In a ceremony recalling the Temple offerings of the 12 tribes of ancient Israel, greetings were brought today by 12 Chief Rabbis from cities across the world to Heichal Shlomo, the new seat of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, which was dedicated here this morning.
The visiting Chief Rabbis, representing Jewish communities on all continents, expressed the hope that the spiritual bounty emanating from the new supreme religious center of Judaism would radiate out over the entire Jewish world.
The impressive dedication ceremony, heralded by the blowing of the shofar, started with the mass singing of Hatikvah by 300 distinguished guests. Then Israel President Ben Zvi and Isaac Wolfson, British Jewish philanthropist, who contributed 2,000,000 of the 3,000,000 pounds cost of the construction of the center, walked into the hall.
The guests included diplomats from Western and Eastern countries, representatives of the Moslem and Christian churches in Israel, Cabinet members and other Israeli notables. A message was received from Premier David Ben Gurion, who was prevented by illness from appearing at the ceremony. (See page 4 for further details.)
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