A Russian Passover: Rabbi Berel Lazar on the Role of a Rabbi In Difficult Times

It has been a difficult year for Jews in former Soviet countries and the rabbis who lead them. This is obviously the case in Ukraine, but also, in a different way, in Russia.

“Indeed,” writes Russian Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar, “my colleagues and I have been repeatedly approached by Jewish community members asking whether they should leave or remain here. It’s a complex question. There is no one-size-fits-all answer.” When it comes to rabbis however, “the answer has always been clear: Our place is with our people.”

Is that the right decision? Lazar thinks back to what Jewish life looked like when he first came to the then-USSR 35 years ago and the first years of the new Russia, and considers the role of Moses as the model of Jewish leadership–then and today.

More at Tablet: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/history/articles/passover-in-russia-then-and-now