Alexei Navalny: What Was the Source of His Courage?

by Sara Yoheved Rigler

February 18, 2024

4 min read

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.

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.”

One God, Two Worlds

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.”

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Met dank overgenomen van:

https://aish.com/alexei-navalny-what-was-the-source-of-his-courage/

Onder dat artikel heb ik als volgt gereageerd:

Thanks for these excellent article! His courage was inspired by the only One God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob , presented in the Tora, Tenach and Yeshua ha Mashiach.
Yeshua was prepared to die for the Truth, for our sins in not always obeying the Tora and in love for all people who wanted to obey God He died for us.
He raised from the death after 3 days, went to heaven between Pesach and Shawuoth and shall return as the Mashiach ben David, may it be very soon.
Shalom
Ben Kok (jewish-christian pastor)