Meet the Jewish Magnate Who Chews Nails and Spits Out Steel

Real estate mogul Alexander Levin is the man with plans. Some initial reports presented Levin as a man with the political instincts of the Russian bear who chews nails and spits out steel. There’s no doubt that he’s a hard-talking man. Jews, though, from throughout the world might be interested in hearing more from Levin.

Here’s a start: “I want to make Israel live buy the law of the Torah,” he said. That’s from an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Levin also called for the United States to work closely with Russia in order to tame Iran. Should the United States administration not be keen to form the alliance, perhaps the government of the United States should be overthrown, he said.

Levin, a Lubavitcher, shrugged off the diplomatic faux pas and said it’s all about genetics. Russians, he said, are hard-wired to fight for their survival. If they feel threatened, the Russian will do everything to crush that threat, he said.

No diplomat he, Levin may come across to some as a cantankerous and perhaps a reckless man, but his rags-to-riches story is a testament to Levin’s resourcefulness, spirit and tenacity. That earns him appeal.

Last month, he spent that appeal for the Israeli cause when he walked onto the United Nations’ floor and forged, with hammer and steel oratory, the birth of the World Forum of Russian Jewry. The official recognition of this new organization featured 600 Russian-speaking Jews from America, including Holocaust survivors.

Levin, who follows Chabad rituals, makes no apologies to the fact that the forum’s primary goal is to fight against Iran. Perhaps he seeks a public fight with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

It’s known that the fumbling firebrand Ahmadinejad is not always on the best terms with Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei spanked Ahmadinejad last spring and threatened to remove him from the presidency in a rare public dispute over Ahmadinejad’s chief of staff.

On the UN floor, Levin made it clear that the goal of the Russian forum is to gather Russian Jews from around the world “in order to save ourselves and other people from the next catastrophe and genocide.”

Levin talks like a tough Russian. That everyone knows. He’s a big block of a man with square shoulders and a barrel chest who’s not afraid to kick the cage and see what shakes out.

He pounded Iran and Ahmadinejad on the UN floor and blasted the Iranian president for calling the Holocaust a “deception.” He said he is gathering Russian-speaking Jews from every corner of the Earth to fight Ahmadinejad and Iran’s nuclear program. “We will not let another Holocaust engulf us,” Levin said.

It’s apparent that he wants to see Russia and the United States join forces and take on Iran. He cautions, though, that for that marriage to take place, the West must view Russia and Ukraine “the right way.”

Speaking for his new organization, Levin said “we” understand Vladimir Putin, the prime minister of Russia. “We have the same mentality,” he said, where new channels can be opened to unify international opinion against Iran. He seeks to plow the path for the arrival of Moshiach. “That is my goal,” Levin said.

Levin rose to financial prominence in the shadow of the Russian bear in Ukraine. He lived in a small apartment in Kiev and arrived in the US in 1988. After a few years, he returned to Ukraine and made a fortune in real estate.

While in his 20s, he felt a need to explore Judaism. Levin was at first hesitant to become a leader in Jewish affairs. “I’m a businessman,” Levin recalled of his thinking back then. He eventually became the president of the Greater Kiev Jewish Community

Levin, the president of the World Forum, has absorbed several Russian Jewry organizations into his fold and plans to open 18 offices in Russian-speaking communities around the world.

Levin has not set goals, plans or strategies yet for the forum. He shrugged and said: “We just created it.”

“We can be the bridge between East and West,” Levin said. “We have the possibility to save the people of this planet from an impending danger of a new genocide,” he added.

How would this be done? The man who grew under the shadow of the Russian bear is silent. For now. However, Jews are curious about the man who chews nails and spits steel.