Twenty-nine persons including six Boston area rabbis were arrested at the John F. Kennedy Federal Building here yesterday during a demonstration against the Vietnam war. The demonstration, organized by the Massachusetts Board of Rabbis, drew about 300 persons and was peaceful.
The arrested persons were released on $1000 bail each pending a hearing before a Federal Magistrate scheduled for May 31. They were charged with violations of federal regulations involving trespass and obstruction of federal property. The demonstration began with prayer services outside the building. The demonstrators remained outside for two hours and. while some of them blocked one entrance, they were not molested by police.
But police moved in when about 35 demonstrators, more than 15 of them rabbis, entered the building and sat on the floor singing Hebrew songs. The six rabbis arrested are all affiliated with Reform congregations. They are Rabbis Herman Blumberg; Daniel Polish; Herman Pollack; Benjamin Rudavsky; Cary Yales; and Lawrence Kushner. Also arrested was Arthur Alintuck, president of Temple Beth Elohim Congregation of Wellesley, Mass., which is Rabbi Blumberg’s congregation, and Mrs. Malka Rudavsky, Rabbi Rudavsky’s wife.
The demonstration was attended by people of all ages but many were students. All of the rabbis arrested were in their 30’s and 40’s except Rabbi Pollack. Hillel Director at M.I.T., who is 64. The Massachusetts Board of Rabbis represents all three branches of American Judaism but its membership is largely composed of Reform and Conservative rabbis. Last week the Board denounced President Nixon’s decision to mine the harbors of North Vietnam.
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.
