An overflow crowd of Israeli Jews packed Mann Auditorium to express their deep concern over the situation of the Jews in the Soviet Union. Five thousand persons came to the opening event in Soviet Jewry Week, sponsored by the Israeli executive of the World Jewish Congress.
A resolution was approved asking Soviet authorities to grant Russian Jewry elementary rights of freedom of religion, culture, community life and permission to join members of their families in Israel.
Mrs. Golda Meir, secretary-general of Mapai and Israel’s first ambassador to the Soviet Union, concluded a description of the plight of Russian Jews with a statement of her conviction that “in spite of everything, they will come to join us.”
A number of hecklers, identified as Communist Party members, tried to shout down the speakers, but were silenced by the crowd. Later police escorted some of the hecklers from the hall. Other meetings and rallies will be held during the rest of Soviet Jewry Week throughout Israel.
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.
