Miller Says Rumanian Jewish Community is Vital, Well Organized, Active

Rabbi Israel Miller, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said here yesterday that he had found the Rumanian Jewish community to be a highly vital, well organized and active community, Rabbi Miller yesterday returned from a week-long trip to Rumania during which he visited synagogues, Jewish institutions, clubs, welfare facilities and conferred with local officials and foreign diplomats. He visited the country as guest of the Rumanian government.

The chairman of the Presidents Conference told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, “I was surprised to see the Rumanian community to be so vital, so well organized and so well attended.” He said that all these activities were carried out not only with the full knowledge of the Rumanian government but with its active help.

Rabbi Miller said that he did not know how many of Rumania’s estimated 60,000 Jews want to leave the country but he hoped and believed that all those who want to do so will be able to do so. He said that he, nonetheless, gave the American Ambassador in Bucharest a list of Jews whose families in Israel and elsewhere said they were prevented from leaving the country.

PRAISES JEWISH LIFE-STYLE

Rabbi Miller, who visited Jewish installations in both Bucharest and a number of other cities, said that as far as he could ascertain the synagogues were not merely show pieces but vital parts of the community. He also expressed praise for the kosher restaurants, the Yiddish theater, the Yiddish paper which appears in Rumanian and Hebrew, and the various other installations. He said he saw Jewish choral groups sing in Yiddish and Hebrew and one day in a small provincial city found 50 people attending services in the local synagogue early in the morning.

He deplored the fact, however, that there are only two rabbis left in Rumania and expressed fear as to what will happen after Rumania’s Chief Rabbi, Moses Rosen, retires. Rabbi Miller said he intends to present a report to the American Jewish community on what he had seen during this week-long trip.