Dr. Solomon Gaon, the British Sephardic Chief Rabbi, said today that he had found everywhere in Spain on a recent visit a growing sympathy toward Jews and a desire to remove obstacles in the way of free practice of Judaism.
Dr. Gaon, who reported on his visit to the Board of Deputies of British Jews, also indicated that these obstacles had become formidable over the centuries. He said it would take time to establish a durable friendly relationship between the Spanish population as a whole and its small Jewish minority.
The Chief Rabbi said that the Jewish population had recently grown in two cities where there were Jewish communities–Madrid and Barcelona–although in both cities the numbers were still tiny. During his visit, he had interceded with prelates of the Catholic church and with important persons in the Spanish Government. He addressed audiences of both Jews and non-Jews.
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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.
