Dr. Moses Rosen, chief rabbi of Rumania, reported here today that there were 100,000 Jews left in Rumania. Of these, he said, 50,000 are in Bucharest and the balance in approximately 75 to 100 communities throughout the country. There were 400,000 Jews in Rumania at the end of World War II.
Addressing a group of Yiddish writers, he said that the Jews in Rumania enjoyed full religious and cultural freedom. There are over 150 synagogues open and functioning, 50 of them in Bucharest. Between 700 and 800 worshipers attend services at his own Choral Synagogue, each week, he said. There were 500 synagogues at the end of World War II.
There is a Yiddish theatre in Bucharest, which is supported by the Rumanian Government. There is also a publishing house for Yiddish books. In 1967, the Federation of Rumanian Jewish communities published a Hebrew calendar, which had a sale of over 12,000 copies. The Federation also publishes a semi-monthly newspaper, which is printed in three languages – Rumanian, Hebrew and Yiddish. It has a circulation of 10,000 copies.
Rabbi Rosen also told the writers that the Rumanian Government had given to Israel a gift of over 3,000 Torah Scrolls, valued at $2,000,000. These holy scrolls came from synagogues that were destroyed by the Nazis during the war, and also from synagogues that closed down after World War II as their members emigrated.
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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.
