The failure of Soviet authorities to issue visas to Chief Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits of Britain and Rabbi A.M. Rose forced them to abandon their scheduled flight to Moscow today to attend the celebration. Dr. Jakobovits and Rabbi Rose were invited to the fete by the chairman of the Jewish religious community of Moscow, as were all other invitees. Other prominent rabbis from Western countries were also invited, apparently with the approval of Soviet authorities.
Applications for Soviet visas were made at the Soviet Consulate here Monday morning. The rabbis were informed that their applications would have to be referred to Moscow. The Soviet Consul advised them today that no reply had been received by the time the last available flight to Moscow departed.
(Rabbi Bernard A. Poupko of Pittsburgh, Pa. was also denied a visa on orders from Moscow. He said his widely-published anti-Soviet articles probably made him persona non grata.)
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.