Judaism in Russia Menaced with Extinction, Rabbis in Amsterdam Are Told

(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

A warning that Judaism in Soviet Russia is threatened with extinction due to the activities of the Jewish Communists was sounded by Chief Rabbi Hildesheimer in a report he submitted at a conference here of the Keren Ha’Torah, the fund created by the Orthodox Jewish world organization, Agudath Israel, for the support of Jewish religious instruction and to aid Jewish scholars.

A message from Queen Wilhelmina was read at the conference.

Although it is true that the Soviet government theoretically grants religious freedom, practically, however, Judaism in Russia will die if no help will be forthcoming from abroad, Dr. Hildesheimer stated.

Dr. Nathan Birnbaum, one of the leaders of the Agudath Israel, in reporting conditions in East European countries, stated, “The Jews are rapidly losing the Torah due to the fact that Jewish women are not given any religious training and are therefore not in a position to bring up the young generation as religious Jews.

Chief Rabbi Davids, leader of the Dutch branch of the Mizrachi Zionist organization, declared on behalf of his constituency, that the Mizrachi will cooperate with the Keren Ha’Torah if the latter will be politically neutral. Rabbi Vredenberg, president of the Fund, in reply, declared that although the Fund was established by the Agudah, it will be neutral in politics “as the Torah itself.”

Dr. Arnold Shamaskin, who was clinical director of the United States Veterans’ Bureau Hospital at Rutland Heights, Mass., has resigned from the government service to become Medical Superintendent of the Montefiore Hospital at Bedford Hills, N, Y, As clinical director in the Veterans’ Hospital, Dr. Shamaskin held the highest medical office the Veterans’ Bureau can offer in the field.