An appeal for massive moral support of the human rights of Russian Jewry and others who are being denied cultural and religious self-determination in the Soviet Union was issued here this weekend by Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum, national Interreligious Affairs Director of the American Jewish Committee, Speaking at the general assembly of the United Presbyterian Church, Rabbi Tanenbaum told the almost 800 delegates that in appealing for this support “the Jewish community is not interested in heating up the cold war. The Jewish people is committed to peace.” However, Rabbi Tanenbaum continued, “The continued denial of those rights will continue to countervail any serious movement toward international reconciliation, and will undermine the credibility of the Soviet Union as a true seeker of peace and concord.” Rabbi Tanenbaum appeared before the assembly to introduce Mrs. Rivka Aleksandrovich, mother of Ruth Aleksandrovich. Mrs. Aleksandrovich, the first Jew to address a United Presbyterian Church assembly, received a standing ovation from the delegates. Speaking in English, the 47-year-old instructor in English at the university level in the Soviet Union before she was allowed to leave for Israel, said her daughter’s only “faults” were a desire to emigrate to Israel. “It is abominable that in the 20th century, persons are punished not for a crime, but for a belief,” she said.
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