American Jewry prepared for the traditional Passover holiday beginning at sundown today as messages of greeting were conveyed to the Jewish community from political, civic and religious leaders and from the major Jewish organizations. In a message to New York Jews, Mayor John V. Lindsay characterized Passover as “a tale of a people determined to be free, and who were willing to endure privation and hardship in their long journey to the Promised Land. There is. of course, an analogy for our own time.” Mayor Lindsay went on. “Today, the people of Israel are also willing to endure privation and hardship in order to be free in the nation they have built. Our hearts go out to the Soviet Jews who yearn to be united with their families in Israel and other lands. Freedom is the heart of the Passover holiday.”
Max M. Fisher, president of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds, noted in his greetings that “The message of Passover was never more timely–the message of freedom that speaks with great meaning at a time of growing confusions about social values and principles. The problems and difficulties of this generation are greater, because the opportunities are greater.” Mr. Fisher said that Passover was “the time to reenforce our efforts to strengthen civil liberties and human rights and to remove degrading poverty from our own land…the time to reenforce our efforts to help the Jews in the Soviet Union to win the religious and cultural rights which others in that country have and which they do not…the time to help the heroic people of Israel to secure firmly and enduringly their independence and their freedom against the onslaught of destruction which presses from all sides.”
Edward Ginsberg, general chairman of the United Jewish Appeal, stated that “Each generation of Jews, in one way or another, has had to repeat (the Passover) struggle for freedom. This is a condition that we are forced to earn again and again. We have fought, bled and died in a reaffirmation of the right to determine our own lives. Through dispersions and exiles, inquisitions and programs “Jihad’ and holocaust, our people have maintained their faith and have neither retreated nor compromised.” Dr. Emanuel Neumann, chairman of the American section of the Jewish Agency, declared that “To the people of Israel, American Jewry pledges its fraternal solidarity. We join with them in their insistence on their right to live in freedom and dignity. This is the current meaning of the Passover and the seder service as we celebrate this age-old festival of freedom in the year 1970.”
Louis Broido, chairman of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, an international relief and rehabilitation organization observed that many Jews “who almost forgot their ties to Judaism will be reminded of the ancient traditions of their people, will renew their faith in their Jewish past and in themselves” on Passover. “Others.” he said, “in varying degrees of freedom and affluence will also share in the afflictions and the exaltations of the ancient Hebrews in the time honored manner in Jewish homes the world over.” Abraham Feinberg, president of the Israel Bond Organization, noted that the burdens of the Israelis this year “are in many respects greater than they have borne in the 22 year history of the Jewish State.” He said, “All the sacrifices and burdens of the past crises, in 1948, in 1956 and even in the Six-Day War of 1967, have been outpaced by the unparalleled demands of defense which are almost three times as high today as they were three years ago.” Mr. Feinberg asserted that “This year more than ever before, the Israel Bond campaign will be decisive in maintaining Israel’s economic growth by providing the record sum of $250 million requested by Israel’s leaders.”
The New York Board of Rabbis also referred to Israel’s tribulations in a Passover message from its president. Rabbi Harold I. Saperstein. “In democratic Israel today.” he said, “two and a half million Jews are beleaguered and besieged by eighty million Arabs whose dictatorial governments have declared that they will drive the people of Israel into the sea. The Israelis are fighting for one elementary and basic right–the right to live in freedom and unhindered in their own land.” Rabbi Saperstein also noted that Soviet Jewry “have raised their voices as never before to indicate that they will no longer remain silent in the face of the restrictions placed upon them personally and upon their religious and their cultural life.” Harold Friedman, president of the United Hias Service, the world-wide Jewish emigration agency, said that while American Jews “Safe, secure, at home with our families recount with pride and thanksgiving the deliverance of our ancestors from slavery…our thoughts turn to the tragic plight of our brethren in distant lands who today valiantly struggle to cast off the yoke of persecution and degradation.” He said it was the task of the Hias service “to rescue our people dispersed by war, pogroms and political upheaval, to reunite families rent asunder by events beyond their control, to give our fellow Jews a new chance, a new hope, a new life.”
Philip E. Hoffman, president of the American Jewish Committee urged the free world to support pleas on behalf of Soviet Jews. In a Passover message. Mr. Hoffman said, “the voices of the 3 million Jews of Russia could be heard only occasionally and feebly and they look to the outside world for support.” Mr. Hoffman also referred to the Middle East where he assailed Arab refusal to make peace with Israel and the “crushing burden of armaments for all countries there.” He said that only direct talks between Israel and the Arab countries could “bring tranquility to this troubled part of the globe.” Referring to violence in the United States, he warned that “Where bombs and murder and arson hold sway, there is little hope of solving the real ills of mankind.”
Rabbi Roland B. Gittelsohn, president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the rabbinic arm of Reform Judaism, chose the occasion of Passover to chide those who demand freedom for themselves but would inhibit the freedom of others. “The trouble is that too many of us actually mean freedom only for those with whom we agree,” he said in a Passover message. “The Vice President of the United States, while subscribing to the Ideal of freedom, strives to inhibit the freedom of “liberals’ and ‘intellectuals.’ Conservative forces in Congress seek to undermine the freedom of Mr. Justice Douglas…The eternal message of Passover is that freedom means nothing unless it is extended fully to those who disagree with us most vigorously,” Rabbi Gittelsohn said.
Rabbi Bernard Segal, executive director of the United Synagogue of America the congregational arm of Conservative Judaism, warned in a Passover message that “Our own generation is experiencing the impact of brutal enslavements in various parts of the world” but is also witnessing valiant battles for freedom” on the part of Israel and the Jews of Soviet Russia. “The Hagaddah which we recite on Passover stressed the need for all of us to impart to our children the age-old story of human enslavement to pagan doctrines and the ongoing struggle on the part of humanity to attain redemption and freedom,” Rabbi Segal said. Mrs. David M. Levitt, president of the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods, called on Jews to “pray that the spirit of Passover, commemorating the deliverance of the Israelites from bondage in ancient Egypt, will be felt by all our citizens.” She noted that “The belief that everyone should share in full civil rights and equality of opportunity is a part of Jewish tradition which is particularly linked with the Passover festival.”
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