Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi Isser Untermann has received an invitation to attend the 75th birthday celebration planned in Moscow for Rabbi Yehuda Leib Levin on Feb. 23, it was learned today. Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Nissim also has received one from the head of the Moscow Central Synagogue, the celebration sponsor, and is considering accepting it.
Rabbi Untermann said today that he was needed in Israel and would not attend but would send a congratulatory message to Rabbi Levin.
Observers cannot recall any invitation from the Soviet Union for a visit by Israeli religious leaders since the establishment of the State and are speculating about the significance of the two just received. It was generally assumed that the invitations could not have been sent without authorization by Soviet officialdom.
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