Hundreds of American Jewish soldiers in North Africa attended Passover services in the American Red Cross club in Algiers and were later the guests at seders in the homes of local Jewish families, it was reported today in a cable received from “Somewhere in North Africa” by the headquarters of the Red Cross here. Rabbi Ferdinand Isserman of St. Louis officiated.
Rabbi Isserman, who is on a leave of absence from his congregation in connection with special club-and-field work for the American Red Cross, marked his arrival to North Africa by also officiating as guest rabbi at ceremonies in which the Jewish community of Algiers presented two ancient Torahs to the Jewish soldiers in the American and Allied armies. “Passover has even greater significance here in this land where men of many nations are fighting for freedom,” he said during the presentation ceremonies held at the Red Cross club in Algiers, attended by the president of the Jewish community of Algiers, leading Jewish laymen, soldiers of the French, British and American armies and Red Cross officials.
The two Torahs were presented to Major Horace N. Cooper, chaplain at the North African Air Force headquarters, who received the scrolls in behalf of the armed forces. The Chief Rabbi of Algerza, Maurice Eisenbeth, who made the presentation, greeted the visitors as “liberators and delegates of freedom.” The difference of language, he said, “sometimes makes it difficult for Jews in North Africa to express to the Allied forces our gratitude, but you may be sure that you have won our hearts and that we shall never forget the amount of gratitude we owe you.”
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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.
