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Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks with Russia’s Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar in the Jewish Museum in Moscow, on June 13, 2013. (AP Photo\/Alexander Zemlianichenko)<\/p><\/div>\n
A prominent rabbi considered close to Russian President Vladimir Putin has called to end the country\u2019s war against Ukraine, offering to help mediate between the two sides.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod expects every believer to do everything in their power to save human lives. Personally, I am ready for any mediation, ready to do anything I can and beyond to silence the guns and to stop the bombs,\u201d Rabbi Berel Lazar wrote in a post on a Russian Jewish website on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow is the time for joint action. Therefore, I appeal to all religious leaders in Ukraine, Russia, Europe, and other continents to join forces for peace. We, loyal to One God alone, should use all our influence, all our power to stop the chaos and prevent further casualties,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Lazar, a follower of the Chabad movement, has served as chief rabbi of Russia for some 20 years \u2014 though the position is somewhat contested \u2014 and has long been known to have the ear of the Russian president, occasionally earning him the moniker \u201cPutin\u2019s rabbi.\u201d<\/p>\n
His call to end the war on Wednesday appeared to be a major break from Lazar\u2019s previous stances on Russia\u2019s policies regarding Ukraine. In 2014, when Russia effectively annexed the Crimean peninsula, Lazar denounced fellow-Chabad Ukrainian rabbis who opposed the move and told them to remain quiet about the \u201cactivity of politicians.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lazar\u2019s comments on Wednesday came amid fiery condemnations of Russia and its invasion by fellow Chabad rabbis in Ukraine, notably St. Petersburg-born\u00a0Rabbi Moshe Azman<\/a>, who explicitly called on Russian Jews to act to end the war.<\/p>\n In 2000, the Italian-born Lazar split off from the Russian Jewish Congress, an umbrella group representing the country\u2019s Jews, and assumed the title of chief rabbi. The title is also claimed by Rabbi Adolf Shayevich, who is still considered Russia\u2019s chief rabbi by the Congress.<\/p>\n Since then, Lazar has maintained close ties with the Russian government and its president Putin. He officiates regularly at Kremlin-sponsored events, gave Putin a tour of the Western Wall in Jerusalem in 2012, and appeared alongside the Russian president when he hosted former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Moscow in 2018.<\/p>\n He has, however, occasionally criticized the Russian leader, for\u00a0expelling American Chabad rabbis\u00a0<\/a>from the country and for providing Syria with\u00a0a powerful air defense system<\/a>.<\/p>\n