Jewish religious and educational organizations in Rumania receive grants from the government, Dr. Moses Rosen, Chief Rabbi of Rumania–first rabbi from an Iron Curtain country to visit England–told a press conference here today. He said that about two-thirds of all Jewish children in Transylvania are receiving Jewish instruction and four Talmud Torahs function in Bucharest.
A periodical issued by the Bucharest Jewish community in Rumanian, Yiddish and Hebrew had a circulation of 5,000 and it is hoped to double that figure, he stated. Contrasting official repudiation of anti-Semitism by the present regime with prior conditions. Rabbi Rosen strongly denied that Rumanian Jews had ever been departed to the Soviet Union.
Most of the Zionist leaders imprisoned in Rumania have been released and are now in Israel, he reported, adding that he had “reason to hope” that others who wished to go would be permitted to do so. He declined to answer directly a question as to whether he would accept an invitation from Chief Rabbi Herzog of Israel to visit the Jewish State.
Rabbi Rosen discounted reports that a ban has been placed on reunion of Rumanian Jews with families in Israel, but added that the reunions had been slowed by the “international effects” of the Sinai campaign. Praising the organization of British Jewry, Rabbi Rosen said he had discussed with Chief Rabbi Brodie plans for extending religious and cultural contacts between the two Jewish communities. He said he looked to expansion of contacts between Jewish communities throughout the world. He told of visits from Hungarian and Czech rabbis to Rumania and receipt of Jewish newspapers from those countries and from Poland.
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.
