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April 09, 1965 - Image 2

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1965-04-09

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

Purely Commentary

Russia's Susceptibility to Criticism

Russia's sensitiveness is a good omen. If the Soviet Union were
not susceptible to criticism, the issues that call for condemnation of
acts occurring in the USSR would fade into hopelessness. The fact
that the Kremlin responds to the critics and often seeks to defend
its position is in itself a sign that there is always hope for improve-
ment and for securing succor for the afflicted.
A typical example of sensitiveness is the statement that appeared
in Soviet Life, the magazine published by reciprocal agreement be-
tween the United States and the Soviet Union, in reply to an inquiry
on the question of Bible publishing in Russia.
Soviet Life, under the heading "No Hebrew Bible Since 1917?",
carried this letter signed by Daniel Signal of Los Angeles:

The Los Angeles Times columnist Paul Coates states in his column of
August 25 that "Russian Orthodox Bibles were printed in large numbers
in 1957. A Russian language Bible for Baptists was published in 1958. A
Koran for Moslems was printed in 1958. No Hebrew Bible has been per-
mitted since 1917."
Is there any truth to that statement? As far as is known, no religious
objects of any kind had been produced in the Soviet Union. What are the
real facts about. it? Please inform us either by replying in your magazine
or privately. If in the publication, kindly mail me the issue in which it
will appear. We are having a hot debate on it.
This is an entirely new twist in the long line of canards regarding
"Soviet Anti-Semitism."

The magazine then published the following reply, made at its
request, by Natan Olevsky, Rabbi of the Jewish Orthodox Community,
Maryina Roshcha, Moscow:
I have just read your letter citing Mr. Paul Coates' story that
the publication of the Holy Bible for Jews is supposedly banned
in the USSR.
Let me describe the real situation.
As a rabbi and a religious person. I very much regret that in
the USSR, as elsewhere in the world, the number of Jewish be-
lievers has fallen off greatly and tends to keep falling. Hence the
lack of interest in the Bible in Hebrew and the lack of demand
for it.
It would cost many thousands of rubles to publish the Bible in a
printing of 5,000 copies. And the money would be wasted, since
it would have no sale.
I am reliably informed that every religious Jewish family in
•the USSR has one or more copies of the Bible in Hebrew, in
Russian or some other language. The Torah is read at all syna-
gogues on the days commanded, with all members of the congre-
gallon following the passage from the appropriate book of the
Bible. In addition to the Bibles that the members of the congre-
gation own personally, synagogues have dozens, sometimes hun-
dreds, of copies for worshippers to use at services.
In 1927 the Old Testament was published in five volumes in
. Hebrew in Bobruisk. Byelorussia, and in 1940 it was published—
also in Hebrew—in Vilnius. capital of the Lithuanian Soviet
Republic. The second publication had a particularly wide distri-
bution, and since then no need has arisen for another printing.
No Jewish congregation has ever raised the question of addi-
tional printings of the Bible or the Talmud. However, should
the need arise, they could go ahead with publication and en-
counter no obstacle.
As for Hebrew prayer books, they were published in 1920 in
'Odessa, in 1922 in Petrograd, in 1924 in Rostov-on-Don, in 1928
in Kiev, in 1934 in Minsk, and in 1939 and 1940 in Vilnius and
Riga.
At the end of 1955 the Moscow Jewish community printed
4,000 prayer books. It took more than six years to sell the entire
:edition*, though copies were sent to nearly all Soviet Jewish com-
munities. Even the largest bought only 10 to 25 copies. The reason,
•as I have said, is that there are fewer believers now, and the
devout Jews have enough prayer books.
Religious calendars are published annually by different corn-
munities. We have 5,000 copies printed in Moscow every year.
They are sold not only in Moscow but generally. Here again sales
are very slow.
However, when a Hebrew-Russian dictionary, which also con-
tained a course in Hebrew grammar, was published in a printing
of 25,000 copies in Moscow in 1963, it sold out within two or three
months. Currently a new edition is being prepared.
This all shows that the declining interest among Jews in the
Bible, prayer books and in religion generally derives from the
fact that Jewish children, young men and adults seek a higher
secular education, not a religious one, as was the case in czarist
Russia.
Although there are many Jews in Moscow, Leningrad and other
'Soviet cities, in the past 20 years not one young man has applied
for admission to the theological seminary, and this despite the
free tuition, the large scholarship grants (three to four times
larger than university stipends) and other benefits.
Soviet Jews stand on an equal footing with all other nationali-
ties, and religious Jews have the same rights as members of the
Russian Orthodox Church and the Moslem, Baptist and other
faiths.
This is the true picture.
If you, Mr. Sigal, were to come to the USSR and visit our
synagogues, you would see for yourself that the cock-and-bull
stories about discrimination against Jews or the Jewish faith are,
at best, the result of misinformation and, at worst, downright
slander.
In a sense, there is something naive about the entire exchange
of views. The Los Angeles correspondent reveals his own bias. Without
waiting for a reply, he wrote about "canards regarding 'Soviet Anti-
Semitism'," thus appearing merely as a planter of a question to
enable the Russia rabbi to write his apologetics.
The rabbi's views are interesting. His letter could have been
written by any communist who contends that since there is no desire
for survival, why worry about Jews and their Jewish interests? And
the assumption is that Jewish loyalties are declining everywhere!
What Rabbi Olevsky states is that interest is vanishing in Russian
Jewish ranks and that we may as well look forward to the com-
munity's demise. Even under the extremest conditions of assimilatory
tendencies, Tews seldom if ever speak in terms of disappearing.
Certainly this is not the view of a rabbi.
The major points made by Rabbi Olevsky need scrutiny. The fact
is that Bibles are not available in Russia. The additional fact is that
when a Jewish book is published in Russia it is reported quickly as
having been exhausted—to give the impression that there was such
an immediate approval by the demand for Russia's actions that there
is little ground for criticism for the publication of Jewish books in
Russia.
It has been established that whenever a Jewish volume is

:

.

.

2—Friday, April 9, 1965

A Rabbi as a Front for
USSR ... Inconsistencies
in Russian Apologetics

By Philip

SIOMOVitZ

published in Russia—and the quantity is never large—most of its
copies are sent overseas and very few are available in Russia proper.
The facts given- by Rabbi Olevsky relating to the publication of a
prayer book and a dictionary are interesting and they would be most
enlightening if proven true. But they do not correspond with the
search for such volumes by visitors in Russia.
Thus, we question not only the data offered in the statement in
Soviet Life, but more especially the sentiments of a rabbi who con-
dones assimilation and accepts the idea that Jews are vanishing. We
view it as something hardly to be expected from a rabbi and we read
Natan Olevsky's letter as echoing sentiments that one would expect
from a communist apologist.
The most recent issue of Soviet Life provides additional proof
of the desire on the part of those who speak for Russia to present a
front of tolerance, of friendship rather than animosity to Jews. It
contains an illustrated article, "Passover Night." by Moisei Itkovich,
about a seder in the home of a friend who remained a devout Jew.
Here are portions from this article which undoubtedly show the
official Russian approach to Jewish religious observances in Russia:
Samuel Meshoirer, an old-time friend, has been a linotype
operator from his early years. Coming from a Jewish family that
never questioned the traditional beliefs, he, too, was religious.
When I last saw him, he was a well-built young man with a clean-
shaven face. The man who now stood before me was elderly,
stocky, bespectacled, his thick beard touched with gray.
We were both glad to meet again. We talked and talked, each
telling the other what had happened over the years. Thus I
learned that Samuel was the father of 10 and that his wife had
been awarded a Mother Heroine gold medal, bestowed upon her
in the Kremlin.
As such conversations often do, this one led to an invitation,
Samuel asked me over for the Seder. He said his wife would be
especially happy for me to meet their children—the eldest were
already parents themselves—on the eve of Passover. I was touched
by Samuel's invitation; he and his wife were devout Jews, yet
he had asked me over, even though I had informed him I was
still an atheist.
"If that doesn't bother you," I had said, "I'll be happy to come."

The lady of the house, Pelageya Meshoirer, and two boys soon
joined us. . . .
"Many people, but only one guest," my hostess answered
graciously. "Just our family: the children, our sons' wives, our
daughters' husbands, our grandchildren and the in-laws. So you
see, you are our only guest."
"Are you sure no one will be offended because I'm not reli-
gious?" I asked. "I mean, I respect your beliefs and wouldn't
want to hurt anybody's feelings."
"You're not the only heathen here," Pelageya answered with a
smile. "Just enjoy the kneidlach, the raisin wine and the other
good things I've prepared. Our children are not religious either.
They come to the Seder because they want to please us. They
like these family evenings around the holiday table. .. .
The children came running into the room, yelling, "Come to
the table, come to the table! Grandma wants you to come to the
table."
We all went into the dining room. There. on a long table, set
for 20, stood a pair of tall silver candlesticks with candles. In
the center of the table was a large goblet of Passover wine, for
the Prophet Elijah. On either side of it were the traditional
haroset, a dish made of nuts, and morar—"the bitter herbs,"
horseradish. Goblets of wine were at each place setting, small
ones for the children.
The hostess came into the dining room. Bowing to all, she said,
"Gut yontev (Happy holiday)!" On the left side of her blouse she
wore the gold star of Mother Heroine. The greetings over, she
approached the table, lit the candles, and stood there, her hands
folded across her breast in prayer.
Then the others took their places. The first to be seated was
Samuel. He sat on a small divan piled high with cushions, the
Seder "throne" for the head of the family. His wife took her
place beside him.
When all were seated, Samuel placed three squares of matzoth
one on top of the other. The one in the middle was the afikoman,
to be eaten at the end of the feast. According to tradition, he hid
the afikoman under a cushion. Then the youngest boy turned to the
head of the family with the first of the four traditional questions:
"Why is this night different from all other nights of the year?"
The head of the family read the answer with deep feeling:
"We were slaves unto Pharaoh in Egypt. . . ."
The young people sat quietly and listened to the prayers and
the ancient recital of the Exodus from Egypt. Then the glasses
of tasty raisin wine were filled; Samuel passed the moron the
haroset, the hard-boiled eggs and other traditional dishes; the
women brought in mountains of matzoth and plates piled high;
and everyone set to.
After the feast the old folks continued to read the old tales
and sing the old songs. It was not until after midnight that they
sang the "Khasalsidur Pesach" (The Passover Feast Is Over).
And the guests departed.
How interesting! That an official Russian literary organ should
select a single religious family to display its seder—in so evident an
effort to prove that there is no religious prejudice—while it has been
established that matzoth are not available in Russia, except to a limited
degree, and that Jews in Russia refrain from speaking their minds
lest they be marked for punishments if they should openly practice
Jewish rites.
In this instance of the Passover account just quoted, as in the
Rabbi Olevsky letter, the Russians go out of their way to prove that
the observers are few in numbers. Yet, more than half a million
Russian Jews have given Yiddish as their mother tongue and appar-
ently have a desire for continuity as identified Jews.
It is the defeatism that is deplorable, and the Russian apologetics
that are aimed at proving that the conditions in Russia are due to a
desire on the part of Jews to abandon their Jewishness are most
unreal—even if it could be proven that most Russian Jews now are
estranged from their people. Many reports about Russian Jews provide
evidence to the contrary.
What the Russian propagandists do in their_ attempts to refute
Jewish accusations of discrimination is done a bit too haughtily. If

Austrian Student
Arrested for Death
in Clash Over Prof

VIENNA (JTA) — A neo-Nazi
student Gunter Kumel, was ar-
rested by Austrian police Monday
in connection with the death last
week of Ernst Kirschweger, a 67-
year-old survivor of a Nazi con,
centration camp, who was killed
during a student clash over Prof.
Taras Borodajkewicz. a member
of the faculty of the Austrian Col-
lege of World Trade.
Kumel, who has acknowledged
striking Kirschweger during the
clashes last week, had once been
discovered with swastikas adorning
his Christmas tree.
Agitation for the dismissal of
Prof. Boradajkewicz, an alleged
neo-Nazi and a history teacher,
mounted as hundreds of former
resistance fighters and students
from Socialist, Catholic and
Communist youth organizations
demonstrated against the con-
tinued employment of the
teacher, who has admitted
publicly that he was a member
of the Hitler SS during World
War II.

,

Students who oppose the pro-
fessor's discharge fought with the

demonstrators, several from both
sides being injured with fists,
rocks, fruit and some small Mor-
t ars.
The ministry of education is in-
vestigating charges that the tea-
cher is a neo-Nazi "spreading Nazi
poison among Austrian youth."
Jewish organizations have also de-
manded his discharge.

Teacher Is Fired
for Linking Hitler,
Jesus in Lesson

MONTREAL—For equating Hit-
ler with Jesus Christ in a class-
room lesson, a teacher has been
removed from his post, along with

the school principal and the dis-
trict director. The three are under
the jurisdiction of the Montreal
Catholic School Commission.
The teacher, Brother Rene Le-
haie, 22, was accused of having
placed the pictures of Hitler and-.
Jesus at the sides of a crucifix in
the seventh-grade classroom.
Above the picture of Jesus was
a cross, and above that of Hitler
was a swastika. "Heil Christ" was
written on the blackboard, and On
some mornings the children were
required to substitute the usual
prayer for c h a n t i n g s of "Heil
Christ."
Discipline in the classroom was
so militant as to carry overtones
of Nazism.

strained. If Russia actually had
made possible the availability of
matzos for Passover, it would be
acknowledged. But while a few
matzos are provided to a handful of
Jews in Moscow, the rest of Rus-
sian Jewry is made to feel that
eating matzos on Passover sabo'
tages the communist idea. Resoi
to a few articles in Soviet Life --n
does not answer the question re-
lating to the existence of anti-
Semitism in Russia. Khrushchev

and others have admitted on occa-
sions that there is an inheritance

from the past in the thinking of
the Russians, and while they have
outlawed anti-Semitism they have
not either enforced it or educated
the people to understand it. There
is guilt in Russia, in spite of the
views of Natan Olevsky or the
glamorous article on a Passover
seder that is relegated to what the
Russians would have people be-

lieve is a rejected past.
The newest exposes of anti-

Semitism in Russia, the attacks

in the press, the inherited venom,
as revealed in the past two weeks,
there could be a dialogue, if issues were to be met pragmatically, indicate that the rabbis whose
there might be accord. But you can't have a common understanding names are used for apologetics,
when the Russian papers, especially those in the Ukraine, are filled the editors who deny the existence
with bias, with vile attacks on Jews, with a revival of the, ritual of prejudice present an unconvinc-
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS murder libeL That is why the Jewish-Russian relationship is so ing front in behalf of the Kremlin.

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