Tragedy of Jewish Life in Russia Unfolds Before Court (Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
One of the stirring tragedies of Jewish life under the Soviet regime was unfolded in court yesterday when a son and daughter sued their parents for bringing the grandson into the “Covenant of Abraham.”
Tevie Lipman, a Communist, and his wife, Riva, non-partisan, summoned his parents, Abba Lipman, a shoemaker, and his wife Henye, both 50; and the wife’s parents, Moses Fishman, a barber, 62, and his wife, Tolze, 60, to court for having their grandchild circumcised secretly two weeks after his birth.
It developed in court that the grandparents on both sides had urged their son and daughter to have the newly born son circumcised. The parents, however, refused. One day when Lipman was at work and his wife had gone to market, the grandparents brought a Mohel and had the circumcision performed according to ritual.
The Soviet court fined the elder Lipmans 40 roubles and the Fishmans 60 roubles.. The grandparents confessed to the act, declaring that they did not consider it a crime but a religious duty. When asked to divulge the name of the Mohel they refused, offering the explanation that they had found him in the synagogue and paid him 3 roubles for his services.
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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.
