Alexei Pavlov, the assistant secretary of the Security Council of Russia, has written in an op-ed that he believes “Neo-pagan cults [have] gained strength in Ukraine,” naming one of them as the Chabad-Lubavitch hassidic movement.
Chabad is the most dominant Jewish group in Russia and Ukraine, and the accusation has shocked rabbis and emissaries.
“The main life principle of the Lubavitcher followers is the supremacy of the sect’s supporters over all nations and peoples,” Pavlov said.
"The main life principle of the Lubavitcher followers is the supremacy of the sect's supporters over all nations and peoples."
Assistant Secretary of the Security Council of Russia Alexei Pavlov
He offered an example and said that Jewish-Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky “is a Lubavitcher hassid, an adherent of the ultra-Orthodox religious movement.”
He added that “a number of other Ukrainian oligarchs belong to this movement, in particular Victor Pinchuk who is the son-in-law of the second president of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma.”
Russian chief rabbi condemns "vulgar antisemitism"
Russia’s Chief Rabbi, Berel Lazar, strongly condemned Pavlov’s statements and condemned them as “vulgar antisemitism.”
Lazar wrote to Pavlov in response to his remarks saying: “Unfortunately, the article contains a position that is difficult to grasp, other than an insult to millions of Jewish believers, including the vast majority of Jews in Russia.”
“Pavlov’s logic can be called nonsense, vulgar and antisemitism, but this is a new type of old blood libel, and if they are uttered by a member of the Russian Security Council, this poses huge danger [for Jews],” Lazar stressed.
He said he had demanded “an immediate and unequivocal response from [Russian] society and [Russian] authorities,” on the matter.
“Lubavitch Hassidism, the religious movement of Chabad, is not a sect, but a stream in Judaism,” Lazar wrote.
“Today, it is the largest movement within the hassidic world and 90% of the rabbis working in the Jewish communities of Russia belong to Chabad. I myself am also a Lubavitch hassid,” he stated.
As for Chabad’s ideology, Lazar said that contrary to “the fictions” Pavlov wrote of, Chabad “resolutely rejects idolatry, while at the same time respectfully supporting all religions that teach belief in one God.”
“A considerable part of the movement’s social, cultural and educational projects are intended not only for Jews, but for everyone,” he said.