Russian Official Calls Chabad a “Neo-Pagan Cult”, Rabbi Lazar Responds

by CrownHeights.info

The Assistant Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Aleksey Pavlov, made the shocking claim in an article this week that Chabad was a “Neo-Pagan Cult”, drawing condemnation from Russia’s Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Berel Lazar.

“What is really happening in the religious life of the neighboring country, I do not know for sure – but, unfortunately, the article contains a position that is difficult to grasp, other than as an insult to millions of Jews, including the vast majority of Jews in Russia,” Rabbi Lazar wrote in response.

The article, written by Pavlov, was in context of the claimed need for Russia to “de-Satanize” Ukraine.

In the article, Pavlov wrote that “The main life principle of the Lubavitcher followers is the supremacy of the sect’s supporters over all nations,” a claim that Rabbi Lazar dismissed as baseless.

“First, it should be noted that “Lubavitch Chassidism”, the religious movement of Chabad, is not a “sect”, but a accepted way of Judaism,” Lazar wrote. “Moreover, today, it is the largest movement within Hasidism.”

Lazar also noted that at present, 90% of the rabbis working in the Jewish communities of Russia belong to Chabad, and even he himself is a Lubavitch Chossid.

“As for the Chabad ideology, contrary to the fictions of Mr. Pavlov, it resolutely rejects idolatry, at the same time, respectfully supports all religions that teach belief in the one God,” Lazar wrote. “To understand this, it is enough to familiarize yourself with the practice of the Chabad communities in Russia and in the world.”

Noting that the Chabad movements work in Russia include social, cultural and educational projects intended not only for Jews, but for everyone, Lazar called Mr. Pavlov’s logic nonsense, vulgar and passing anti-Semitism.

Due to the high profile nature of the official, and the huge danger such rhetoric poses, Rabbi Lazar demanded an immediate and unequivocal response from society and the authorities.