[6] Adolf Shayevich was raised in Birobidzhan during the years under Joseph Stalin in far-eastern Siberia near the border with China, in a fairly secular family of Belarusian Jewish descent.
He found it difficult to find a job in Moscow: employers were wary about hiring a Jew, as they would not want to have any problems on their hands if the employee were to decide to migrate to Israel.
[11] In 1984, Shayevich visited the United States in a delegation of Soviet religious leaders, hosted by the U.S. National Council of Churches.
[citation needed] In a letter dated 1 January 1989, Rabbi Shayevich informed the World Jewish Congress that he was no longer a member of the Anti-Zionist Committee of the Soviet Public; that made possible his participation in the WJC.
When Lazar was named by the Kremlin to a high-profile governmental advisory panel that includes leaders of all religions officially recognized by the Russian government, the Kremlin demonstrated that it officially recognized Lazar as the religious leader of the Russian Jewish community, replacing congress's Shayevich, who until then had occupied the post.
Lazar, on the other hand, as the Kremlin recognized Chief Rabbi of Russia, has received a number of important official positions and has been showered with medals by the Russian government.