Rabbi Yechiel Maximoff, only rabbi of Samarkand, fabled ancient city of Soviet Uzbekistan, arrived here today as an immigrant. The 74-year-old rabbi was wearing a traditional Bukharian robe of multi-colored silk.
Rabbi Maximoff told newsmen that the religious life of the Samarkand Jews had remained untouched throughout the Communist regime. He said that he had not only been the community’s rabbi, but also its cantor, mohel and ritual slaughterer.
He arrived on a plane with 14 other Jews from the USSR. Another passenger on the plane was Levi Kliest, who spent the past 15 years in Siberia where he had been exiled for Zionist activities. On another flight that arrived today were Mr. and Mrs. Zoltan Hirsh, released a few weeks ago from a Rumanian prison.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
