About 15,000 Jews gathered in front of Moscow’s Choral Synagogue Thursday night in celebration of Simhat Torah–the largest number of celebrants to do so in recent years. According to eye-witness reports, Soviet police did not interfere as thousands of young people sang and danced in the streets, watched by thousands more elderly persons. But according to one source, the neighborhood was “dotted with secret agents.” An estimated 1500 young British Jews attended services at Marble Arch Synagogue here last night to demonstrate their solidarity with Soviet Jewry. Many of the group carried torches and placards. They stood in silence as letters were read from Russian Jews protesting the refusal of Soviet authorities to let them emigrate to Israel. There were also readings of poetry by Russian-Jewish poets.
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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.
