A new war on “Jewish clericalism” has broken out in Minsk. In the last days of April, just as Minsk, together with other cities was preparing to celebrate the First of May, a group of orthodox Jews in Minsk, headed by Rabbi Abraham Goldberg, celbrated the completion of the study of the division of the Talmud Sanhedrin, by holding the customary celebration on such occasions known as a “Siyyum”.
The Minsk Jewish Communist daily “Oktiabr” denounced the gathering as counter-revolutionary, alleging that it was held on the eve of the First of May in order to weaken the effect of the First of May celebrations among some of the Jewish elements in the city that have not yet been reached by Soviet influence. Rabbi Goldberg and other Rabbis present at the gathering, the paper says, admitted that the Soviet Government is not persecuting religion, but they deplored the fact that Jewish children are living under conditions which completely estrange them from all religious training and influence.
The “Oktiabr” demands “action” against Rabbi Goldberg and the others who were present at the celebration on the ground that they were conducting an anti-Soviet agitation by means of veiled criticism of the Soviet regime.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
