2. Early Judiazing
Movement in Russia
There are several historical accounts of the conversion of groups
of
non-Jewish people living in Russia, both pagans and Christians, to
Judaism ever since the downfall of Judea in around 100
AD. There are documented records of the migration of the Jews into
the
northern shore of the Black Sea (the Crimea) as well as other
parts of
the known world at that time.
The
Kingdom
of
the Khazars in the First Millennium
The Khazars were a conglomerate of Finno-Turkish tribes living in
the
area roughly encompassing the Crimea, the Caucasus, South-Central
Russia and the area north of the Caspian Sea at the mouth of the
Volga
River. They emerged as a pagan nation during the 8th
century
AD. Because of their geographic position at the crossroads of the
famed
“Silk Road,” the Khazars were exposed to Byzantine (Greek
Orthodox)
Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Each of these religions was bent
on
converting the Khazars either for purely religious reason or to
create
a new ally of similar beliefs.
The
Jews
in Russia and Poland2, by S. M.
Dubnow in 1916, contains these
accounts from Jews and medieval Arabic travelers:
The
King, or Khagan, of the Khazars,
by the name of Bulan, had resolved
to abandon paganism, but was undecided as to the religion he
should
adopt instead. Messengers sent by the Caliph persuaded him to
accept
Islam, envoys from Byzantium endeavored to win him over to
Christianity, and representatives of Judaism championed their
own
faith.
As a result, Bulan arranged a disputation [debate]
between
the
advocates of the three religions to be held in his
presence, but he failed to carry away any definite conviction
from
their arguments and mutual refutations.
Thereupon the king invited first the Christian and then the
Mohammedan,
and questioned them separately. On asking the former {the
Christian}
which religion he thought was better of the two, Judaism or
Mohammedanism, he received this reply: “Judaism, since it is
the older
of the two, and the basis of all religions. On asking the
Mohammedan,
which religion he preferred, Judaism or Christianity, he
received the
same answer in favor of Judaism, with the same motivation.
“If that be the case,” Bulan argued in consequence, “if both
the
Mohammedan and the Christian acknowledge the superiority of
Judaism to
the religion of their antagonist, I too prefer to adopt the
Jewish
religion.” Bulan accordingly embraced Judaism and many of the
Khazars
followed his example.
The conversion of Khazars to Judaism took place in about 740 AD
which
is about two hundred years before the Russian state in Moscow
adopted
Orthodox Christianity after a similar search and evaluation. In
contrast but through a similar process, the Russian ruler Vladimir
adopted Christianity in 988 AD. He created his own variation of
the
Byzantine (or Greek) Orthodox Church as the state religion.
Vladimir
set forth to impose this imported religion upon the predominately
pagan
population Vladimir sent out ten "good and wise men" to
investigate the
world's religions before making his choice. The Cultural Atlas
of the Soviet Union3
written by Robin
Milner-Gull and with
Nikolai Dejevsky gives this account of the investigators' report:
"The
Islamic version of paradise sounds good, but the prohibition of
alcohol
is too much, ... the Germans are drab. The Jews are losers without
a
homeland. ... But inside the Greek churches {referring to the
elaborate
ornamentation, vestments and ceremonies}, we did not know whether
we
were in Heaven or on Earth."
The Kingdom of Khazaria came under increasing military pressure
from
the Byzantines and the Russians until it finally fell in 1016 when
its
leaders fled. However, one can assume that some of the covered
Khazars
remained in the area and merged with the local Jewish population.
There
are also reports of Jews migrating from Khazaria to the Ukraine
and
other parts of Russia stating from the ninth century.
To learn more abut the Khazars, I recommend reading The Jews of Khazaria4, written by
Kevin Alan Brook in 1999 and visiting his web site http://www.khazaria.com
As
is well known, the Jewish population grew and continued to spread
across many European countries including Russia. The leaders in
Moscow
employed
Jews as assistants and agents in order to communicate with the
Jewish
world during
the 14th and 15th centuries.
The
“Jewish
Heresy” of 1480
Dubnow’s
history1 includes accounts of a secret movement
in Novogorod in 1480
later referred to as the Judaizing heresy led by a Jew
from
Kiev named Zechariah. There was a great deal of religious
turbulence in
Novogorod at that time and the organizers took advantage of it.
They
formed a new sect called itself the Strigolniki after its
local
founder Karp Strigolnik. This movement soon spread to Moscow where
a
number of Orthodox Christians were converted including the
daughter-in-law of Tsar Ivan III.
The tenets of this sect included:
- Abrogation of the Orthodox Church rites and ceremonies
- Denial of the divinity of Jesus Christ
- Submitting to the rite of circumcision
When the movement became known, the Archbishop Gennadi of
Novogorod and
other Orthodox zealots mounted a vigorous yet difficult campaign
to
abolish it. Finally in 1504 with the support of Ivan II and the
Church
Council, the Strigolniki leaders were captured and exiled,
imprisoned
in monasteries or burned at the stake. This episode instilled a
superstition about Jews among the people living in Moscow that
carried
with it the stigma that the Jews were a threat to “Holy Russia”
and
that they must be watched carefully in the future.
The
“Jewish
Seduction” of 1738
Another incident involving covert Judaizing activity that is
included
in Dubnow’s history1
occurred in the
town of Dubrovna near Smolensk in
1738. Borukh Leibov, a Jewish farmer, made friends with a retired
Russian Navy captain named Alexander Voznitzin. As the two studied
the
Bible together, it became apparent to Voznitzin that the dogmas of
the
Orthodox Church were inconsistent with the teachings of the Bible.
Accordingly, Voznitzin converted to Judaism and underwent the
ceremony
of circumcision.
When the authorities learned of
this,
they rounded up Leibov and Voznitzin and sent them to face the
consequences before the Chancellery of Secret Inquisitional
Affairs in
St. Petersburg. After enduring sessions of torture on the rack,
Voznitzin admitted to blasphemy and Leibov confessed that he
…
together with other Jews, predisposed the common people of
Smolensk in
favor of the Jewish religion, and insulted the Russian Pope
Abramius,
in connection with the establishment of a Jewish synagogue in
the
village of Zverovich.
The Inquisition Court convicted Leibov and Voznitzin under the
statute
of Tsar Alexis and sentenced
….
both
of them to be executed and burned, in order that other
ignorant
and godless people witnessing this, shall not turn away from
the
Christian law, and such seducers as the above-mentioned Jew
Borukh
shall not dare to lead them astray from the Christian law and
convert
them to their own laws.
The
sentence was carried out in a public square in St. Petersburg in
front
of a
large crowd on July 15, 1738.
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