Representatives of a dozen Jewish communities gathered here this week to demonstrate their solidarity with Rumania’s surviving Jews and their support for the country’s Chief Rabbi, Moses Rosen.
The occasion was the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the deportation of the Jews from transylvania. Many of those who attended the ceremonies drew a parallel between those tragic times and the hardships many Jews still have to endure today.
Rosen, who earlier this year protested against anti-Semitic attacks in several Rumanian newspapers and books, reported that the situation has “considerably improved. “He said that since his meeting with Rumanian President Nicolai Ceacusescu “things are practically back to normal.” Rosen addressed the guests at a special symposum and during prayers at Bucharest’s main synagogue, the Choral Temple.
Among those who gathered in Bucharest were Israeli Minister of Communication Mordechai Zipori; World Jewish Congress executive director Rabbi Israel Singer; writer Elie Wiesel and Prof. Yehouda Bauer. Zipori met with President Ceaucescu and presented him with a message from Israeli Premier Yitzhak Shamir. Labor MK Itzhak Artzi also called on Ceaucescu and presented him with a message from opposition leader Shimon Peres.
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