The president of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America expressed his “dismay” today that Jewish leaders attended the White House state dinner for Soviet Communist Party Secretary Leonid I. Brezhnev.
In a letter to Jacob Stein, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations who attended the dinner. OU president Harold M, Jacobs said “Jewish participation in welcoming a man who personifies antagonism and animosity to Jewry today is an incalculable indignity.”
He said this was “all the more so… when the head of American Jewry’s major umbrella organization participates in such an event.” Jacobs said that by attending; Stein had struck a “blow to the interests of the Jewish people and the cause of unity in the Jewish community.”
Mr. Stein was not available for comment today.
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.