32
Friday, August 14, 1981
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Romanian Jewry Will Celebrate
Journal, Sephardim Anniversary
By EMIL SECHTER
' Secretary General
of the Federation of Jewish
Communities of Romania
and
By ING. TH . BLUMENFELD
President
of the Bucharest
Jewish Communtiy
The Jews in Roinania —
the 33,000 left after 350,000
emigrated to Israel in the
last 33 years — are prepar-
ing to celebrate a signific-
ant event in Elul (Sep-
tember).
It is 25 years since the
first issue of the Revista
Cultului Mozaic (The
Jewish Journal) of Romania
was published. In the
quarter-of-a-century that
has passed, this publication,
which always has been pub-
lished in three languages —
Hebrew, Romanian and
Yiddish — and recently in a
fourth language — English
— has taken on a special
significance.
In the first place, the
newspaper is the only one in
the whole of Europe (East
TEMPLE KOL AMI
5085 Walnut Lake Road (Just West of Farmington Road)
West Bloomfield
SPECIAL SHABBAT SERVICE FOR PROSPECTIVE MEMBERS
FRIDAY EVENING — AUGUST 14th — 8:30 P.M:
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our Religious School Program, Adult Education, Sisterhood, Youth Group
KATY and other facets of our Temple membership.
COME JOIN US
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661-0040
WHIT
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■ We help free oppressed Jews around the world.
■ The Jewish Defense League teaches Jews survival through
self-defense training.
■ We work for a united Jewish people in a complete Jewish state.
■ We combat assimilation through Jewish education.
Call now for more information, 357-5449.
A Hebron Memorial Day
rally will be held on Sunday,
August 23, 1981 at the Zionist
Cultural Center, 18451 W. 10 Mile
Road in Southfield. For further
information, call 357-5449.
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people. Please send me an application to JDL.
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Return to: Jewish Experience, P.O. Box 2435, Southfield, Mich. 48034
•
.
.
Stolen Torahs Recovered,
National Registry Planned
•
Name
RABBI MOSES ROSEN
and West) brought out in
Hebrew and it is issued in
Bucharest, the capital city
of Communist Romania. In
the early years, thousands
of Jews learned the holy
language from this journal.
In the second place, the
10,000 copies of the
twice-monthly publica-
tion reaches all the
Jewish homes in
Romania, is widespread
also among the other
religions in Romania and
among the Romanian in-
tellectuals. It spreads
Jewish ethics, our prin-
ciples, and has won us the
respect and esteem of the
other religions and
nationalities.
The Journal is a "paper
bridge" between us and
Jews all over the world. It is
sent legally to more than
800 subscribers throughout
the Soviet Union. The Jews
there copy it in thousands of
copies that are dissemi-
nated in hundreds of Jewish
communities.
For several years now, we
have been receiving almost
daily letters of thanks from
the readers in the Soviet
Union, who are happy with
this only and legal source of
Jewish knowledge.
The journal has a na-
tional Jewish, religious
character, with the love of
Zion affirmed in its pages —
its campaigns for the great
principle of social progress
which has imbued our
whole Torah for thousands
of years.
From the beginning of its
publication in 1956, the
journal has been directed'
and edited by Chief Rabbi
Moses Rosen, who regularly
writes the editorials, many
of them dedicated to Torah
comments, celebration of
Jewish events, etc.
A second event being
celebrated is the 25th an-
niversary since the ap-
pearence of the first
documents that prove the
-existence of a Sephardic
community in Bucharest.
Although Romanian
Jewry (especially the
Ashkenazi) has an almost
600-year-old history, we
considered it necessary that
we honor the document-
proven existence of a
quarter-of-a-millenium of
the Sephardim in Romania.
The Standing Committee
of the European Rabbinic
Conference has decided to
join in the celebration of
these events and as a trib-
ute to the Romanian Jews,
to hold its meeting in
Bucharest during the fes-
tivities in September.
The guests will visit sev-
eral Jewish communities in
the provinces, market
towns and the last "shtetls"
in the world.
1111111111111Milft
NEW YORK (JTA) —
Two Torahs stolen from
Temple Beth Shalom in
Smithtown, N.Y. last June
have been recovered and
three teenagers have been
charged with burglary.
The Torahs, valued at
$16,000, were found buried
in a sump in a heavily
wooded area, police said.
Still missing are the Torah
crowns and breastplates
and office equipment that
were taken in the June 15
robbery. The total loss was
estimated at $50,000.
A spokesman for the Con-
servative synagogue said
that the value of the mis-
sing items were "over-
stated" and said he pre-
ferred not - to speak about
the costs. He said, however,
that "the entire (police) de-
paAtment has done a beauti-
ful job" in helping to recover
the lost items.
In a related develop-
ment, major New York
and national Jewish
agencies have agreed to
establish a computerized
Torah registry, accord-
ing to the New York
Times.
The registry represents
an effort to halt the growing
number of Torah thefts. In-
visible identification num-
bers will be stamped on the
scrolls without violating
stringent religious laws.
The registry will be tied
in with informal systems
used by local police and the
Federal Bureau of Investi-
gation. The program is also
expected to involve Jewish
groups and law enforcement
agencies in Canada,
Mexico, the United King-
dom, France and Israel.
"We recognize that no
system can be foolproof, but
we believe that this will be
an important deterrent,"
Malcolm Hoenlein, execu-
tive director of the Jewish
Community Relations
Council of New York said.
One problem in setting
up the registry, accord-
ing to Hoenlein, was get-
ting approval to do any-
thing to the Torah itself in
the way of markings.
Any holder of a Torah —
synagogues, schools, in-
stitutions, dealers and indi-
viduals — will be able to
enroll in the program for
five years at a nominal fee.
Grandchildren are God's
way of compensating_us for
growing old.
—Mary H. Waldrip