The Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada sent a cable to the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini yesterday urging him “as a deep believer in religious ethics” to “immediately free the 50 Americans held hostage” in Teheran, “thereby alleviating the pain and suffering of both the hostages and their respective families.”
The cable, signed by Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, president of the organization, and Rabbi Simcha Elberg, chairman of its administrative committee, noted, “The Union of Orthodox Rabbis of U.S.A. and Canada, the oldest and most authoritative rabbinic organization in the Western Hemisphere, is a non-partisan, non-political body. We are strictly a religious organization which has been established to ensure that our people, the Jewish nation, follow the instruction given to her by our Holy Torah.”
The cable continued: “As such, we hereby appeal to you, in the name of humanitarianism and mercy, which are considered to be paramount laws in our Torah; these two attributes also being the foundation of every civilized nation, that you, as a deep believer in religious ethics, immediately free the 50 Americans held hostage in your country…:”
In a related action, the International Association of Hillel Directors extended holiday greetings to the American hostages and urged the Iranian government to release them immediately. The request was contained in resolutions adopted at the Association’s annual conference at Grossingers, N.Y. where Rabbi Richard Marker, the Jewish chaplain at Brown University; Providence, R.I., was elected president of the organization.
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