adolf Shayevich
Adolf Shayevich
Adolf Solomonovich Shayevich has been since 1983 the rabbi of Moscow Choral Synagogue, which has been traditionally considered as Moscow's main Jewish temple.During the waning days of the Soviet Union, Shayevich was sometimes unofficially referred to in the...
). In the same month Berel Lazar had his first meeting with Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
.
He wasn't at Vladimir Putin's inauguration in May 2000, what apparently was related to the fact he wasn't citizen of Russia at the moment.
On May 29, 2000 Berel Lazar became citizen of Russia, while retaining U.S. citizenship.
On June 13, 2000 at the "all-Jews congress" (of 87 communities at the place, 70 represented FJCR, 4 — CJROAR, the rest — Federation of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Russia (Va’ad)) 25 of 26 Rabbis elected Berel Lazar Chief Rabbi of Russia.
On September 18, 2000, in presence of President of Russia Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
, the Moscow Jewish Community Center was opened in Maryina Roshcha District
Maryina Roshcha District
Maryina roshcha |Mary]]'s grove) is a district in North-Eastern Administrative Okrug of Moscow, Russia. Population: The historical area of Maryina roshcha, which emerged in the middle of the 19th century on the site of Sheremetev family lands, retained its low-rise, country style until the...
, where on December 21, 2000 Vladimir Putin and Moscow major Yury Luzhkov lit Hanukkah
Hanukkah
Hanukkah , also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE...
candles.
In 2000, Berel Lazar was appointed to Russia's Council for Coordination of Religious Associations. In 2002, Lazar was elected Chairman of the Rabbinical Council of the World Congress of Russian Jewry.
On January 23, 2001 he took place in official meeting with President of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
Moshe Katsav
Moshe Katsav
Moshe Katsav is an Israeli politician. He served as the eighth President of Israel, a leading Likud member of the Israeli Knesset, and a Cabinet Minister in its government....
in the Kremlin
Kremlin
A kremlin , same root as in kremen is a major fortified central complex found in historic Russian cities. This word is often used to refer to the best-known one, the Moscow Kremlin, or metonymically to the government that is based there...
.
On March 20, 2001 under instruction of the President Vladimir Putin Berel Lazar was included in the Presidential Council for Interaction with Religious Organizations and Unions; simultaneously Shayevich
Adolf Shayevich
Adolf Solomonovich Shayevich has been since 1983 the rabbi of Moscow Choral Synagogue, which has been traditionally considered as Moscow's main Jewish temple.During the waning days of the Soviet Union, Shayevich was sometimes unofficially referred to in the...
was excluded from the Council.
According to both the Russian government and the Federation of Jewish Communities
Federation of Jewish Communities
Federation of Jewish Communities may refer to*Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia*Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS...
he is the Chief Rabbi of Russia.
Family
Wife — Channa Deren, citizen of the U.S.Children - Bluma (married on June 16, 2011 to Isaac Rosenfeld from Bogota, Colombia), Yechezkel, Menachem , Fradel, Shalom, Yisrael, Levi Yitzchak, Sara, Bracha, Rivka, Miriam, Shaina.
His grandfather was the poet Zvi Yair
Zvi Yair
Zvi Yair is the pen-name of the Hebrew poet and Chassidic scholar, Rabbi Zvi Meir Steinmetz . Zvi Yair was a Jewish poet who wrote in Hebrew.-Biography:...
, rabbi Zvi Meir Steinmetz.
Controversy
Since the installation of Rabbi Lazar as the Chief Rabbi of Russia by the Federation of Jewish CommunitiesFederation of Jewish Communities
Federation of Jewish Communities may refer to*Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia*Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS...
there have been a number of controversies associated with Federation influence with president Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
, and their funding from various Russian oligarchs, including Lev Leviev
Lev Leviev
Lev Avnerovich Leviev is a Bukharian-Israeli billionaire businessman, with a net worth of roughly $1.5 billion following the 2008 global financial crisis. Leviev is one of the most prominent Mizrahi Jewish individuals in the world and has been a major philanthropist for Jewish causes in Eastern...
and Roman Abramovich
Roman Abramovich
Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich is a Russian businessman and the main owner of the private investment company Millhouse LLC.In 2003, Abramovich was named Person of the Year by Expert, a Russian business magazine. He shared this title with Mikhail Khodorkovsky...
. Lazar is known for his close ties to Putin's Kremlin.
Putin became close to the Federation after a number of Jewish oligarchs and rabbis including Vladimir Gusinsky
Vladimir Gusinsky
Vladimir Aleksandrovich Gusinsky is a Russian media baron, is known as the founder of Media-Most holding that included Most Bank, the NTV channel, the newspaper Segodnya and magazines.-Life and career:Gusinsky was born in Moscow....
(the founder of the Russian Jewish Congress
Russian Jewish Congress
The Russian Jewish Congress is a non-profit charitable fund and the largest secular organisation of Russian Jews. It was established in 1996 by the initiative group of the Jewish businessmen, active workers and religious figures for revival of the Jewish life in Russia...
), backed other candidates for president. Lev Leviev
Lev Leviev
Lev Avnerovich Leviev is a Bukharian-Israeli billionaire businessman, with a net worth of roughly $1.5 billion following the 2008 global financial crisis. Leviev is one of the most prominent Mizrahi Jewish individuals in the world and has been a major philanthropist for Jewish causes in Eastern...
, a Federation oligarch supported Putin, and the close relationship between them led to him supporting the federation nomination of Lazar as Chief Rabbi of Russia, an appointment that Putin immediately recognised. Rabbi Adolf Shayevich
Adolf Shayevich
Adolf Solomonovich Shayevich has been since 1983 the rabbi of Moscow Choral Synagogue, which has been traditionally considered as Moscow's main Jewish temple.During the waning days of the Soviet Union, Shayevich was sometimes unofficially referred to in the...
, who had been Chief Rabbi of Russia until 1998, argues that Lazar is only an appointee of the Federation and that he remains Chief Rabbi. What happened, he explains, "has nothing to with religion and everything to do with politics and business. The president invites him to receptions and does not invite me. I am not offended."
According to an editorial in the Jerusalem Post the reason why Lazar has not protested Putin's arrests of Jewish oligarchs deportation is that "Russia's own Chief Rabbi, Chabad emissary Berel Lazar, is essentially a Kremlin appointee who has been made to neutralize the more outspoken and politically active leaders of rival Jewish organizations."
Darkei Shalom synagogue
The Darkei Shalom synagogue is a synagogue in northern MoscowMoscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. It was affiliated with Chamah, a religious and social welfare movement on behalf of former Soviet Jews with offices in New York and Israel, as well as Moscow. The spiritual leader of Darkei Shalom, Rabbi David Karpov, is a devotee of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, yet over the years he has distanced himself from FJCR, the Chabad rabbinical group in Russia that appointed and is headed by Lazar. Kaprov was telephoned by Lazar telling him that the synagogue was being gifted to the Chabad movement by its owners and that he would have to leave the synagogue, and resign his post to make way for the a new Chabad emissary. Lazar suggested that if he fell into line with FJCR he may be allowed to stay. At the same time Kaprov received court orders over various technical and administrative issues, which Kaprov argued were due to Lazar pressuring Kaprov. In an open letter to Lazar, rabbi Adolf Shayevich
Adolf Shayevich
Adolf Solomonovich Shayevich has been since 1983 the rabbi of Moscow Choral Synagogue, which has been traditionally considered as Moscow's main Jewish temple.During the waning days of the Soviet Union, Shayevich was sometimes unofficially referred to in the...
and 16 other rabbis wrote:
Shayevich added in a statement to the press that "they already have too much money and power, and are using it to destroy all Jewish organizations which resist Chabad’s total domination of Russian Jewish life."
Criticism of Reform Judaism
Lazar is highly critical of Reform JudaismReform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
and related Progressive strands of the religion. A 2005 article penned by Lazar in Lechaim, "Do Not Bargain With God, Gentlemen", stated that Reform Judaism "cannot be seriously called a religion", and made clear his hope for the deprecation or disappearance of Reform-sourced efforts in Russia and the CIS. The article was criticized by Rabbi Eric Yoffie
Eric Yoffie
Eric H. Yoffie is a Reform rabbi, and president of the Union for Reform Judaism , the congregational arm of the Reform movement in North America which represents an estimated 1.5 million Reform Jews in more than 900 synagogues across the United States and Canada...
(president of the Union for Reform Judaism
Union for Reform Judaism
The Union for Reform Judaism , formerly known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations , is an organization which supports Reform Jewish congregations in North America. The current President is Rabbi Eric H...
), stating that Lazar "cannot request American Jewish support for his work and profess to speak in the name of all Russian Jews while simultaneously proclaiming that Reform Judaism is not Judaism and Reform rabbis are not rabbis."
Interfaith Dialogue
Rabbi Lazar is an advocate of interfaith dialogue and currently sits on the Board of World Religious Leaders for The Elijah Interfaith InstituteThe Elijah Interfaith Institute
The Elijah Interfaith Institute is a nonprofit, international, interfaith organization which was founded by Rabbi Alon Goshen-Gottstein in 1997. Its mission is to foster peace between the world's diverse faith communities through interfaith dialogue, education, research and dissemination...
.
Awards
In 2004, Russian President Vladimir PutinVladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
signed an edict to honor him with the Order of Friendship
Order of Friendship
The Order of Friendship is a state decoration of Russia established by decree # 442 of March 2, 1994 of the President of the Russian Federation....
. This award is being presented for the contribution made by Rabbi Lazar to developing culture and strengthening friendship between nations within Russia. In December 2004, he was honored with a national public award, the 'Minin and Pozharsky' Order "for his great personal contribution to strengthening the moral and cultural fabric of the Russian State and for reviving spiritual life and religious freedom in the country". In June 2005, he was awarded the Medal "60 Years of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945". He received the medal during the 19th session of the Russian 'Pobeda' (Victory) Organizational Committee. In September 2005, he received the 'Peter the Great' First Class Order. The diploma attached to the Order explains that the Chief Rabbi was honored with this award "considering his activities in advancing inter-ethnic and inter-religious relations, and his great contribution to the spiritual rebirth of Russia’s Jewish community and to strengthening Russian state".
At the sixtieth anniversary commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz at the concentration camp, Putin gave a speech. His speech was followed by Lazar awarding Putin the so-called Salvation medal as a symbol of "the Jewish people's gratitude" to Russia for liberating the camp.