Moscow Rabbi Expresses Sadness over Audience Jeers During Speech at Hunter College

Rabbi Yehuda Leib Levin of Moscow reacted with sadness to a hostile reception he received last night during a speech at Hunter College in which he denied there was anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union, it was reported today by a leading Orthodox rabbi close to the Moscow rabbi. Rabbi Pinhas M. Teitz, a member of the presidium of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada, and spiritual leader of the Jewish Education Center in Elizabeth, N.J., also reported that the 74-year-old Moscow rabbi told him the Hunter College uproar would not affect his plans to meet with and learn about American Jews. An estimated 1,000 persons attended a reception today at the Elizabeth synagogue, given for Rabbi Levin and for Cantor David Stiskin of Leningrad, who is accompanying Rabbi Levin on his first visit to the United States. The visit is under sponsorship of the anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism. Rabbi Teitz was host at the reception as president of the Union’s New Jersey chapter.

Rabbi Teitz, who has accompanied the visiting Russians much of the time since their arrival Tuesday in New York, said Rabbi Levin reacted to jeering and hooting at Hunter College with the comment that his mission was not understood. Rabbi Teitz quoted the Moscow rabbi as saying also that his Hunter College criticis were unaware of the implications of their hostile actions and that these were also hurtful to Russian Jewry. He also told Rabbi Teitz he had expected better treatment.

Rabbi Levin said at the Elizabeth reception that he had been asked here whether he had been given any directives by Soviet authorities on what he should talk about. He said he was told only to establish contacts with American Jews and to seek to influence American leaders to help promote peace. Two pickets marched outside the synagogue during the reception. They carried signs declaring that Rabbi Levin was a representative of Communism. They were reported to represent the International Council of Christian Churches in Collingswood, N.J., described as a right-wing group. Their names were Rev. Carl Mclntire and Rev. Hal Webb.

On a CBS radio program, “World of Religion,” taped for broadcast Sunday, Rabbi Levin was asked about charges of official anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union. As in prior public statements, he denied it, saying “all the restrictions on culture, work and similar matters were eliminated and the Jews have the same rights as other nationalities.” In reply to another question, he said that until the Soviet Union severed diplomatic ties with Israel during the June, 1967 war, “there was a large and swift immigration” of Soviet Jews to Israel but that since then the family reunion program had been halted. He added that charges of Soviet anti-Semitism stemmed from “had tongues, evil tongues, those that engage in gossip.”

The response Rabbi Levin received at Hunter College to similar statements generated a jerring and hooting uproar at some stages, with interruptions of “lies” and “falsehoods,” but there were also many Jews who showed mortification over the interruptions and tried to hush them. His speech was a defense of the Soviet Union against charges of anti-Semitism, a plea for world peace, and criticism of critics of Soviet Jewish policies. He called such critics “false prophets” who wanted to create “strained relations among the governments.” Jews in Russia, he insisted, “occupy a prominent place in science and technology, in literature and art, and we, like all other peoples, are contributing our part to all branches of knowledge, of the economy, in building our socialist society.” At one point he departed from his prepared text to declare that American Jews could come to Russia as tourists and see for themselves whether his statements were correct.