Search JTA's historical archive dating back to 1923

Moscow and Bucharest Synagogues Crowded During Yom Kippur Services

September 28, 1955
See Original Daily Bulletin From This Date
Advertisement

Jews in Moscow and Bucharest crowded into synagogues to pray yesterday. Yom Kippur, and in both Communist capitals Jews said they had prayed for the recovery of President Eisenhower, who was stricken with a heart attack on the eve of the Holy Day, the New York Times reported today.

From Moscow, the Times reported that 5,000 persons had attempted to get into Moscow’s three remaining synagogues to pray and that many of the Jews were unable to enter and remained outside. The overflow crowd outside the Central Synagogue, with a seating capacity of 2,000, extended for 100 yards from the building, the dispatch said. Chief Rabbi S. M. Schleifer, in an interview before Yom Kippur, told a Times correspondent that he hoped a yeshiva might be opened soon to train rabbis for the Soviet Union’s 3,000,000 Jews.

From Bucharest, the Times reported that most of the city’s 100,000 Jews celebrated the day in the 50 synagogues. The main thought of the Jews were turned toward Israel, the dispatch said, and there were signs that the Rumanian Government was preparing to permit again the emigration of Israel-bound Rumanian Jews. The dispatch estimated the number of Rumanian Jews at 250,000.

Recommended from JTA

Advertisement