The Synagogue Council of America, which has sent to the Soviet Union 2,000 packages of matzoh, of 10 pounds each, reported today that it has been informed by reliable sources from abroad that the matzoh parcels sent from the United States were being held in the Soviet customs houses and are not being distributed to the people to whom they were addressed.
“Individuals in the Soviet Union should have received postal notices to pick up their parcels, but no such notifications have been sent,” Rabbi Uri Miller, president of the Synagogue Council, said. “With the exception of the parcels to Chief Rabbi Yehuda Leib Levin of Moscow, no other parcels have been delivered although it is four days before Passover.
“The action of the Soviet authorities in backtracking on their original agreement in allowing parcels to be shipped to individuals in the Soviet Union is clearly manifested in their holding up these parcels in customs,” the Synagogue Council president declared. “The Jewish community of the United States took the word of the Soviet authorities in good faith when they informed them that matzoh could be sent to individuals in the Soviet Union. The information received over this weekend clearly indicates another change in Soviet policy and the double standards being set by the Soviet Government.”
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