Following a series of statements by various political and religious figures - including Russia´s chief rabbi - anti-Semitism appears to be rearing its ugly head once again. In the past two weeks in Moscow alone, a rabbi´s son was beaten by skinheads and a woman was blinded by a bomb attached to a sign reading "Death to the Yids." (Law enforcement representatives say there is no proof the act was anti-Semitic. Hmm. How much evidence do you need, a signed affidavit saying "I want to kill Jews?")

Obviously, proclaiming the death of anti-Semitism in Russia would be too premature. It is one of the dark aspects of Russian culture that has periodically manifested itself over the centuries, from the pogroms to the bloody carnage wrought by the tsarist-era Black Hundreds gangs, to Stalin´s use of anti-Semitic propaganda in the Doctor´s Plot and calls to rally against rootless "Zionist cosmpolitanism." And it is still very much with us.

Judaism is one of the "official" Russian religions, alongside Russian Orthodox Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. As such, it receives state sanction and, one would wish, acceptance by society. Unfortunately, the latter seems to be little more than a pipe dream.

Lest we be accused of being alarmist, we would like to stress that, no, there is little to no chance of a mass wave of anti-Semitism sweeping Russia any time soon. Sword-wielding Cossacks are not about to come rampaging through Russian cities as in some 18th-century pogrom. However, residues of this historical social malady do remain in Russian culture, and they need to be addressed and recognized as the threat they are. Certainly, anti-Semitism and racism of various sorts are not confined to Russia - hatred is a pastime with global appeal - but, given the country´s history, they are something we should keep an especially keen eye out for.