Russian Jews Between the Reds and the Whites, 1917-1920

Chapter 9. Battling Balfour: White Diplomacy, the Russian Orthodox Church, and the Problem of the Establishment of the Jewish State in Palestine

c h a p t e r 9 Battling Balfour: White Diplomacy, the Russian Orthodox Church, and the Problem of the Establishment of the Jewish State in Palestine Huddled in Odessa in February 1919, in the midst of the Russian Civil War, Platon, the Metropolitan of Kherson and Odessa and the representative of the All-Russian Patriarch in the South of Russia, had many problems to ponder . The Patriarch, Tikhon, was effectively under house arrest. The Orthodox faithful were slaughtering one another in terrifying numbers, to say nothing of their depredations against the non-Orthodox. The Metropolitan’s attention was, nonetheless, directed elsewhere: to the fate of the Christian holy places in Palestine. On February 2 (15), 1919, Platon wrote to Anatolii Anatolievich Neratov, acting head of the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Military Forces of the South of Russia, pointing out that the World War “posed a question about the fate of the country in which the earthly life of Our Lord Jesus Christ transpired.” “There are rumors about its fate that unsettle the Orthodox ,” he declared. The Metropolitan’s disquiet was undoubtedly inspired by the issuing of the Balfour Declaration, which proclaimed the British government ’s intention to assist in the creation of a “Jewish national home” in Palestine . Noting that the Russian Orthodox Church was concerned with protecting its interests in Palestine, as well as the welfare of thousands of Orthodox pilgrims who visited the Holy Land annually, Platon informed Neratov that he intended to ask the four Eastern Patriarchs, as well as the heads of other Christian churches, to produce a joint statement for the Versailles Peace Con- Battling Balfour 335 ference; the statement should point to “the necessity of the liberation of Palestine and other Holy Places from the hands of infidels.” Platon also took a number of concrete steps, organizing a meeting of “bishops from various dioceses as well as members of the All-Russian and Kiev local synods, historians, canons, specialists on Palestine, and church and public activists.” The participants intended, “with the blessing of His Holiness” (the Patriarch), to speak up as representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church. Therefore, they set out to prepare the necessary materials and to develop a plan of action, the essence of which was to send a delegation, whose composition was already tentatively laid out, to both the Middle East and Paris. A special commission under the chairmanship of Anastasii, the Archbishop of Kishinev, wrote a series of speeches for the delegation. The Metropolitan considered the cause to be of paramount importance for the unification of Russia and “a demonstration at the [Versailles] conference of our spiritual and national unity.” Platon turned for assistance to Neratov. And he was not disappointed. Two short weeks later he received the following reply: I consider myself obliged to express to you, Your Holiness, my deepest compassion for the grand and sacred cause undertaken by You, while adding that, from the political perspective, the proposed address to the Eastern Patriarchs and heads of other churches would be quite opportune and desirable for the purpose of demonstrating the spiritual power of the Russian People, who, at this time of terrible ordeal, will more than ever unite around their holy faith and the Orthodox Church, seeing in them the promise of their future moral revival. But the experienced diplomat warned the Metropolitan against taking any hasty steps and gave him some practical advice: first, to raise the issue of protecting the interests of Christians in Turkey only in principle, and without advancing any specific proposals about the provision of protection; second , to coordinate the dates of the delegation’s visit to Paris or London with Sergei Dmitrievich Sazonov; third, that the delegation be headed by Platon himself, as his “very high moral qualities, authority, wide connections, and thorough familiarity with the ecclesiastical life of Western countries are the surest pledge of successful completion of the great Christian mission, which is now being continued by the Russian Orthodox Church”; fourth, the trip 336 chapter 9 to Constantinople and Palestine should be prepared by diplomats—Sazonov was to coordinate the visit with the occupation authorities and obtain assurance that they would provide a reception “commensurate with the position of a high Russian Church official”; and finally, Neratov hoped that after consulting with Sazonov, the Metropolitan would find a way to address the Roman Pontiff and the...