The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress has organized the round table “Memory of the Past: Pain of the Present and a Look Into the Future” jointly with the the Synodal Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchy, the Moscow Jewish Religious Community, the Islam Center of Moscow, and the “Tolerance” Foundation for social projects. The round table took place on the 27th of December in the “Izvestiya” newspaper media center in Moscow.

 

The main topics of the round table were the December events in Moscow on Manezhnaya Square and in a number of other Russian cities, as well as the immortalization of the memory of victims of political repressions, including those priests of different religions who were shot in the Butovo and Kommunarka army facilities under Moscow during the years of the Great Purge. Questions of community interaction, interfaith dialogue, creation of new civil institutions to prevent extremism in interethnic relations, the preservation of historic truth about the victims of anti-religious and political repressions as the main part to prevent new tragedies and conflicts on a religious and ethnic basis were discussed during the round table.

Among those who took part in the discussion were: Head Rabbi of Russia, Deputy Chairman of the EAJC Rabbi Council Adolph Shaevich; Chairman of the Synodal Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchy, Archipresbyter Vsevolod Chaplin; Head Rabbi of Moscow, EAJC Rabbi Council Secretary General Pinchas Goldshmidt; President of the “Izvestiya” Editorial Vladimir Mamontov; member of the Public Chamber of Russia Elena Zelinskaya, film producer Garri Bardin, and many others.

The address of EAJC President Alexander Mashkevich to the participants of the round table was particularly notable, and read: “The cruel persecution of religion, the victims of which were brave and faithful people whom we always remember, is a thing of the past, thank the Almighty. And we want to hope that it will never come back. Today religion in the countries of the former Soviet Union is in a time of rebirth and flowering. The more responsibility is now placed on religious leaders’ shoulders. Even if the relationships between religious institutions and the authorities are quite constructive, the situation in interfaith and interethnic relationships is not always bright and cheery.
…The December events in Moscow and a number of other Russian cities demonstrate quite clearly that the problems with tolerance, mutual understanding and respect are quite acute today. And it is the representatives of religious communities and ethnic community unions can do quite a lot to unite society. The shepherd’s voice will be heard and will bring its fruit.”

Archipresbyter Vsevolod Chaplin noted, “The task of religious leaders is to hear the voices of those whom they represent and to make the authorities hear it. For this we must convene together as part of intercultural dialogue, we must discuss and propose ways of solving acute social problems to the authorities and the people.”

 

Rabbi Pinchas Goldshmidt, agreeing with Father Vsevolod, noted: “The 21st century is a religious century compared to the previous secular one. Religion and faith matter much more today. And when the religious leaders of different faiths gather to talk, it unites civil society.”

 

Head Rabbi of Russia Adolph Shaevich in turn underlined, “I think I will express out general position when I say that the solution to the questions and problems before our country depends on the authorities. And we, the important religious and social figures, are ready to help the authorities to solve all these problems.”