Citing religious prohibitions, a Chabad rabbi in eastern Russia vetoed a local Jew’s plan to erect a statue of Moses in Birobidzhan — an area which Soviet governments designated as a Jewish autonomous region.
Rabbi Nixes Moses Statue in Russia’s ‘Jewish Republic’
From the Jerusalem Post:
Citing religious prohibitions, a Chabad rabbi in eastern Russia vetoed a local Jew’s plan to erect a statue of Moses in Birobidzhan — an area which Soviet governments designated as a Jewish autonomous region.
Rabbi Eli Riss, a Chabad envoy who serves as Birobidzhan’s chief rabbi, torpedoed the plan earlier this month, he told JTA Thursday.
Valery Gurevich, a founding member of Birobidzhan’s current Jewish community of 4,000 people, told authorities that Riss supported his plan to erect a statue of Moses in Birobidzhan, Riss said. That led some officials to back the plan, which would cost an estimated $30,000, Riss said.
