Members of the diplomatic corps attended Yom Kippur services in the Great Synagogue here and in the suburbs where most of the diplomats live.
This year’s Yom Kippur was marked by a large pilgrimage to Jerusalem of Chassidic rabbis and other devout Jews. Government offices in Israel were closed before noon Friday to enable personnel to prepare for Yom Kippur services and the fast and by one o’clock in the afternoon all factories and workshops were closed for the solemn Day of Atonement.
Only emergency telegrams were handled by the Israel Post Office until dusk Saturday and state broadcasting services were suspended until after the fast day was over. Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Nissim addressed the people Thursday night via Kol Israel on the significance of Yom Kippur and called for a strengthening of the moral, religious and spiritual heritage which had served as guideposts in the nation’s vicissitudes for so many generations.
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