ANS -- RUSSIAN ROULETTE

You may not like this.  Posted by a rabbi friend.  

--Kim

Barry Leff

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For those who say “Israel’s actions are responsible for the rise in antisemitism,” read this message from Matthew Kalman. It’s not about what Israel is doing. That’s a convenient excuse for the antisemites. Don’t get me wrong - I’m not, God forbid, defending Israel’s government. But it’s not an excuse for antisemitism.

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Matthew Kalman

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RUSSIAN ROULETTE

Let's talk about the Russian Orthodox Church.

Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, loudly supports Putin’s assault on Ukraine as "holy war" and actively recruits for Russian invading forces. Kirill cheers on his priests and parishioners who go to the front lines to kill people.

As a result, Chatham House reports, Ukraine has severely restricted the activities of the affiliate church in Ukraine. In August 2024, Ukraine enacted a law banning any religious organization controlled by an aggressor state, ordering the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to cut its longstanding ties with the Moscow Patriarchate.

Archimandrite Cyril Hovorun, a monk, theologian and former adviser to Patriarch Kirill, believes 'it’s safe to say that the Church has lost its moral authority,' reports Lucy Ash, author of The Baton and The Cross: Russia's Church from Pagans to Putin.

Despite the church's vocal support of Russia's mass murders, torture, kidnapping of children and multiple other war crimes in Ukraine, not a single Russian Orthodox Church has been attacked, rammed, firebombed or daubed in the UK, Europe, Australia or the US, nor has a single anti-war demonstration marched past one. Not a single Russian Orthodox scholar, poet, writer or artist has been forced to declare their opposition to Putin’s war before being allowed to participate in public events. Not a single Russian Orthodox person has been denied NHS treatment, assaulted in the street, or mauled by online trolls. Not a single university campus has submitted Russian Orthodox students or lecturers to purity tests regarding their views on the invasion of Ukraine. Not a single newspaper columnist or TV opinionater has demanded that Russian Orthodox figures defend or denounce Putin’s war.

Not a single Russian restaurant has been shot at, plastered with hate messages, or targeted by demonstrations.

This is all as it should be.

Ordinary Russian Orthodox believers, and expatriate Russians abroad, are not personally responsible for the failings of their political or religious leaders.

After all, they are not Jews.

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