The fight against anti-Semitism as a state issue and the forthcoming amendment of the Soviet constitution to lift the restrictions on the practice of religion were two of the important points treated in the keynote address delivered by Alexei I. Rykoff, president of the Council of People’s Commissars, before the fourteenth all-Russian congress of Soviets in session here.
Declaring anti-Semitism to be the result of a condition of “lack of culture,” the Soviet leader stated that “anti-Semitism is the expression of inequality and exploitation which cannot be tolerated under the Soviet regime. We consider every worker as an equal citizen, without regard to nationality. Only the Nepmen and the Kulak, whether he is a Jew, Russian or any other nationality, we consider as the enemy of the Soviet.”
Intimating that the Soviet congress will soon be asked to vote on the amendment of the Soviet constitution to permit the practice of religion, as well as the freedom to oppose religion, Rykoff stated that in the future the Communists will continue to advocate a fight against religion, but they will not apply against it the administrative force of the Soviet government. “We will recognize in our constitution the freedom of any religion,” he stated. The text of the Soviet constitution as adopted during the revolution and the formation of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics prohibited the practice of religion.
It is stated here on good authority that the constitutional amendment will provide for the separation of church and state, and church and school, but will grant the citizens the right to (Continued on Page 4)
Simultaneously there comes a report from the Ukraine that a vigorous campaign has been undertaken by the Jewish Communists against the observance of the Abrahamitic rite of circumcision. The Communist Yiddish daily “Stern,” conducts a campaign under the slogan: “Wipe out this barbaric rite.” The newspaper complains that during the past two years the number of Jewish societies and religious schools has greatly increased in the Ukraine due to financial support they received from abroad.
A fund of $3,000 has been subscribed by Dr. Harry Friedenwald and Dr. J. Frank Crouch to dedicate the main reception room of the Baltimor, Eye. Ear and Throat Charity Hospital in bonor of Dr. Samuel Theobald, one of the founders. Dr. Friedenwald and Dr. Crouch are members of the surgical staff of the hospital.
A gift of $1,000 for a room in the hospital in memory of Caesar H. and David J. Rosenheim was given by their brother, Dr. Sylvan Rosenheim, also a member of the hospital staff. A similar amount for a room in memory of Erust Fleischman was given by his widow. Mrs. Lillie Fleischman, and two sons. E. M. and Albert J. Fleischman.
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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.
