New York, NY, June 27, 2005 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today expressed outrage at the decision of the Moscow District Prosecutor to order an investigation into the Jewish holy book that is the widely regarded authoritative text of Jewish law, on the baseless grounds that its contents are insulting towards non-Jews. Rabbi Zinovy Kogan, Chairman of the Congress of Jewish Organizations, which published an abbreviated version in Russian of the Shulhan Aruch, the 16th century codification of Jewish law, was questioned on June 23 by the Moscow District Prosecutor’s office about its contents.
In a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, declared that, “the behavior of the District Prosecutor brings to mind the anti-Semitic persecution witnessed under the Tsars and during the rule of Stalin.” The Prosecutor’s action, Mr. Foxman wrote, “confirms our fears about the revival of anti-Semitic tendencies in Russia.”
The League leader called on President Putin to “intervene immediately to end the Moscow District Prosecutor’s investigation and to condemn anti-Semitic expressions and acts in Russia.”
The investigation follows a call, sponsored by extreme nationalists and communists, to ban Jewish organizations in Russia. Five hundred public figures, including 20 members of the Russian parliament, signed a January statement calling for a ban. This was followed in March by a petition signed by 5,000 activists from the Russian Orthodox Church, also demanding a ban. The statement, which was based upon the false claim that the Shulhan Aruch is an expression of “Jewish chauvinism”, repeated many of the most disgraceful lies leveled against the Jewish people, including the infamous ‘blood libel’ and the identification of Judaism with Satanism.
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Here's a new twist on an ongoing, ancient problem.