The Soviet Union, Poland and Czechoslovakia permitted messages of greetings but no delegates for a celebration in Bucharest last Sunday of the 60th birthday of Rumanian Chief Rabbi Moses Rosen at which Jewish representatives from two other Communist countries–Hungary and Yugoslavia–were present, it was reported here today.
The substantial guest list also included members of the Rumanian government, Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren of Tel Aviv and delegates from the United States, France, Britain and Greece. No explanation was received for the absence of rabbis of Jewish communities of Poland and Czechoslovakia. Rabbi Arthur Schneier of New York’s Park East Synagogue, a long-time friend of Rabbi Rosen, who is now in Europe, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that during a recent visit to Moscow, he had been told that Moscow’s new Chief Rabbi, Yakov Fishman was “too new” in his post “and will therefore not be able to attend” the birthday celebration.
The guests included also Dimitriu Doganu, the Rumanian Minister for Religious Affairs, Patriarch Justinian, head of the local Greek Orthodox Church, Dr. Bernard Bergman, honorary president of the American Mizrachi Federation, Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, president of the American Jewish Congress, Michael Fidler of Britain and Claude Kellman vice-president of the Fonds Social Juif Unifie of Paris. Some 200 Rumanian Jewish communal leaders also attended the festivities. Dr. Rosen, who travels widely, has managed to develop close ties with Jewish leaders and communities in both the East and the West.
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.
