FJCR outraged by Stavropol court ruling expelling Rabbi

MOSCOW, Russia [INTERFAX] — The Stavropol Territory Court has upheld the verdict by a Stavropol district court, ordering the administrative expulsion of the Stavropol chief rabbi, Canadian citizen Tzvi Hershkowitz, from Russia.

The territory court has thus rejected the rabbi’s appeal against the Stavropol district court ruling. The judgment was issued on March 24.

The local FSB (Federal Security Service) branch accused Hershkowitz of “breaching the residence registration regulations” by failing to notify the migration authorities of his new residence address within three days, the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia (FJCR) told Interfax-Religion on Wednesday.

“The Russian Jewish Community is outraged by the court ruling. Such a decision shows once again that neither the local authorities, nor the judicial system are paying enough attention to the regional work of the Jewish clergy, thus seeking, whether willingly or unwillingly, the review of Russia’s inter-confessional map,” FJCR President Alexander Boroda commented on the court ruling.

This is not the first time when a court has ruled on the expulsion of foreign rabbis. In February 2009 a court in Vladivostok’s Pervorechensky district ruled on the expulsion from Russia of the chief Primorye rabbi, U.S. citizen Isroel Silberstein, for violating the regulations for foreigners staying in the country: the purpose of stay, stated in the rabbi’s visa, conflicted with his real activities.