To whom the blood of Christian babies interferes

Two main organizations of Jewish communities reacted differently to the message of the federal television channel about the visit of Patriarch Kirill to Poland to the relics of the “brutally tormented by the Jews” of the baby. The Rossiya TV channel spoke about the visit of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church to the Nikolsky Cathedral in the city of Bialystok: “Cyril bowed to the holy relics of the martyr of the baby Gabriel. (...) The Holy Baby Gabriel was born in the family of a peasant in the Bialystok district of the Grodno province. In 1690, Gabriel was stolen from the house of Jude And taken to Bialystok, where he was brutally tortured. "

A few hours after the publication, the editorial board of the Vesti website removed the mention of Judea from the text, but there was a screenshot of the initial news option:

Publicpost contacted Adolf Shaevich - the main rabbi of Russia according to the Congress of the Jewish religious communities of Russia (Keror).

“I believe that I, Judea and the main rabbi of Russia, is not very correct to comment on any actions of the patriarch. I don’t know the details. What was guided by Patriarch Kirill, I don’t know either.

I have known Cyril for many, many years and I can say to him only the kindest words-erudite, competent, talented. I do not think that he has some slightest hints of rejection of Judaism or Islam. All our many years of cooperation speaks the opposite. It is very open
Human. I don't know what he was guided by. I do not want to come up with something, to say unfounded.

I'm not in Russia now. I do not read any news except sports. Now I’ve been resting in Budapest for a week morally and physically. ”

The official reaction of another largest Jewish organization, the Federation of Jewish communities of Russia (Feor), where Berla Lazar is considered the main rabbi of the country, was the exact opposite nature.

"The material that is now available on the Vesti website gives a historical certificate of the St. Nicholas Cathedral in the spirit of a medieval bloody sediment. In the Jewish community of Russia, they express their bewilderment, how in our time in such a large and serious media as Russia 24, it is possible to reproduce medieval mythology without any intelligible comment, which has already served as a reason for the massacre more than once in the past. And the pogroms of the Jewish population were repeatedly refuted, including the representatives of the church themselves.

From our point of view, it is unacceptable that the church Inquisition, the religious persecution of the Middle Ages remain part of modern inter -religious relations. In this regard, I would like to get explanations about this, from our point of view, egregious manifestations of anti -Semitism from the Russia 24 television channel.

Feor sent a letter to the head of the VGTRK Oleg Dobrodeev, demanding an explanation and refutation of the fact of anti -Semitism. From Patriarch Kirill, the Jewish community is also waiting for an explanation. “We sent a letter to Patriarch Kirill with a request to explain to the public the true attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church to such a bloody sedent in relation to the Jews,” said Anastasia Kudrina, press secretary of Berla Lazar.

The press service of the VGTRK told PublicPost that letters were not received from Feor. “I have a feeling that Dobrodeev did not receive this letter, since it was sent only today,” said Victoria Arutyunova, head of the press service of VGTRK. “Please give us time to get acquainted with him-then, perhaps, there will be some comments. So far no comments.”

The head of the press service of the Patriarch Deacon Alexander Volkov told PublicPost that the letter has not yet been received, but Patriarch Kirill will definitely answer him, but "not a day a day."

“Note on the Vesti website is entirely in the competence of the editorial office, so it is impossible to comment on this in any way,” Volkov said. “On the other hand, the Patriarch really visited the temple in which Gabriel’s relics are stored, and this fact cannot be regarded as a gesture for or against the Jews or their (Jews) position in relation to this saint for the Orthodox Church. The patriarch, when he was in the temple, of course, he is, he is located. He was attached to the relics that were in the temple.

PublicPost asked to comment on the situation of Andrei Kuraev - Protodeacon of the Russian Orthodox Church, professor of the Moscow Theological Academy, senior researcher at the Department of Philosophy of Religion and Religious Studies of the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University.

- How do you feel about this situation? Do you see an insult here?
- This is the championship in the demonstration of its insult. I really do not like this kind of thing. I do not know what happened in Vesti. When I went to the site, I saw that the words "Jew" are not there.

- This word was quickly removed, but there is a screenshot of the original version of the text.
- In this case, VGTRK acted normally, in my opinion. They reproduced the cultural fact that is. A cultural fact does not mean a historical fact. In this case, the cultural fact affecting history is that in the life of the martyr Gabriel this story is given.

- "News" present this precisely as a historical fact.
- When it comes to pilgrimage, it is important to report things that religious people are associated with this place of pilgrimage. Suppose they say that on Mount Tabor there was a transformation of Christ. A person has the right in history to doubt whether Christ lived at all, was such a person, was there a fact of transformation, and so on. Now we are talking about a half -minute report. There were no archaeologists congress there, there were people who perceive events that way. The same thing when the holidays take place among Buddhists, Krishnians, Muslims.

It would be more correct if they wrote in this note that "in life it is said to be this and that." Soon on September 1, the foundations of religious culture will teach in schools. That's why I am the author of the textbook I ask teachers: "Please say complicated sentences." It is necessary to say: "Orthodox Christians believe that ..." This is necessary so that there is no confessional identification of the teacher and the material that he sets out. Otherwise, there will be a lot of such scandals as with this note "news".

- The journalist, like the teacher, should be objective.
- Yes, sure. But then I would like to stand up for journalists. The Jewish community knows how to bite in response. I would not want the Rossiya channel to draw personnel conclusions and drive journalists with a “wolf ticket”.

- The Catholic and Anglican churches in the 1960s deanonized similar saints. Is it possible in the Orthodox Church?
- Dekanonization can be in the Orthodox Church. If the face of the saint has been present in the minds of people for many centuries, he is revered, many miracles and experiences are associated with this name. There may be a revision of the circumstances of his death, but this is not decanonization. If it turns out that nothing was connected with one of the Jews, then a change of his life is possible in connection with new facts. But I can’t imagine how after centuries you can find out something. In the end, even if you talk about non -religious things, maniacs can be among people of any nationality. Therefore, to say that a Jew could not encroach on a boy, this smacks of a certain kind of racism. As Zhabotinsky wrote, the founder of the Zionist movement in Russia, each Jew has the right to his own scoundrels. Each nation has the right to its own scoundrels.

- In 1975, Father Alexander Men, in an interview with the Samizdat magazine Jews in the USSR, suggested that St. Gabriel Bialystok would be deanonized. But this did not happen. Why?
- He (me) has his own gars. All people are itching in their places. Naturally, there will be no deanonization. No need to rush about it. The catalyst for disputes is the reaction of the heads of Jewish communities. Well, guys, do not scratch. They gave their protests a much more powerful informational occasion. The same thing happened here as with Puski. We would have said the church, then and who would remember these "pussy"? In the same way here. So, the guys want them to be talked about and talked about as frank sufferers. At the same time, they themselves act as censors and dictators - prefer not to notice. He (Berl Lazar) performed and acted not very smartly. He attracted attention to this, it turns out. What they forgot in one day will now discuss for a long time. Since the church will not go to decanonization anyway. They created a reason for conflicts, and each time to demand is also not smart. Berl Lazar forgets a little that he is not in America, but in Russia. He is an American citizen, from America came here. And the point is not that Russia has its own culture. You just do not need to create such an occasion for unpromising discussions. Many Orthodox people did not know the history of Gabriel. And now, thanks to the efforts of Berl Lazar and the press that will write about it, everyone will find out.