Passover 5731: Ancient Cry Of’ Let My People Go’ Continues for Jews in USSR

As American Jews prepared for observance of the Passover holiday which begins at sundown tomorrow, their national and local leaders and spokesmen released holiday greetings, many of which drew an analogy between the Israelites’ flight from Egypt 3,000 years ago and the present day struggle of Soviet Jewry to be free. Jewish leaders focussed on the pertinence of the Passover message of freedom to events in Russia and the Middle East today. Dr. Emanuel Neumann, chairman of the Jewish Agency’s American section saw the holiday as an appropriate occasion to “reiterate the pledge we have made so many times in recent years: that would Jewry will resolutely maintain its solidarity with the people of Israel in their firm resolve not to bow to modern Egyptian intransigence.” He further declared: “As in the days of the Pharaohs, Egypt would once again destroy Israel, if it could. With the backing of Soviet Russia, it seeks to impose borders on Israel that would make it impossible for Israel to maintain its own security.” Sam Rothberg, general chairman of the State of Israel Bonds, said, “The full impact of the significance of Passover as a celebration of freedom is explicitly expressed for us in the decisive stand by the people of Israel for a future of freedom and peace. Equally explicit are the shock waves of news dispatches detailing the courageous struggle for freedom and Jewish identity in Soviet Russia. These two parallels of the ancient Passover lend relevance and immediacy to the observance…this year.”

Max M. Fisher, president of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds observed that “urgent social problems in our nation call on us for leadership in the common actions against poverty, and for that equality which is the promise held out by civil liberties and human rights to be enjoyed by all. The brave stand of our courageous fellow Jews in the Soviet Union impels us to double our efforts to help them in their determination to live as Jews and to emigrate to Israel and other free lands.” Edward Ginsberg, general chairman of the United Jewish Appeal, noted that “the majority of the 50,000 immigrants who will arrive in Israel this year are experiencing real freedom, as we understand it, for the first time. They come form lands of oppression and persecution where the word ‘Jew’ means ‘enemy’…Freedom from political and cultural persecution is only the first step to a new life. These immigrants also seek–and deserve–freedom from want. In fulfilling their vital and traditional responsibility of providing for these immigrants in need, the Jews of America have maintained a Jewish tradition as old as Passover itself.” Rabbi Harold I. Saperstein, president of the New York Board of Rabbis declared that ” The observance of Passover is a timely reminder that the idea and ideal of freedom stand high among humanity’s basic desires and needs…Yesterday it was Pharaoh; today it is the Soviet Union where 3 1/2 million Jews are pleading for their right to practice their religion and the continuation of their cultural and religious way of life or to be allowed to leave for Israel and other countries of the free world.”

JEWS LANGUISHING IN ARAB LANDS, ABUSED AND IMPRISONED. MUST NOT BE FORGOTTEN

Philio E. Hoffman, president of the American Jewish Committee welcomed “the cracks that have begun to appear in the walls that have for so long encircled our brethren in the Soviet Union.” But while acknowledging that increasing members of Jews have been permitted to emigrate from Russia. Hoffman decried the restrictions still applied to the more than three million Jews who remain there. Rabbi Israel Miller, president of the American Zionist Federation said, “During the festival of redemption, our hearts and thoughts turn to our fellow Jews, forgotten by many, who languish in Arab lands, abused and imprisoned. Our prayer is that they may soon find their way from enslavement to freedom in Israel.” Ira Guilden, president of the Israel Bond Organization declared that “Israel must be maintained as a land which can answer the needs of Jews wherever they may be. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of Jews in the Soviet Union have officially registered their intention to leave the country. If any substantial number of Jews are in fact allowed to go to Israel, the tasks facing Israel, and the economic responsibilities of the Israel Bond drive will be greatly increased.” Rehaveam Amir, Consul General of Israel in New York, said in a message to American Jews, “Today, more than ever, we are keenly aware of the continuous link of the past of our people with present events. Ever since the deliverance and the exodus of our people from bondage to freedom this deep yearning for peace and freedom has become part and parcel of our hopes, prayers and aspirations.”

The American Jewish Conference on Soviet Jewry issued a call to American Jews “to remember the plight of their fellow Jews in the Soviet Union when observing the holiday which commemorates the exodus from Egypt and the liberation of the Jewish people from oppression under the Pharaohs.” Rabbi Gilbert Klaperman, chairman of the New York Conference on Soviet Jewry said, “In every generation, the Passover Haggadah says, one ought to regard himself as though he personally had come out of Egypt…This year we are all slaves; next year we shall be freemen. Thus Jews the world over rededicate themselves to freedom and justice for mankind.” Dr. Alfred Gottschalk, acting president of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, observing that “Passover opens with a special meal, the seder, during which the youngest number recites four traditional questions,” offered a new question pertinent to 1971: “How can we be free while others are not?” Citing the plight of Soviet Jews, he called for “a new dedication to the fight against slavery of all kinds among all people at all times.” Rabbi Bernard L. B erzon, president of the Rabbinical Council of America said in a Passover message, “The drama of Passover highlights the eternal struggles between the exponents of religious liberty and the hateful advocates of spiritual and physical oppression. Passover celebrates man’s yearning for freedom and its achievement. It is most significant that Israel was reborn 23 years ago during this same season of freedom.”

THOUSANDS OF JEWS WILL BE OBSERVING PASSOVER FOR THE FIRST TIME AS FREE PEOPLE

Harold Friedman, president of the United Hias Service, said “The anguished cry of ‘Let Our People Go’ rings loud and clear in behalf of Jews who yearn for the opportunity to begin new lives in freedom and dignity.” He referred to Jews in the Soviet Union, in the Arab states of the Middle East and North Africa and in some Latin American countries where “extremists take over the reins of government.” “We are gratified that thousands of Jews will be observing Passover for the first time as free people.” he said. “Our hearts are with our countless less fortunate brethren.” Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Robbo used the occasion of Passover to urge Jews to “intensify their study of the Torah and increase their observance of its commandments.” He also urged Jews to use at least a minimum quantity of “Shmurah Malzos” during the holiday season–matzos made from the flour of wheat grains “which have been carefully guarded, from the instant they were cut in the field, against any contact with water.” Such contact might cause levening and disqualify its use during Passover, the Lubavitcher Rebbe said. Herman L. Weisman, president of the Zionist Organization of America, said in his Passover message that Zionists “who have labored to create the State of Israel renew our pledge at this Passover season to Israel’s peace and security…Equally we confirm the yearning of our brethren in the Soviet Union to be free so that they too can go to Israel.”

Mrs. Henry N. Rapaport, president of the National Women’s League of the United Synagogue of America, said that “The significance of Passover, 1971 is that for the first time the Jews of silence–the Jews of the Soviet Union–who for years have feared even to dare hope for freedom, are today actively seeking to achieve this freedom.” Also referring to Soviet Jewry, Rabbi Bernard A. Poupko, president of the Religious Zionists of America, urged Jews to “remember and recognize that much more than we have done for Soviet Jewry, Soviet Jewry has done for us. Among others, the cause of Soviet Jewry has attracted an impressive segment of our otherwise alienated youth. These young men and women who until recently expressed a dreadful emptiness in their existence, have suddenly discovered that there is a great cause worth fighting for and even sacrificing for.” Mrs. David M. Levitt, president of the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods said, “This holiday just before Spring, a season of rebirth and hope, comes when efforts are being made to arrive at a peace settlement between Israel and Egypt, when Jews are seeking religious and cultural freedom in the Soviet Union including the right of emigration, and when the struggles in Vietnam and Southeast Asia brings tragedy to countries and peoples…Let us rededicate ourselves to the cause of freedom and brotherhood and let us not tire of making our voices heard.”