Russian Rabbi Denied Visa - 09.28.2005

RFE/RL: Moscow Rabbi Denied Reentry To Russia

Interfax: Russian Jewish Community Comments on Visa Denial

AP: Authorities bar Moscow rabbi from returning to Russia

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RFE/RL - 09.28.2005

Moscow Rabbi Denied Reentry To Russia

Moscow’s chief rabbi, Swiss-national Pinkhas Goldschmidt, says Russian border guards denied him reentry to the country on 26 September when he returned from a trip to Israel. He says the border guards told him that his Russian visa had been annulled, but gave no further explanation. He then had to fly back to Israel. Jewish religious leaders both in Russia and abroad have expressed deep concern over the incident and called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to immediately let Goldschmidt return to Russia.

By Claire Bigg

Moscow -- Goldschmidt says border guards failed to explain why they turned him back at a Moscow airport and put him on a flight to Israel. 

The rabbi, a Swiss national who has been living and working in Russia for 16 years, claims his visa for Russia had been valid until August next year. 

He urged Russian authorities yesterday to let him return to Russia, saying he hoped the incident resulted from a misunderstanding. 

Moscow’s Jewish community reacted with dismay to the incident, which takes place just days before the start of Jewish New Year celebrations. 

Adolf Shayevich, Russia's chief rabbi, told RFE/RL today he was at a loss to explain why Goldschmidt had been denied entry to the country. 

“[It was a] great surprise, because Rabbi Goldschmidt has been working with us for almost 16 years and there has never been any problem. I don’t even know how to explain this. We hope it is just a misunderstanding,” Shayevich said. 

He said his congress of Jewish Religious Organizations and Associations had requested an explanation from the Foreign Ministry but had yet to receive an answer. 

“Unfortunately, we don’t have any clear information. Yesterday [Tuesday] we sent a request to the Foreign Ministry asking for an explanation for this incident. We haven’t received any answer yet, and it is not very clear who is behind this, and why,” Shayevich said. 

The Conference of European Rabbis, an organization grouping Jewish religious leaders from over 40 countries, said it was profoundly concerned by the incident. Goldschmidt represents Russia on the organization’s standing committee. 

In a statement released yesterday, the group urged Putin to immediately allow Goldschmidt to return to Russia and cast doubt on Russia’s commitment to protect the rights of Jewish people. 

There have been dozens of instances over the past few years in which foreign religious workers have been denied visas and barred from Russia. 

But this is the first time Russian authorities have turned back a Jewish religious leader. Such bans have targeted mainly Catholic priests as well as Protestant and Buddhist religious workers and representatives of minority religions. 

Alexandr Cherkasov is a human rights activist at the Memorial rights group. He says Goldschmidt's visa denial baffles him but adds it is too early to link the incident to what he describes as Russia's campaign against Catholic priests. 

“There was a campaign during which Catholic priests were barred from entering [Russia]. This incident with the rabbi looks totally incomprehensible. I don’t understand what the rabbi could have done wrong,” Cherkasov said. 

According to the last Russian census conducted in 2002, about 224,000 ethnic Jews now live in Russia. The country’s Jewish population has dwindled by more than half since the late 1980s, before the massive exodus to Israel that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union.

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BBC Monitoring - 09.28.2005

Russian Jewish Community Comments on Refusal to Let Rabbi Into the Country

Moscow (Interfax) -- The refusal [on 27 September] of entry into Russia for Rabbi Pinchas Goldshmidt [chief rabbi of the Great Choral Synagogue of Moscow] may have been caused by new entry visa rules for foreign clergy, Russia's chief rabbi, Adolf Shayevich, told Interfax today. 

"Because of the new procedure, a foreign priest, rabbi or clergyman can come to our country only at the invitation of an existing centralized religious organization. As far as I know, Rabbi Goldshmidt received his invitation to come to Russia not from the Great Choral Synagogue of Moscow, but from business circles," Shayevich said, adding that Goldshmidt is of Swiss nationality. 

According to Shayevich, the Russian Congress of Jewish Religious Organizations and Associations is currently looking into the possibility of sending an invitation to Rabbi Goldshmidt so that he can return to Russia, where he has already been working for many years. 

For his part, Borukh Gorin, a spokesman for another centralized Jewish organization - the Federation of Russia's Jewish Communities - has stated the readiness of his organization "to render every possible assistance to Rabbi Goldshmidt to get an entry visa if he asks for such help". 

"Unfortunately, I don't know the details of the refusal of an entry visa to Rabbi Goldshmidt. If we are talking about a conflict within the community, it is absolutely outrageous and inadmissible to use such ways to settle accounts," Gorin told Interfax. 

According to Gorin, "the situation requires an explanation as soon as possible because Rabbi Goldshmidt is quite a prominent figure in Russia's Jewish community and this incident is worrying because of the absence of any explanations whatsoever". 

The president of the Russian Jewish Congress, Vladimir Slutsker, is deeply concerned by the fact that Goldshmidt was not allowed to enter Russia. 

"Rabbi Goldshmidt is an authoritative spiritual leader who has made an invaluable contribution to developing the Jewish community in Russia," says Slutsker's statement, circulated in Moscow today. 

The president of the congress has sent an official inquiry to the Russian Foreign Ministry, asking it to throw light on the cause of the incident. 

"Vladimir Slutsker hopes that the situation will be resolved shortly and that Pinchas Goldshmidt will be able to continue his work in Russia," the press service of the Russian Jewish Congress has said. 

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Haaretz.com - 09.28.2005

Authorities bar Moscow rabbi from returning to Russia

MOSCOW (AP) - The chief rabbi of Moscow's main synagogue said Russian border guards had denied him entry to the country on Tuesday when he returned from a trip to Israel.

Rabbi Pinkhas Goldschmidt, speaking on Ekho Moskvy radio, urged the authorities to review his case and let him return to Russia.

He said the border guards told him that his Russian visa had been annulled, but gave no further explanation. He flew back to Israel after being denied entry.

Goldschmidt, chief rabbi at the Moscow Choral Synagogue, said he hoped the incident was a misunderstanding.

Adolf Shayevich, Russia's chief rabbi, said that his Congress of Jewish Religious Organizations and Associations asked the Foreign Ministry for an explanation of what happened to Goldschmidt but had not yet received an answer.

"It was unexpected for all of us, since he never has had any problems," Shayevich told Ekho Moskvy.