Alexander Winogradsky
Reverend Father Protopresbyter Alexander Winogradsky was born in 1949, in Western Europe into a Soviet Russian family from the Ukraine [Nikolaiyev/Mikolaiyev, Kherson, Odessa]. His whole family perished over the period from the 1880's during the Ukrainian and Russian Revolutions up to the Holocaust [known in Hebrew as the Shoah or Hurban]. His parents and relatives were taken to Concentration Camps, mainly to Majdanek [Poland].
After World War II, Father Alexander's parents relocated in Western Europe.
Father Alexander first studied Linguistics, specializing in Comparative Linguistics and Jewish Languages [Yiddish, Aramaic and Ladino] and the influence of the encounter between Jewish Cultures, Prayers and Traditions in the Eastern European environment [Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova-Bessarabia].
EDUCATION
Father Alexander studied at the University of Copenhagen and continued his research works in the field of Comparative Religions, essentially interested in the connections between Rabbinics and Community Development in the same areas [Bukovina, Ruthenia, Poland and Ukraine] and the mutual Religious and Liturgical impact shown between the Hassidic and Hesychast [School of spiritual balance and silence,cf. Saint Gregorios Palamas]] Traditions in these regions.
Father Alexander's family supported the settlement of the Jews in Palestine from the time of the First Aliyah [the Hebrew word for Jewish immigration to Palestine/Israel] until the end of World War II, showing a special concern for the welfare of all the Nations living at that time in Southern Ukraine. After the Shoah/Hurban [Holocaust], his family decided to educate him in a spirit of Forgiveness and Lovingkindness, generally considered as a human and spiritual behaviour common to Judaism and Christianity.
ACTIVITIES
Father Alexander dedicates his life to this spirit of Forgiveness and has been working for many years toward the reciprocal in-depth recognition of Jewish and Christian Traditions, especially among the youth in Israel and in other countries.
Father Alexander is a Professor of Comparative Liturgy and Eastern Canon Law, who considers that daily life in a living Society, and especially among the Orthodox Christian faithful, implies a permanent necessity for praying, and the reading and understanding of the Scriptures. Therefore, for more than 20 years he has taught and lectured in the West [Paris, Brussels, Geneva] and the East [Jerusalem and Kiev].
Father Alexander served for 10 years as a Deacon. He worked in an International Socio-Cultural Company as a Counselor. He was ordained an Orthodox Priest and sent to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. His task is to set up the spiritual assistance to the Orthodox Christian believers within the Israeli Society, which is multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-confessional.
GOALS AND TARGETS
Father Alexander is basically interested in the impact of social and human life and the help that men, women, youths and elderly people can find in the spiritual Traditions, taking into consideration the huge task of inculturation required for those who intend to settle in Israel permanently within its Middle-Eastern, International and Semitic contexts, along with the emergence of new regional entities [Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority].
For the past 25 years, Father Alexander has also endeavoured to assist the sick, to visit prisoners, and to help narcotic addicts and prostitutes in a spirit of compassion. He always carries out these tasks with full respect for personal Freedom of Conscience [a major concern about Love, Freedom and Release mentioned in the Epistle to Philemon]. He carries out his duties in accordance with the Israeli Laws governing the obligations of the residents of the Holy Land towards the legal requirements of the State of Israel.
Father Alexander focuses his activities on the problems linked to personal and social identity and coherence, and the unique significance of the encounter between Jews, Eastern European Christian Orthodox faithful and Arab Christians living in the country where Jesus Christ was born, died and was resurrected from the dead.
Married and the father of 2 children [living outside Israel], Father Alexander was also given the blessing of his family to accomplish his spiritual work, and he now lives in the Great Monastery of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. He is in charge of the development of Orthodox Christian entities within the Israeli Society. He visits the sick, the prisoners, handles the inculturation of Orthodox Christian newcomers and lectures from time to time, especially at the Hebrew University.
With the blessing of His Beatitude Irenaeios I, Patriarch of Jerusalem, All Palestine and Holy Sion, Father Alexander is a member of the Ecumenical Theological and Research Fraternity in Israel and endeavours to be in contact with the maximum number of local people, especially mixed couples, in order to enhance their spiritual existence in the Holy Land.
Father Alexander has written numerous articles and books in various languages about the challenge of a true and real encounter between the Semitic Oriental Churches and the renewal of the Hebrew tongue as an old/new language. He is also a specialist on Faith issues, acting as a commentator in the various media.
Father Alexander is conveying his task with special attention to the Prophetic aspects of the country and its inhabitants in this core part of the world.
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