What started out as a newspaper campaign’s attempt to engineer a political issue has become a national problem in England, with everyone joining in the chorus of protest against Russia’s religious persecution. The Labor party’s paper, the “Daily Herald,” declares the campaign to be a sinister scheme to get England to break off relations with Russia.
No matter what the origin of the outcry of disapproval, Jewish circles here are inclined to utilize the opportunity to emphasize the persecution of Judaism and the deplorable state of the Jews in Russia. The “London Times” today publishes a letter from Chief Rabbi Hertz referring to “the most serious element in the Soviet anti-religious campaign” as being the proscription of all class instruction in religion to the young even after school hours and even in the home. It is “evident that this strangulation of religious instruction constitutes the deadliest danger to the future of religion in Russia.” Quoting Rykoff’s denial of persecution of anyone because of his religious beliefs, Rabbi Hertz asks for a definite and unequivocal removal of the prohibition of religious instruction to the young. “If this be not achieved, all diplomatic representations will end in nothing.”
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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.
