Soviet Jews to Have Presence in the World Jewish Congress

The formalizing of a World Jewish Congress presence in the Soviet Union cleared its last hurdle this week when Moscow Chief Rabbi Adolf Shayevitch confirmed in writing that he is no longer a member of the Anti-Zionist Committee of the Soviet Public, which he said was dismantled.

Shayevitch wrote to WJC President Edgar Bronfman on Jan. 1, requesting that he be included in WJC meetings. In the letter, he stated unequivocally that he is not a member of the Anti-Zionist Committee and never participated in any acts against Jews or Israel.

But for the moment, WJC will only allow Shayevitch observer status at any meetings he attends of the world Jewish body, according to Elan Steinberg, WJC executive director.

Nor. will Shayevitch be the only representative of Soviet Jewry at WJC meetings. Steinberg stressed Wednesday that representatives of all walks of Jewish life in the Soviet Union would be represented, from religious to cultural.

He explained, for example, that Soviet Jews would be invited to an upcoming meeting of the European branch of the congress to take place in Strasbourg, and a meeting of the WJC Executive in Montreal.

But if the Soviets were to allow Shayevitch and not other Soviet Jews to attend WJC meetings, “then they would have a political problem, because their good faith would be put to the test,” said Steinberg.

He said that the path to WJC representation in the Soviet Union was opened in Moscow in November, when Bronfman met with Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze.

Bronfman informed Shevardnadze at the time that Shayevitch, “as a representative of an important segment of Jewish life, can participate in the World Jewish Congress, so long as he is not a member of the Anti-Zionist Committee, ” Steinberg said.

NEED FOR A REPRESENTATIVE BODY

There were “two principal obstacles” that the Soviets had to clear before WJC could include Soviet Jewish representation, Steinberg said: “the unwillingness of Soviet authorities to allow Soviet Jewish participation” in the congress and “the non-existence of a representative, organized structure of the Soviet Jewish community.”

The Soviet Union is the last Communist bloc country to join the congress. During the meetings in November, the Soviets agreed “in principle” to Soviet Jewish participation in the activities and meetings of the world body “to restore the links of Soviet Jewry to world Jewry,” said Steinberg.

“We’re in the process now of creating a federation of Jewish communities in the Soviet Union so that there will be an authentic representative body of the widest possible spectrum of the Soviet Jewish community, which we hope will then become a full participant and representative in the World Jewish Congress,” he said.

During the November talks, the Soviet foreign minister suggested that Shayevitch and other chief rabbis of Soviet cities represent a federation of synagogues in the congress. WJC had no objection to the presence of synagogue representation, said Steinberg.

But the international Jewish organization is also insisting on inclusion of Jews from all walks of life, from refuseniks to secular Jews, from cultural activists to members of the “ba’alei teshuvah” movement of newly observant Jews, Steinberg stressed.

He said inclusion of non-government-accepted Jewish representatives in the WJC project to build a Jewish cultural center in Moscow was stipulated in a contract signed in October by Isi Leibler of Australia, who is a vice president of the congress, Soviet authorities, and Jewish refuseniks and cultural activists, “who would not only participate but run the cultural center.”