Sermon Against the Anti-Jewish Pograms in the Russian Empire (Metr. Anthony Khrapovitsky of Kiev)

Introduction

Anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire were large-scale and targeted. Anti-Jewish rioting first began in 19th century Russia. Pogroms began occurring after the Russian Empire, which previously had very few Jews, acquired territories with large Jewish populations from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during 1791–1835. These territories were designated "the Pale of Settlement" by the Imperial Russian government, within which Jews were reluctantly permitted to live, and it was within them that the pogroms largely took place. Most Jews were forbidden from moving to other parts of the Empire, unless they converted to the Russian Orthodox Church.

The term "pogrom" became commonly used in English after a large-scale wave of anti-Jewish riots swept through south-western Imperial Russia (present-day Ukraine and Poland) from 1881 to 1884; during this time, more than 200 anti-Jewish events occurred in the Russian Empire, notably pogroms in Kiev, Warsaw and Odessa.

Overcoming Both Fear and Fearlessness

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The terrorist attacks in Paris, in the heart of Europe, created very deep pain for all of us and we commonly condemn the criminal acts, while we have prayed for the victims of these actions. One cannot transfer a covert war amid civilian people, when they have made it a standard program to be carefree from every evil. Whatever arguments they use to support such outrage cannot eliminate the brutality of the event.

However, the aim of this article is not to stress the nonnegotiable good of freedom and respect for others, but to comment on aspects of the subject which can be specifically summarized in the words fear and fearlessness, and how to overcome them.