About 90 tons of matzoh had been baked in Moscow a fortnight before Passover and preparations made for matzoh delivery to the homes of invalids and the elderly, the Soviet Novosti press agency reported today in a dispatch made available by the Soviet Embassy here. In a March 20 cable from Moscow, Novosti correspondent Samuil Rozin reported on Passover preparations. He quoted Menashe Mikhailovich, chairman of the community, as stating, “we have a well-equipped mechanized bakery of our own. It can produce as much matzoh as necessary. This year we started to bake early in January so as to avoid commotion. As a result, there are no lines” (of people waiting for it).
Matzoh will be sold in unlimited quantities not only to synagogue members but to all who wish to buy it, the report said. Mr. Mikhailovitch said that a seder had been arranged on the first day of Passover for those who have no families. He also said that “religious Jews will be supplied kosher meat fully in keeping with the law of religion.” The report said the Central Synagogue was assuming a festive appearance and that 2,000 were expected to celebrate Passover services. A rehearsal of Passover songs by a chorus led by Cantor David Shteinberg was described. Novosti also told of visits to synagogues in Maryina, Roshcha, Cherkizovo, and Malakhovka where Jewish communities prepared for Passover.
Rabbi Yehuda Leib Levin, Chief Rabbi of Moscow, told Novosti, “we must redouble our common efforts for international friendship, for world peace.” The Novosti correspondent said, “the heads of all the Moscow synagogues asked me to convey congratulations and the best wishes to their brethren in faith abroad.”
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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.
