Controversy
Since the installation of Rabbi Lazar as the Chief Rabbi of Russia by the Federation of Jewish Communities there have been a number of controversies associated with Federation influence with president Vladimir Putin, and their funding from various Russian oligarchs, including Lev Leviev and Roman Abramovich. Lazar is known for his close ties to Putin's Kremlin.
Putin became close to the Federation after a number of Jewish oligarchs and rabbis including Vladimir Gusinsky (the founder of the Russian Jewish Congress), backed other candidates for president. Lev Leviev, a Federation oligarch supported Putin, and the close relationship between them led to him supporting the federation nomination of Lazar as Chief Rabbi of Russia, an appointment that Putin immediately recognised. Rabbi Adolf Shayevich, who had been Chief Rabbi of Russia until 1998, argues that Lazar is only an appointee of the Federation and that he remains Chief Rabbi. What happened, he explains, "has nothing to with religion and everything to do with politics and business. The president invites him to receptions and does not invite me. I am not offended."
According to an editorial in the Jerusalem Post the reason why Lazar has not protested Putin's arrests of Jewish oligarchs deportation is that "Russia's own Chief Rabbi, Chabad emissary Berel Lazar, is essentially a Kremlin appointee who has been made to neutralize the more outspoken and politically active leaders of rival Jewish organizations."
Read more about this topic: Berel Lazar
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