Students Stage Dybbuk Performance Outside Soviet Consulate; One Man Hit by Car

A “Dybbuk” performance was presented today in front of the Soviet Consulate by members of a student group for Soviet Jewry who have been maintaining a vigil in front of the Consulate since Tuesday. Dressed in Hassidic garb, the performers declared that they were there to “remove the dybbuk (evil spirit) from the government of the Soviet Union.” One student said that “The dybbuk from the Soviet government must be removed so that our brothers in Russia may live.” At the same time, the Montreal branch of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry received a phone call this morning from one of Premier Pierre Elliot Trudeau’s secretaries, asking them to stop their “phone-in” campaign to the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa. Apparently Embassy officials had complained to the Canadian government that their telephone exchange was being jammed with calls from Jewish persons protesting the plight of Soviet Jewry. Meanwhile, police announced today that they are in possession of the license number of the vehicle that rammed into a member of the group maintaining the vigil outside the Soviet Consulate. They also disclosed that they had gathered other details from witnesses regarding the hit and run driver, and were now working on his identification. The assault, which vigil participants claim was intentional occurred yesterday when a car emerged from the Consulate’s garage and headed directly toward the demonstrators. Although they scattered as the car approached them, the vehicle, however, did hit 30-year-old Larry Rothman and then sped away, Rothman, a teacher, suffered minor cuts and bruises.