Dr. Irving Lehman, a Miami Beach rabbi who was one of a group of five clergymen returning from a six-week tour behind the Iron Curtain, said Friday that Jews in Russia were free to practice their religion but that there were no Yiddish newspapers, literature, theatre or other cultural expressions.
While the four synagogues in Moscow were filled to capacity, there was still evidence of anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union, he reported. He said that the group of clergymen “felt there was no official anti-Semitic drive, but something in the atmosphere, something intangible.” The tour was sponsored by the Commission on Religious Organizations of the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
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.