- The previous chief rabbi of Moscow is urging Jews to depart Russia.
- Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt himself fled the nation following final yr’s invasion of Ukraine.
- Russia on Friday labeled Goldschmidt a “overseas agent,” citing his opposition to the struggle.
The previous chief rabbi of Moscow is urging his fellow Jews to depart Russia instantly, warning that the nation has essentially modified after the Ukraine invasion.
In an announcement on Saturday, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, who himself fled the nation in March 2022, famous that he had spent three a long time supporting the Jews of Russia. However Goldschmidt, who now resides in Israel, stated his coreligionists ought to get out too, having beforehand warned that they threat being scapegoated for the failure of Russia’s “particular navy operation.”
“Russia has modified its face,” he stated in a July 1 assertion, as reported by The Jerusalem Submit. “I name on the Jewish group to depart the nation, earlier than it’s too late.”
Goldschmidt, who started serving the Moscow Choral Synagogue in 1993 and now leads the Convention of European Rabbis, had beforehand referred to as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a “disaster” for Jews within the area. Talking to The Guardian final yr, he additionally famous that Russia, like different international locations, has a historical past of elites stoking antisemitism to “redirect the anger and discontent of the lots.”
The rabbi’s exhortation got here after the Russian Justice Ministry on Friday declared him a “overseas agent,” The Occasions of Israel reported.
In his assertion, Goldschmidt argued that the label was a badge of honor, saying he’s “proud to be on the correct aspect of historical past and to affix a distinguished record of people that oppose an unjustified operation and the harming of innocents.”
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