Eight Jews have been arrested in Moscow during the past few days for baking matzoth in their homes, the Daily Telegraph reported here today from Moscow. The newspaper also reported that “news of the arrests reached Jewish authorities in Britain.”
The report indicated that Moscow police also confiscated the machinery used for baking and cutting the matzoth and that the arrested Jews were charged with “illegal manufacture of foodstuffs and speculation.” The arrests were reported to have caused widespread concern among Moscow’s Jewish population.
It was recalled that on March 16, Chief Rabbi Yehuda Levine of Moscow announced to his congregation that the state bakeries would for a second year not bake matzoth, that matzoth baking on a community basis would not be allowed by the authorities, and that he was advising Jews to bake matzoth in their homes.
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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.
