American Association for Jewish Education Publishes Open Letter to Moscow Jews

The American Association for Jewish Education published “An Open Letter to the Jews of Moscow” today in an advertisement in the New York Times on the occasion of Simhat Torah. The letter, addressed to Menashe Mikhailovich, chairman of the board of the Moscow Choral Synagogue, greeted young Soviet Jews who, it said, would gather outside of the synagogue “to sing appropriate Hebrew and Yiddish songs and dance traditional Jewish dances on this night,”

“We believe they come together to identify themselves as part of a Jewish culture and the Jewish people, to express their solidarity with Jews throughout the world, to share a heritage of faith and a quest for peace and universal brotherhood, the message said. “We send you and them our fraternal greetings. We pray that such celebrations may be encouraged at other times and in other communities of the Soviet Union.”