When Dr. Moses Rosen, Chief Rabbi of Rumania, first visited the United States in 1962 he brought documentary evidence that Valeria D. Trifa, a Michigan Bishop who is head of the Rumanian Orthodox Episcopate of America, had been a leader of the notorious fascist Iron Guard in Rumania and the man who directed an anti-Semitic pogrom in 1941. But Trifa was cleared at the time by the Justice Department. Now Rabbi Rosen is visiting the United States when. by coincidence, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service is again investigating charges that Trifa lied about his past when he immigrated to the U.S. But Rabbi Rosen is staying out of what he says is strictly an American affair. “It is a matter of moral significance for Americans.” he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency during an interview in his hotel suite in the Essex House.
The 61-year-old rabbi, visiting the U.S. for a three-week lecture tour under the auspices of the United Jewish Appeal in order to seek additional funds for the Joint Distribution Committee’s program in Rumania, said he did not have to raise the issue of Trifa now that the former Iron Guard leader’s past was exposed in articles on the front page of major newspapers (Editor’s note: Expose of Trifa have also appeared in the Jewish News of Detroit and in a two-part series distributed by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.) The gray-bearded rabbi was joined by his wife in the midst of the conversation and she immediately guessed the discussion was about Trifa. They noted that the issue was raised by every interviewer since their arrival in the U.S.
Trifa was exonerated by the Justice Department which upheld his claim that he was a victim of communist slander. But Rabbi Rosen pointed out that Trifa lied in telling immigration officials when he came to the U.S. that he left Rumania in 1946 to escape the communists. The rabbi said Trifa actually left Rumania in 1941 when he and other Iron Guard leaders escaped to Nazi Germany after Gen. Ion Antonescu. who became Prime Minister with the help of the Guard, later turned on the organization. Rabbi Rosen said there are 123 graves in Bucharest of victims of the 1941 pogrom. He noted that Jan. 21 is their yahrzeit. Rabbi Rosen himself lived through the three days of horror– Jan. 21-23–and said that several times “I was put against the wall with a gun to my head.
He said that Antonescu, although an ally of Hitler, protected the Rumanian Jews. Nevertheless, half of the 800,000 Jews in Rumania were killed in the holocaust. Rabbi Rosen said the remainder were being prepared to be shipped to their death when the invasion of the Soviet army saved them. Since the war, some 300,000 Rumanian Jews emigrated to Israel, making them the largest ethnic group in the Jewish state. Rumania now has some 90,000 Jews, the second highest Jewish population in Eastern Europe. (Soviet Jewry is the largest.) “There is not a Jew in Rumania who does not have family in Israel,” Rabbi Rosen said. This added a special significance to the feelings of Rumanian Jews during the Yom Kippur War. Not only did they feel united with Israelis as fellow Jews but they were also concerned about their relatives. Rabbi Rosen explained.
“Through the JTA I would like to express our gratitude to the Joint and to American Jewry,” he said. “They have made it possible for us not only to maintain physical life but spiritual life as well.” Rabbi Rosen explained that the JDC program mainly helps 10.000 elderly persons who have no families or whose families have left for Israel. “It is not a program of philanthropy but of dignity,” he said. These people are sent packages of food and clothing several times a year as well as money. There is also a housekeeping service for the elderly as well as medical and dental care. Ten kosher restaurants are operated in which people can pay or not depending on their circumstances.
As for Rumanian Jewry in general, Rabbi Rosen said that Jews are accepted as loyal citizens with the right to maintain religious and cultural institutions. He said this status has not been easy to attain nor has it been easy for the government to grant because of various pressures on it. Anti Semitism is outlawed in Rumania, he said, although there are still anti-Semites in the country. But, he noted, Rumanian youth no longer receive the anti-Semitic education that was traditional in prewar Rumania, He said that most Rumanians seemed to be sympathetic toward Israel and the Rumanian government maintained cultural and economic relations with Israel. He noted that the government wanted to be friends with all countries in the Mideast and was working toward achieving peace in the area.
Jews are permitted to emigrate to Israel as part of the government policy of allowing the reunification of families. Rabbi Rosen stressed, He again denied a recent British report that Rumania had changed its policy, noting that just before he left his country on Jan. 6 he knew of several persons who were emigrating. He added that many Rumanian Jews also go to Israel as tourists and some retired people spend six months of the year in Israel and the other half a year in Rumania. In addition, Israelis frequently vacation in Rumania since its resorts are close and inexpensive.
Rumania’s 90,000 Jews, half of them in Bucharest, are organized into 70 Jewish communities with 150 synagogues. Rabbi Rosen said. He said synagogue attendance is good especially on Friday night when some 600 persons attend his synagogue in Bucharest. Crowds of 1000 to 2000 come for the holidays, he added. He visited 26 communities last Chanukah and every Jew came to the synagogue. Rabbi Rosen said that he considers any Jew who attends a synagogue even once a year as someone who wants to identify himself with his people, although, naturally, he would prefer more regular attendance. There is also a fortnightly Jewish newspaper written in Rumanian, Yiddish and Hebrew which Rabbi Rosen called a “bridge” for the Jewish community. He said all 8000 copies are sold out a day after the paper is distributed.
As for Jewish education. Rabbi Rosen said there are Talmud Torahs for youngsters after school. Surprisingly, he noted, these schools had a greater attendance during Stalin’s rule. The explanation is that most of these families emigrated to Israel, he said. The real upsurge in the return to Judaism is among high school and college students, he said. He noted that frequently students in their early 20’s ask that a Brit Mila (circumcision) be performed on them or that they be Bar Mitzvahed. For this age group there are special Hebrew classes, classes in Jewish culture and history and even a choir where they can all sing together. He said these classes are well attended and many of the youths coming to them do so against the wishes of their parents. Rabbi Rosen said the major threat to Jewish survival in Rumania is the lack of a means to train rabbis. He said most of Rumania’s Jewish leaders left for Israel and now there are only three other rabbis in the country.
The government has given special permission to import rabbis and shochets but it has been difficult to find them since the rabbis must speak Rumanian. However, recently a young Lubavitcher Hasid agreed to come to Rumania from. Israel to act as a shochet. Rabbi Rosen has been Chief Rabbi for 26 years attaining the post at the age of 35. Like other heads of religious bodies, he is a member of the Rumanian parliament.
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.
