Russian Anti-religious Campaign Fails to Check Rosh Hashanah Celebration

The anti-religious campaign of the Jewish Communists has passed absolutely unnoticed during both Rosh Hashanah days, during which the synagogues in Moscow and in other parts of Russia were crowded to a point where all who wished could not gain entrance. The anti-religious march which the Communists proclaimed for Rosh Hashanah was a total failure in Moscow as well as in the provinces.

“Our cultural brigades slept instead of marching,” reports the Yiddish Communist daily, Der Shtern. The Emes, another Yiddish Communist paper, also admits that the march was a failure, but calls upon the Jewish Communists to prepare a successful anti-religious demonstration for Yom Kippur. The Emes urges each Jewish worker, employee and artisan to work on Yom Kippur and to contribute his earnings of that day for the building of a dirigible, Pravda, funds for which are now being collected all over Russia.

During the last days before Rosh Hashanah the non-Jewish Communist press tried to assist the Jewish Communists in their anti-religious campaign. Many of the non-Jewish papers published special Jewish pages, devoted especially to the so-called “cultural march.” However, since the Communist press influences the Jewish

population but little, the campaign brought only meagre results.

Four brigades of Jewish writers, consisting mostly of unknown youngsters, left for the Jewish colonies to conduct a campaign that the colonists should work Yom Kippur day in the fields. “Yom Kippur each colonist should be at his post with his tractor,” is the slogan which they took along. Thirty other anti-religious slogans for Yom Kippur which they have adopted include:

“Jewish peasants, join the shock brigades instead of the klai-kodesh (religious leaders).”

“Increased collectivization means the liquidation of religion.”

“Drive out the balegufim (bourgeoisie) and klai-kodesh from the collectives.”

“Clean out the religious agents from our Socialist country.”