An agreement between the Federation of Jewish Communities of Rumania and the Joint Distribution Committee to provide for special needs of Jewish communities in Rumania was announced here today by Charles H. Jordan, JDC executive vice-chairman, on his return from a tour of East European countries.
He said that after he and Chief Rabbi Moses Rosen, president of the Federation, signed the pact, they were received by D. Degaru, chief of the religious affairs department of the office of the Rumanian Prime Minister. Mr. Jordan expressed to the Rumanian official appreciation for his Government’s policy of religious freedom.
Mr. Jordan told the official that the policy was more than tolerance of the practice of Judaism. He said the Government had given recognition and financial aid to the established institutions of the Jewish religion and had made it possible for the Jewish community to survive.
Mr. Jordan also said that the JDC was “grateful to the Government, to Dr. Rosen and to all concerned for giving us the opportunity to resume here once again the job assigned to us by the Jews of America more than 50 years ago — to serve Jews wherever they may be.”
Rabbi Rosen expressed the belief that cooperation between the JDC and the Federation would produce a new surge of life and vitality for Judaism in Rumania. He declared that the new agreement “is another evidence of the waning of the cold war that has so long kept us from working hand-in-hand with our religious brethren in other lands and as the climate grows still warmer, the way will be opened for still further association between the Jews of Rumania and those of the rest of the world.”
Moses Levine of the JDC office in Geneva was made JDC representative in dealing with the Rumanian Federation. He said that with JDC help, the Federation had set up eight canteens in Jewish centers throughout Rumania at which 1,300 persons were provided meals for Passover. In addition, special cash grants and kosher food packages were provided to 4,000 Jews to enable them to observe Passover in their homes. Details of the permanent program are being worked out in Bucharest between Dr. Rosen and Mr. Levine.
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.
