President Augusto Pinochet of Chile visited the Jewish temple here during Yom Kippur services to pay his respects to the Jewish community on the occasion of the High Holidays. He was accompanied by Minister of Interior Gustavo Benavides, Air Force Commander-in-Chief Gustavo Leigh, and Chief of the Air Force Staff Gen. Jose Berdichevsky.
The Presidential party was greeted by Gil Sinay, president of the Committee of Jewish Communities. Rabbi Angel Kreiman recited prayers for the well being of the Chilean Republic and for Israel. The visitors remained through the Yizkor (memorial) services. Another member of the governing junta, Cesar Mendoza, Director General of the Police, attended Yom Kippur services in the Sephardic community synagogue.
Earlier, Pinochet sent official Yom Kippur greetings to Chilean Jewry. His message, addressed to Sinay, said: “On this solemn date which has such profound significance for the Jewish world, I want to bring you a cordial and fraternal greeting both in the name of the government over which I preside as well as my own. The ‘Day of Pardon’ invites us today to meditate more than ever, and it is for this purpose that I join in with your prayers in the hope that God will enable us to comprehend the necessity of brotherly feeling.”
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.
