Jakobovits, Back from Soviet Visit Says There is Reason to Be Hopeful; Situation of Soviet Jewry Com

Chief Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits said today that his nine-day visit to the Soviet Union from which he has just returned, gave him “reason to be hopeful” about the situation of Soviet Jewry and taught him that “the circumstances of Soviet Jewry are much more complex than the simplistic view taken by so many here.”

In an exclusive interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, the Chief Rabbi said, “There is a need for thorough and careful reappraisal of attitudes and priorities.” He spoke of his meetings with Soviet officials at various ministries and of his visits to the three largest Jewish communities in the USSR–Moscow, Leningrad and Kiev. “I was tremendously uplifted by their struggle to preserve Yiddishkeit which is an inspiration to the world.” he said.

Jakobovits was invited to the Soviet Union by the leader of the Jewish congregation in Moscow. He was accompanied by Moshe Davis, director of the Chief Rabbi’s Office in London. As Chief Rabbi of the British Commonwealth, Jakobovits was the first spiritual leader of a Western Jewish community to visit the USSR in an official capacity. He described his experience as “both exhilarating and harrowing.”

He told the JTA that at the outset of his tour he spent several hours at the Soviet Ministry of Cults in Moscow with Viktor Titov, deputy chairman of the Ministry’s religious affairs department. He said they discussed ways of increasing the Jewish community’s cultural activity; developing contacts between the Russian and British Jewish communities; Hebrew language tuition; the provision of religious artifacts, Bibles and prayer books and the possibility of publishing them in the Soviet Union was touched on.

OFFICIALS FRIENDLY, COURTEOUS

Jakobovits reported that at Titov’s suggestion, he met later for an hour with Col. Ovchinikov, deputy director of the All-Soviet Committee of the Ovir, the Interior Ministry’s visa and registration department. Jakobovits said. “We were treated in a friendly and courteous manner,” by the Soviet officials and “both sides agreed that the conversations were helpful.”

The Chief Rabbi said his talk with Col. Ovchinikov focussed on the question of re-unification of families. He said the official explained the procedure and criteria for issuing visas. “Hopes were hold out that the various representations we made will be seriously taken.” Jakobovits said. “They gave us reason to be hopeful. Moreover, there was a wish for further visits and contacts, and the desire that meetings be hold where problems could be discussed and solutions explored. We tried to bring home to them that if they remove the cause of complaints, they will find the Jewish world responsive.”

He said he travelled 2,000 miles in the Soviet Union, stopping in Moscow which has 750,000 Jews, Leningrad with 300,000 and Kiev with 200,000 Jews. “I am not an expert after nine days,” Jakobovits said. “and I only met 1,000 out of millions of Jews, but the situation is more complex and the dimensions more acute than one imagines.”

HARROWING, SAD EXPERIENCES

He said the harrowing aspects of his tour occurred on his visits to Babi Yar, site of the Nazi massacre of Kiev Jewry in World War II. and to the monument in Leningrad to the 680,000 persons who died of starvation in that city during the German siege. “One realizes the massive role played by the Russians in defeating Nazism, one perceives anew that the Russians and the Jews suffered more than any other peoples from the Nazis.” the Chief Rabbi said.

Jakobovits described his Sabbath at the Moscow Synagogue where he was invited to speak by its chairman, Mikhael Tandetnik. He said the worshippers included a number of prominent Jewish activists, among them Prof. Alexander Lerner whom he met later at his home when addressing a seminar on Jewish medical ethics. The Chief Rabbi also addressed a scientific seminar for dismissed Jewish scientists at the home of Prof, Mark Azbel in Moscow. He said they told him. “We are being scientifically killed. This is death for us. All contacts with the outside world are life-giving.”

Jakobovits said he gained the impression that his visit was a momentous occasion for the Jewish scientists who were stripped of their professional posts after applying for exit visas. He said a happier occasion was his meeting with the Pritsker family in Leningrad who were overjoyed at just being informed that they would be granted visas to join their son, Zeev, in Israel.