Purely Commentary Russian Jews Speak Their Minds There is no doubt that Soviet leaders are sensitive to criticism. Protests lodged against the recurring anti-Semitism are not falling on deaf ears. So it is with all dictators. They are above reproach among their own people, but they are not immune to condemnations from the outside. So it was with Hitler's lieutenants Goering and Goebbels- although Hitler himself always remained arrogantly inhuman and unresponsive to protests. Khrushchev certainly gives the impression that he seeks justice. That's why he immediately branded the authors of the Ukrainian anti-Semitic book "idiots." But many Jews in Russia definitely are uncompromisingly more Communist than their non-Jewish colleagues in the party. There were Jews in Nazi Germany who protested against the boycott of German- made _goods conducted in this country under Jewish auspices—even though the Nazi chieftains feared it. (There was the "Jewish leader" Naumann and a handful of his cohorts who objected to the protests against Nazism.) By the same token, there are Russian Jews who, instigated by their party leaders, have objected to the condemnations of USSR anti-Semitism. There are, however, facts that are indisputable about the spreading venom against Jews in Russia. An unusually interesting appraisal of the Jewish attitudes in Russia was developed for the Christian Science Monitor by Paul Wohl, based on his personal experiences in the Soviet Union. The CSM writer - commences his evaluation by stating: If you meet a Soviet citizen abroad and ask him where he is from, he will answer: from the U.S.S.R. If you know him a little better, or ask him in his own country, he will answer that he is a Russian, a Ukrainian, a Latvian, or any of the other Soviet nationali- ties. If he says, "I am a Soviet citizen," he probably is a Jew. Only if he belongs to the Communist elite is he likely to describe himself as a Jew. For all but tested party members engaged in important work it is a problem to be a Jew in the Soviet Union, and even more so to be a devoutly religious one. For a Soviet Jew it is harder to practice Judaism than it is for, say, an Orthodox Christian to practice his religion, because Judaism is suspected of giving its adherents a non-Soviet, international out- look and of orienting them toward capitalist practices; in other words, of dampening their zeal, the most cherished virtues in the Soviet Union. The emergence of Israel has further complicated this situation. Yet every Soviet Jew this writer has met professed to be a Soviet patriot, was engaged in practical work, rejected Zionism, or had an aloof attitude toward the state of Israel, tempered in some cases by sympathetic curiosity. While this has been my own experience, some on-the-spot observ- ers believe that most Soviet Jews would like to go to Israel. (Many non-Jewish Soviet citizens, too, would like to emigrate.) Paul Wohl then proceeded to say that there is no doubt that "Jews and Armenians are proportionately more active in underground capital- ism than, say. Russians and Ukrainians, more than half of whom live in the countryside and have little opportunity to travel." But there is a clarifying statement to point to existing prejudices. The Monitor's special writer points out on this score: Yet the proportionally large number of capital sentences of Jews for "speculation," defrauding the state, and similar charges and the way they have been played up in the press, would seem to indicate that anti-Semitism still is strong among the officialdom. Last year I witnessed evidence of it. was riding in the Moscow Subway when a big brawny man in his early 30's, later identified as a building worker, made an anti- Semitic remark to a frail-looking older man. The latter reacted sharply, identified himself as a war veteran, reserve officer and Communist, and demanded to see the younger man's identification papers. Most of the bystanders supported his request and offered to act as witnesses. The younger man complied, and it was understood that he would be taken to court. He walked away crestfallen. But what are the attitudes of the Russian Jews themselves? In his CSM article, Paul Wohl states the following, offering his personal experiences in the USSR: In Leningrad, in November, 1961, at the time when several leaders of the local Jewish congregation were reported to have been arrested, I shared my table in one of the best restaurants with a rotund and prosperous-looking Jewish furrier, who ate and drank merrily. He was a foreman in a shop and made money on the side fashioning fur coats for prominent citizens. I asked him whether he was a believer and had gone to the synagogue on the recent day of atonement. He was not quite certain about the former. To the synagogue he went once a year. It was a tradition, he said. "Maybe it's good. One can never know." About anti-Semitism he was noncommittal. He told me that on certain Jewish holidays the young people nowadays liked to dance folk dances and to sing songs in Yiddish in front of the synagogue to show that they, too, had a nationality. This was something new, he added; then he changed the subject. During my recent stay in Moscow, I met a Jewish chemist who questioned me about the condition of Jews in America. He admitted that it was harder for Jews to make a career in universities and research institutes. "But we do get ahead," he said, "if we have very good grades. I now study on the side for a degree as a civil engineer and hope to teach at a university." One of the difficulties he mentioned was that there were proportionally more Jewish students and professors than non-Jews. This man seemed to be outstanding in his field and was a nonbeliever. Shortly before returning to Warsaw I talked about the Jewish problem with a noted Soviet naturalist. I had repeatedly talked with him about matters of common interest without knowing that he was Jewish. This man, too, was a war veteran and a long-time party member. My friend turned out to have a sound knowledge of the Bible. He had studied it in Hebrew, he said, a language which his children also had learned. As a party member he was a convinced atheist and anti- Zionist. His daughters had married Jewish army officers and engineers. They were "proud to be Jews. Assimiliation had ended," he added. What does this mean? I asked. The Jews' main contribution to our civilization was the Bible, which is a religious book. Now they also had Israel, and he rejected both. What then linked Soviet Jews and distinguished them as a national group? Friday, April 17, 1964 — THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Imbedded Anti-Semitism in Soviet Russia—Becker Amendment's Vast Dangers By Philip Slomovitz He acknowledged the failure of the Jewish settlement in Biro- Bidjan, an autonomous so-called Jewish territory on the Manchurian border, but thought that another such experiment under better condi- tions might "perhaps" be possible. The main thing was for Soviet Jews to study their literature and to cultivate their folk ways without religion or contacts with Israel. As a Communist he stressed that anti-Semitism was punished as a crime in the U.S.S.R. I mentioned several facts pointing to official support of anti-Semitism. He replied that anti-Semitism was very old among the people a superstition which the Nazis had revived and that it would take many decades to get rid of it. This Jewish Soviet Communist then gave me a few facts and figures. He named a Jewish general who was twice a Hero of the Soviet Union, and another one who was a Jewish general and a member of the Supreme Soviet. Altogether 110 Jews have been named Heroes of the Soviet Union during the war. At least one Jew is a full member of the party's central committee. Jews account for about 1 per cent of the Soviet population, but more than 10 per cent of the scientific personnel, 14.'7 per cent of all physicians, 14 per cent of the writers, 23 per cent of the composers, 13 per cent of all artists, and more than 10 per cent of the jurists. I asked him about why Jews had their Jewish nationality indicated in their internal passports. Was this not making things unnecessarily difficult for them? The internal passports, which state everyone's nationality are an old Russian institution, said my friend. When I told him that the carrying of identification papers is not compulsory in the United States and in many Western countries, he found this hard to believe and then countered with a reference • to the high incidence of criminality in the West. There is just cause for this long quotation. The passport question is vital. Last week it was reported that there will be a change in such internal regulations which call for the specification of "Yevrei"— "Jew"—on passports held by Jews. But the situation in the USSR would still remain most seriously complicated under conditions of the proscription of cultural rights—a ban on Hebrew and on Yiddish newspaper publishing—at a time when more than 500,000 Russian Jews claim Yiddish as their mother tongue. The spiritual-cultural-religious discriminations are in force and the Russians may well be jittery over Jewish complaints. Then there is the matter of heroism shown by Jews who served in the Russian army. As an inheritance from Stalin and his anti-Semitic cohorts, there are the widely spread rumors that Jews made poor soldiers, that they were cowards, etc. The records tell an entirely different story. The Paul Wohl account presents facts that should be generally known. We are deeply indebted to the CSM writer for his most revealing report on the status of Jews in the Soviet Union. These revelations are not necessarily the most complete or basic facts about the actual conditions in Russia, but they do offer frank views on the imbedded anti-Semitism, on the difficulty of uprooting them; on the implied fears even among the most rabid Jewish Com- munists and anti-Zionists of the consequences of the spreading hatreds. Isn't it reasonable to believe that if the Soviet authorities really intended to prevent anti-Semitic excesses and to avoid placing blame for speculations mostly on Jews that they would succeed? , , The Becker Amendment Congressman Frank Becker of New York has inaugurated a move- ment for a Constitutional amendment which would negate the recent decisions of the United States Supreme Court in opposition to the teaching of religion in our public schools and which would alter all the original intents of the First Amendment providing for the prin- ciple of church-state separation. The Becker amendment contains a menacing proposal. While we live in an age in which we should not fear change, it is not as if the New York. Congressman had proposed a progressive move as of, for example, away from oppression unto the direction of libertarianism; or to remove • restrictions on civil rights and the freedoms of our people. What he deals with is in itself a mat- ter of freedom:, the right of Americans to choose their own way of teaching religion and not to be interfered with in their interpreta- tions. The Becker amendment would bring us right back to medieval times. Somehow, we have confidence that his amendment doesn't have a ghost of a chance to win wide support. Nevertheless, there should be an expression of protest against the very nature of even asking consideration for so backward an idea, and it would be well for all liberty-minded citizens to write to their representatives in Congress and to urge them to reject anything akin to the Becker plan that would place restrictions upon our free school system and would turn it chaotically into a battleground among faiths. Once the teaching of religion were to be permitted in the free American way of choosing or rejecting a faith, that is exactly what would happen, and that is what should be avoided. Aleph Katz—Yiddish Stylist Two of our columnists, Nathan Ziprin and Boris Smolar, already have commented enthusiastically on the latest volume of poems and plays by Aleph Katz. An added word of praise is in order for the able author best known as Aleph. He is a brilliant stylist, as his newest work, "Die Emesse Khassene" —"Quote a Wedding"—proves decisively. Like the seven of his preced- ing works, this one has deep feeling, is steeped in Jewish folklore, has marvelous elements of humor, is splendid literature. Would that it could reach a very large audience! Regrettably, even the best of Jewish literature in English has a small reading public, and the readers are vastly diminished in Yiddish! But those who do read Yiddish would do well to share the charms of Aleph Katz's writings, and especially his latest work. Impounding of 20 Tons of Matzo Charged to USSR NEW YORK, (JTA)—More than 20 tons of matzoth intended for Soviet Jews during Passover last month lay undelivered and wasted in Moscow custom houses. Bnai Brith said here. The unleavened bread had been shipped by Jews in Western countries at a cost of $100,000, including $20,000 paid in customs duties to the Soviet Union, Label A. Katz, president of Bnai Brith, disclosed. Bnai Brith also learned that parcels of matzoth sent to Jews in Kiev, Kishinev, Tashkent and Samark- and were not delivered, while matzoth shipped to Odessa by the Chief Rabbi of Denmark a r e "known to have been confiscated" by the Soviet authorities, Katz said. Katz said that the matzoth which failed to get beyond Moscow's customs houses were about half of an estimated 90,000 pounds shipped to the Soviet Union "after Soviet officials had let it be known that such shipments were author- ized and presumably would be delivered. In view of what has happened in Moscow, it is not un- likely that undelivered parcels of matzoth are piled up in the cus- toms offices of other Soviet cities." The Bnai Brith leader said he had no estimate of how much of the matzoth had reached the tables of Soviet Jewish families. One slight indication, he said, came from a report published in London 10 days ago which quoted Chief Rabbi Yehuda Leib Levin, of Moscow, as saying that he had received 204 parcels of matzoth for distribution to members of his congregation. Katz said that 1,000 such parcels—about 10,000 pounds of matzoth — had been directed to the attention of Rabbi Levin. The bulk of the shipments, he said, had been sent by Jews in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Israel and elsewhere to individual Jewish families in the Soviet Union. The shipments cost approximately $250,000, Katz said. USSR duty charges were about 45 cents on each pound of matzoth. Katz also charged that the press campaign made Jews in Moscow fearful to claim the 6,000 pounds of matzoth that were baked in the single rented facility t he authorities allowed this year. The Bnai Brith le a d e r estimated that it had produced no more than 8,000 pounds of matzoth. Katz noted also that the Soviet Union had carried on an "intimi- dating campaign" against Jews prior to Passover, so that many Soviet Jews who knew they had matzoth parcels shipped to them feared to claim them. ROOSEVELT -URGES HOUSE TO CONDEMN PERSECUTIONS WASHINGTON, (JTA)—A res- olution condemning the persecu- tion of persons by the Soviet Union, because of their religion, was introduced in the liaise of Representatives b y Democratic Congressman James Roosevelt, of California. The resolution is iden- tical with the one introduced in the Senate by Connecticut Demo- crat Abraham A. Ribicoff. Senator Ribicoff's measure has already ob- tained 63 co-sponsors. The insertion of the resolutions adopted by the American Jewish Conference on Soviet Jewry into the Congressional Record AV as among the echoes of the confer- ence in both Houses of Congress. Ashkenazi New Chief Rabbi Installed in Jerusalem JERUSALEM, (JTA)—In an im- pressive ceremony at Heichal Shlomo, headquarters of the Chief Rabbinate here, Rabbi Isser Ye- huda Unterman was installed Sun- day as the new Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel. He filled the post which has remained vacant since the death of Chief Rabbi Isaac Halevi Herzog, in 1959. Present for the ceremony were President Zalman Shazar, Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, Cabinet ministers and Knesset members. A fanfare was sounded as Rabbi Unterman, former Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, entered the chamber, accompanied by t h e Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Nissim, who continues in the post which he has held for many years. In a greeting on behalf of the government, Premier Eshkol stres- sed the significance of the Israeli Chief Rabbi as the rabbi of the whole Diaspora, and voiced the hope for a spirit of tolerance. In his inaugural address, Chief Rabbi Unterman underscored the need to preserve the true spirit of Judaism in order to achieve and fulfill the lofty, age-old vision of moral wholeness. This, he said, could be achieved by common striving and by abandoning the biases which cause friction.