This Week
Heightened Worry In Russia
Russian Turmoil
The majority of Russian Jews emigrated after communism
fell a decade ago. The ones who stayed became more open
about their Judaism. Now the climate is changing again as
back-to-back controversies rock Russian Jews' confidence.
MICHAEL J. JORDAN
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Moscow
A
fter nearly 75 years of repressive commu-
nism and barely a pulse of Jewish life,
Russian Jewry has revived over the past
decade with a vibrancy that surprises
locals and visitors alike.
But two recent controversies have thrust Russia's
Jews nervously into the national spotlight — and
cast a cold pall on the Jewish renaissance here.
On June 13, the Jewish community's president,
Vladimir Goussinsky, was arrested on ill-defined
charges of shady dealings on behalf of his billion-
dollar media and banking empire.
Then rival rabbis for the country's Chief Rabbinate
— and for supremacy of the third largest Jewish com-
munity in the world after the United States and Israel,
estimated at 600,000 — began a public squabble.
Local observers pin some of the blame for this
turmoil on self-interested Jewish religious and
business leaders.
But Jewish leaders also have spoken out against what
they see as the meddling of 'dark forces within or behind
the Kremlin — not excluding Russia's new president,
Vladimir Putin — who may be manipulating the situa-
tion to achieve their own political or economic agenda.
This meddling, observers note, underscores just
how far Russia remains from resembling a true
democracy — even as the outspokenness of Jewish
leaders illustrates just how self-confident the com-
munity has become. •
Goussinsky's dual Russian and Israeli citizenship. It
also emphasizes his business dealings within Israel or
his'-ties with world Jewry and allegedly to
Washington and Tel Aviv as well.
A state television reporter also said that if the
Pandora's box of the "Jewish Question" were
opened, it "may be difficult to close it."
Russia is notorious for its tradition of antisemitism
and appetite for Jewish conspiracy theories. With that
in mind, some Jewish observers in Moscow say all
sides, including Jewish leaders, deserve some criticism.
"It'd be one thing if this situation happened in New
York, London, Paris .or any other Western democracy,"
said one observer, who asked not to be identified.
"But this is Russia. They're playing with fire. I'm
not saying there is any coherent thinking in the
Kremlin like, 'What do we do with the Jews?' But
we have to be vigilant. There's a history here that we
have to be aware of."
.
.
State Attack
More ominous for the average Russian Jew is how
the state-controlled media has grabbed hold of these.
two stories and fueled all sorts of nasty, age-old
stereotypes of Jews and their perceived proclivity for
power, greed and disloyalty.
When state television reports on the Goussins
affair, for example, it repeatedly emphasizes — often
within the first- few sentences of a news report —
YR
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7/14
2000
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Related editorial: page 37
Connected To Goussinsky
Figuring out how Russian Jewry found itself in this
crisis is a dizzying task, with a large dose of palace
intrigue and backroom dealing mixed with naivete
and political clumsiness. Goussinsky is clearly the
common thread.
For most of the 20th century, Russian Jews usual-
ly associated their Jewishness with persecution and
misery. During the post-Communist era, however,
Goussinsky has done more than any other individual
to spur this "golden era" of Russian Jewry and give
Jews reason to be proud, say his supporters.
Goussinsky was the first high-profile figure in
Russian society to step forward and proclaim his
Jewishness. In 1995, he formed the Russian Jewish
Congress, an umbrella group that claims to encom-
pass religious Jewry — from Reform to modern
Orthodox to the Chabad-Lubavitch — as well as the
unaffiliated, who may constitute upward of 90 per-
cent of all Russian Jews.
In an instant, the theater director-turned-billion-
aire had boosted the Jewish community's image, in
the eyes of both Jews and the Russian public.
Perhaps more important, Goussinsky's vast wealth
also gave Russian Jews what they desperately wanted
— the self-respect that comes with increasing finan-
cial independence from world Jewry.
Goussinsky introduced the notion of philan-
thropy to his community, and is said to have given
tens of millions of dollars to various Jewish causes,
such as building or restoring synagogues. Following
his lead, numerous other wealthy Jewish business-
men have helped fund the Russian Jewish Congress.
Taking "Insurance?"
However, Goussinsky's critics charge that his motives
were hardly altruistic: Rather, he may have seen it as
a shrewd tactic — some described it as an "insur-
ance policy" — to shield him from either investiga-
tion or criticism, meaning that Goussinsky could
denounce any probe of his affairs as anti-Jewish.
Indeed, since his arrest and detention last month
on charges of fraud and embezzlement, Goussinsky
has repeatedly suggested that his Jewishness plays a
significant role.
Serving as community president has also enabled
him to make splendid contacts with American
Jewish and Israeli investors. Over the past few years,
he has teamed up with both.
Goussinsky's RJC colleagues seem nonplused by
the business benefits he seems to reap from his inter-
national Jewish contacts.
"Anyone who gives as much as he has to the com-
munity can also take something in return," said the
chief rabbi of Russia, Adolph Shayevich. "I think it's
normal, no? That's why some of his rivals are envious,
because they didn't think to make that investment first."
However, some analysts say Goussinsky's inter-
twined business and Jewish activities may be con-
nected with his three-day detention.
The conventional wisdom about Goussinsky's
arrest posits that he was targeted in an effort to clamp,,
down on his media holdings, which include a nation,
al television network, newspapers and magazines.
These media are highly critical of Putin and out-
spoken in defense of civil liberties and human rights.:-
- In particular, they have assailed as brutal Putin's
campaign in Chechnya, the breakaway province.
The Oligarch
Goussinsky's imprisonment may simply .have been
the work of Boris Berezovsky, an oligarch — the
term Russians use to describe the handful of men
who control vast chunks of Russia's economy.
Berezovsky, an archrival of Goussinsky, is said to be
the real power broker behind the Kremlin.
"The goal is to remove Goussinsky's media empire
TURMOIL on page 10