ABSTRACT
Berl Lazar is a member of the Chabad movement and has been the Chief Rabbi of Russia since 2000. He was born in Milan, Italy but completed his Jewish studies in the United States. In 1990 he was sent by the Lubavitcher rebbe to the Soviet Union. There, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, he contributed to the significant influence of Chabad in present-day Russia, and later he also established a close relationship with Russian president Vladimir Putin. He also developed a number of contacts with the new Russian oligarchs, many of whom are of Jewish origin (e.g. Lev Leviev, Boris Berezovsky, Roman Abramovich). In 2000 he was granted Russian citizenship, while also retaining his American citizenship. Lazar is accused by his opponents of direct connections with the political and economic influence of the Kremlin, and at the same time he is considered as one of the main proponents of the expansionism of the Chabad movement at the expense of other Jewish communities.
