Reform synagogues in the United States and Canada are devoting the last weekend of this month to a religious and community-wide campaign calling attention to the plight of 4000 Syrian Jews. The national Save Syrian Jewry Sabbath will be held Feb, 21-23 under the auspices of the Commission on Social Action of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and supported by the Synagogue Council of America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
The weekend activities include special Sabbath services, community meetings and a petition campaign to gather one million signatures calling upon President Ford to intervene personally on humanitarian grounds to save those Jews remaining in Syria. “The Syrian government must learn that humanitarian treatment of Jews represents a prime principle for involvement in the international community,” noted Albert Arent of Washington, chairman of the Social Actions Commission.
Rabbi Stephen S. Goldrich of Cleveland’s Temple Ner Tamid, chairman of the CCAR’s Committee for Jews in Arab Lands, noted that the observance coincides with Brotherhood Week and urged that the events be connected wherever possible to “sensitize non-Jews to the conditions of Syrian Jewry.”
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