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: Being affiliated with a corigreOation is truly important to your life in the commu- nity. This evening at our Oneg Shabbat we will have an informal discussion of our Religious School Program, Adult Education, Sisterhood, Youth Group KATY and other facets of our Temple membership. COME JOIN US We're A Small Reform Congregation And We Love It! Perhaps You Will Too. 661-0040 WHIT The Jewish Defense League is an action-oriented organization. ■ We offer Jewish pride and identity to Jewish youth. ■ 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. I am a Jew and I feel that I must help my people. Please send me an application to JDL. Address City I do not wish to become a member of JDL but wish to help financially. $18 $36 Enclosed is check ,-for: Zip State Phone# JEWISH DEFENSE LEAGUE NEVER AGAIN $50 $100 $ 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