The need to convene a world conference of rabbis, which would examine and evaluate the grave religious situation confronting Jews in the Soviet Union, North Africa, and other areas, was discussed informally at a general rabbinical parley held here today.
Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Nissim presided at the parley, attended by many leading rabbis from various parts of the world who are here in connection with the World Zionist Congress. The convening of a world rabbinical council is a necessity, the rabbis felt, to ensure the survival of religious and Jewish national unity in countries outside Israel.
A number of the rabbis at the meeting warned about the dangers of assimilation in the Diaspora, and about the shortages of spiritual leaders in many countries. Some of the rabbis complained that, too often, Israeli emissaries to Jewish communities abroad are only fund-raisers, while few visits are made abroad by Israeli rabbis providing Jews with the spiritual inspiration needed to combat assimilation.
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