From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, February 25, 2025
Ashkenazi chief rabbi to visit Russia Thursday to strengthen ties with communities there
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleRossella Tercatin is The Times of Israel's archaeology and religions reporter.
Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Kalman Ber announces that he will visit Russia
on Thursday.
According to a statement by his office, Ber was invited by Russia’s Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar and “local authorities who seek to strengthen ties with Israel once again under the guidance of the Trump administration.”
“After the UN vote, relations between Israel and Russia continue to warm,” the statement adds.
Relations between Israel and Moscow have been tense since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. For three years, Jerusalem sought to maintain a delicate balance between its principled support for Ukraine and its need to preserve ties with Moscow, due to its influence over Syria.
On Monday, however, Israel joined the US and Russia in voting against a United Nations General Assembly resolution calling to reaffirm Ukraine’s territorial integrity, rejecting a strongly worded condemnation of Russia’s invasion of its neighbor on the war’s third anniversary.
Ber will spend several days in Russia, including Shabbat in Moscow’s Jewish neighborhood of Marina Roscha.
The Times of Israel Community.