The Jewish community here is dramatizing its protest against the cruel treatment of Soviet Jews by a massive rotating fast undertaken by more than 1,000 students in the Montreal Jewish day school system and over a dozen synagogues.
The fast, which began on November 26 and will end on the eve of Chanukah, December 18, links Jews here with a like demonstration of protest in the Soviet Union where over 200 Jews are participating in an ongoing rotating fast.
The demonstration was triggered by the recent sentencing of four Soviet Jews to hard labor for teaching Hebrew. Another six are awaiting trial on the same charge. Hebrew is the only language which may not be taught in the USSR.
Each day school and synagogue here has taken specific days to fast. Synagogue members meeting for morning services will fast until evening services, according to Rabbi Ron Aigen, president of the Board of Jewish Ministers of Greater Montreal. The protest fast will culminate in a candle-lighting ceremony in front of the Soviet Consulate on December 18.
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