RJC Monitor - 09.06.2002

 

The Russian Jewish Congress




Information Bulletin # 25 

RJC SEES NEW YEAR IN

The Russian Jewish Congress has arranged a Rosh Hashanah gala at Moscow's Marriott Grand Hotel. The event, held September 4, brought together high-profile politicians, representatives of the business elite, and prominent members of the artistic and research communities. Among other things, the guests were treated to an extravaganza from the Helicon Opera company.

The Chief Rabbis of Russia—Adolph Shayewitz, of the KEROOR, and Berel Lazar, of the FJC—topped the long list of invitees from among Russian Jewish community leaders. The literary and artistic celebrities to grace the party included the authors Mikhail Zhvanetsky, Yakov Kostyukovsky, Eduard Grafov, Asar Eppel, Leonid Zhukhovitsky, and Viktor Shenderovich, as well as the actors Emmanuil Vitorgan and Leonid Kanevsky. The gala also drew quite a few federal and municipal government officials, as well as diplomats of former Soviet republics, Israel, the United States, the EU, Latin American nations, and Australia. The Islamic world was represented by the Moroccan and Turkish ambassadors. Mufti Talgat Tajudin, Chairman of Russia's Central Spiritual Moslem Board, was also among the guests. 

Messages with greetings came in from Sergei Kiriyenko, presidential envoy to the Volga Federal District, Yuri Luzhkov, Mayor of Moscow, and Boris Gromov, Governor of the Moscow Region, among others.

The Establishment's attention to the RJC-organized Rosh Hashanah party attests to the fact that the new leadership of the Russian Jewish Congress have been able, in their first nine months in office, to dramatically step up the organization's activity, extending its outreach far beyond the Jewish community. As RJC President Yevgeny Satanovsky remarked in his closing speech, "it's nice to see the RJC becoming a cozy place not just for Jews, but for all those willing to share our joys."

POSTER TERRORISM REACHES NATION'S CAPITAL

A sign saying "Death to Yids!" was discovered September 2 outside the Darkei Shalom Jewish community center in the uptown Moscow neighborhood of Otradnoye. Police arrived at the crime scene to remove the poster and to destroy the suspicious-looking jar wired to it. The jar contained unidentified white powder.

This latest act of "poster terrorism" prompted Russian Jewish Congress President Yevgeny Satanovsky to forward a letter to the head of the Moscow Interior Department, Major General V. Pronin. 

In his letter, Mr. Satanovsky expresses alarm at the fact that "poster terrorism" has by now reached Moscow. As similar signs with dummy explosives were found in the Russian provinces, we could console ourselves with the thought that at least the nation's capital remained safe under law-enforcers' watchful eye, he says. But that illusion has been dispelled now.

Police in downtown Moscow were put on high alert in the first days of the fall, with children coming back to school and the entire community celebrating City Day, recalls Mr. Satanovsky. This must have been part of the reason why the crime was committed on the city's outskirts, he believes. 

The RJC President calls on the Moscow police to more cautiously handle hazardous materials. He cites the example of U.S. police, who will think twice before touching any white powder following last year's discovery of anthrax bacteria in American post offices and other facilities.

Mr. Satanovsky is pessimistic, and not without reason, about the likelihood of the police ultimately tracking down those behind the recent acts of "poster terrorism" in Russia. But he believes that staying on guard and avoiding contact with hazardous materials until forensic tests are carried out would certainly help police prevent new crimes and solve those already perpetrated.

RJC MONITORING VORONEZH HATE CRIMES PROBE

The Russian Jewish Congress has received a reply from the Voronezh Prosecutor's Office to RJC President Yevgeny Satanovsky's request for an update on the probe into the July 5 anti-Semitic incidents in that city. The letter is signed by A. Kosyakin, senior aide to the Voronezh Region Prosecutor for federal security and inter-ethnic relations. It provides detailed information about the investigation launched in connection with the discovery of anti-Jewish signs at several spots across the city. The erection of posters carrying anti-Semitic slogans is classified as hate crime, and is punishable under Article 282 of the Russian Penal Code. 

Mr. Kosyakin promises to keep the RJC updated as the investigation advances.

KEROOR HOLDS WORKSHOP AHEAD OF HIGH HOLIDAYS

In the leadup to the High Holidays, the Congress of Jewish Religious Communities and Organizations in Russia (KEROOR) organized a training workshop at Porechye, outside Moscow. 

The workshop, which ran August 29 through September 2, brought together 40 leaders of religious communities, representing both Orthodox and Reform Judaism, and 16 rabbis from cities all across the country. It was aimed at providing instruction on how to arrange Jewish autumn holiday celebrations. Among the lecturers were Pinchas Goldschmidt, Chief Rabbi of Moscow and Chairman of the CIS Rabbinical Court; Rabbi Zinovy Kogan, Chairman of the KEROOR; and David Yushuvayev, Director of the Kollel Torah Mi'Zion.

As the workshop drew to a close, all the participants were offered prayer books and colorful Jewish calendars, published by the KEROOR for this year's Rosh Hashanah. This fall, KEROOR calendars are distributed among all of Russia's Jewish communities. 

Workshops like this one have already become a tradition with the KEROOR. Every year, new people are invited to attend. The audience keeps getting younger, with the average age now as low as 35.

COMMUNITY ACTIVISTS REFLECT ON MODERN ANTI-SEMITIC TENDENCIES

Activists of Moscow-based Jewish organizations got together September 3 at the Moscow Jewish Community House, to discuss anti-Semitic tendencies of the modern day. The idea to hold such a forum had been suggested by the leadership of the Eurasian Jewish Congress, the Vaada of Russia, and the Zionist federation Moriah. 

The discussion was centered around the journalist Alexander Zhilin's blatantly anti-Semitic comments on the Antideza show broadcast July 28 on TVC, or national channel 3. The participants agreed to send an open letter to the federal Media Ministry, expressing concern over anti-Semitism in the Russian media. They believe that such a letter should be signed by the leaders of all of Russia's Jewish umbrella organizations—the RJC, the FJC, the KEROOR, and the Vaada of Russia.