Iran’s Attack on Israel
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After surviving an assassination attempt, the dissident returned to Russia where he knew he’d be arrested and likely killed. Why?
The killing of Alexei Navalny, the Russian dissident who courageously stood up to President Putin, was not a surprise. Putin had already tried to poison him with the nerve agent Novichok in 2020. What was surprising was that, as soon as German doctors in a Berlin hospital had succeeded in saving his life, Navalny got on a plane and returned to Russia. He knew he was flying into the jaws of the wolf, the repressive Putin government whose corruption he had exposed and which he had vociferously opposed. Indeed, as soon as Navalny landed in Moscow he was arrested on trumped-up charges and imprisoned. Navalny's team believes he was murdered on the orders of Putin.
What gave him the courage to keep fighting for truth rather than save his own life?
Alexei Navalny believed in God, in free will, in the primacy of family, and in love. He believed that people are ultimately accountable for their actions, and that the soul lives on after death. “I do not believe in death,” he wrote from his Artic prison in answer to a 13-item questionnaire sent by Boris Akunin, the famous Russian writer in exile.
In his closing statement during his 2021 trial, Navalny said he used to be a “militant atheist,” but he had become a believer, and now based his actions on the “instructions” of the Bible.
“I am now a believer,” he proclaimed, “and that helps me a lot in my activities, because everything becomes much, much easier. … There are fewer dilemmas in my life, because there is a book in which, in general, it is more or less clearly written what action to take in every situation. It’s not always easy to follow this book, of course, but I am actually trying.”
He continued: “And so, while certainly not really enjoying the place where I am, I have no regrets about coming back, or about what I’m doing. It’s fine, because I did the right thing. On the contrary, I feel a real kind of satisfaction. Because at some difficult moment I did as required by the instructions, and did not betray the commandment.”
Navalny knowingly sacrificed his life to fight evil. He wrote, “All it takes for evil to triumph is the inaction of good people… The hypocrisy of neutrality, ‘apoliticism’, and recusal, concealing laziness, cowardice and meanness, is the principal reason why a bunch of well-organized villains have ruled over millions throughout human history.” He said the greatest benefit mankind can bring the world is “engaging in the battle of good vs. neutral.”
Navalny’s declaration, “I do not believe in death,” accounts for his courage in continuing to speak—indeed shout—truth to power. The belief in an immortal soul that outlives the body confers a sense of invincibility in the face of murderous threats.
Navalny’s declaration is reminiscent of a story where another spiritual hero faced the intimidations of the Russian authorities a century before. Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, the sixth Rebbe of the Chabad Lubavitch, was arrested by the Communist government for promulgating Jewish religious practices. When he refused to inform on any of his assistants, his interrogator pointed a gun to his head and threatened, “This little toy has made many a man change his mind!”
Without flinching, the Rebbe replied, “That little toy can scare only men who believe in many gods and one world. I believe in one God and two worlds, so I am not frightened by your little toy.”
Alexei Navalny believed in one God and two worlds. In the 13-point questionnaire he answered from his Artic prison, he wrote: “I believe that we are not alone in this universe. I believe that our deeds and actions will be evaluated.” Now that he is in the other world, where his heroic deeds and selfless actions are being evaluated, we can only say, “Bravo to you! May your example inspire all of us to live fearlessly for the Truth.”
American interests are not the same as Jewish interests.
The Americans built Navalny up as a rival to Putin.
They were happy to ignore his anti-semitism, which, of course, we cannot.
Do not read what Navalny said in English, read what he said in Russian, if you know Russian, great!, if you don't, use Google Translate.
Then and only then will you see his true nature.
And I believe there is a parallel to G-d's governance.... the chosen-a diety of eternal life. SG MM 2610
There is nothing courageous about his life, he's not a hero, and comparing him to Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn is ridiculous. He's a far-right russian nationalist, he was marching in white supremacy marches, he was not against the war that russia started in Ukraine, he was racist, xenophobic and also imperialistic. He called Georgians "rodents", he was saying that all the immigrants in russia are cockroaches and they should all be deported. He was against putin just because he wanted putin's job. But he was the same, and absolutely not a hero. Please do some research before writing things like this. Seeing this article on Aish is very very disappointing.
Hear! Hear!
Thank you for writing this. I heard about this great man a few years ago and have been praying for his safety every day. May his memory be for a blessing and may we all be a little bit more courageous and fearless after reading about his life.
Thank you!
Navalny could be a believer and still be effective (and alive) from outside Russia. This article does not tell me WHY it was better for Navalny to return to Russia to be imprisoned and killed.
Author responds: Natan Sharansky's correspondence with Navalny in the gulag had just been published by the Free Press. In it, Sharansky writes: I was very angered by the question of a certain European correspondent the day after your return to Russia. “Why did he return? We all knew that he would be arrested in the airport—does he not understand such simple things?” My answer was pretty rude: “You’re the one who doesn’t understand something. If you think that his goal is survival—then you are right. But his true concern is the fate of his people—and he is telling them: ‘I am not afraid and you should not be afraid either.’ ”
Courage is often misunderstood. It was in Torah, as it is in life today. Being martyred for a righteous cause can be a calling, done with dignity and honor and righteousness. Who am I it know the soul as G-d sees it. I’ll reserve my judgment until a Great Light shows his soul to us all.
There has a lot of propaganda against Navalny, including his supposed antisemitism. His observant Jewish chief of staff said that his antisemitism is totally untrue and has been his Shabbos guest many times.
@Sara Yoheved Rigler
It's obvious that you didn't bother to read Navalny's writings in Russian. If you had, you'd know how racist and anti-semitic he was.
Perhaps you can read writings in Russian. I don’t know if Ms. Yocheved has that talent, and I certainly don’t. But I observe that apologists for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine routinely claim that Pres. Zelensky is a Nazi. Given the ridiculous assertions that Ukraine is a part of greater Russia (aka USSR), I am not going to believe anything that comes out of Putin’s Kremlin. May Mr. Navalny rest in peace, and may Gd comfort his wife and children.
President Zelensky is a Jew so anybody who calls him a "Nazi" is just being ridiculous.
I can read writings in Russian and I attest to the fact Navalny was not at all the hero and some freedom fighter for the forces of light the way so many people want to view him. Racist and anti-Semitic - I haven't actually checked. But authoritarian and intolerant to dissent, creating a cult-like totalitarian following - yes. Simply put, it's ridiculous to present him as something opposite of Putin. He was not an alternative to Putin. He was an alternative Putin.
Leave Zelensky out of it, but just for the record, a Nazi is anyone who considers representatives of another nation subhuman. Nazis themselves held such views not only about the Jews but also about Gypsies. So if a Jew holds such views about those same Gypsies or any other nation, then, yes, that Jew is a Nazi.
What about his alliance with neo-nazis in Russia? It is public, just go to Wiki.
Great article! So impressed by Navalny’s courage.
That Navalny was an incredibly brave man is not in question, but let's not forget that the journey which led him to this courageous stand, began with him as an atheist. It would be wrong to infer that all atheists are mean self-serving individuals as you imply. I'm sure it wouldn't take long to find equally deserving people among the non-religious sections of society.