Three American Reform Rabbis Speak at Moscow Synagogue Services

Three American Reform rabbis, who along with 19 other members of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, are visiting the Soviet Union and other East European countries to acquire up-to-date information on the status of Jewish communities in those countries, addressed the Central Synagogue in Moscow during Sabbath services yesterday.

The three were Rabbi Jacob J. Weinstein, president of the CCAR and head of the delegation; Rabbi George B. Lieberman of the Central Synagogue in Rockville Center, N.Y., who spoke in Russian; and Dr. Eugene Mihaly of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati. Last summer, a group of American Orthodox rabbis, members of the Rabbinical Council of America, also spoke from the pulpit of the Moscow synagogue.

In his address yesterday, Rabbi Lieberman recalled that many of the Jews in the United States traced their ancestry to Russia. “We, therefore, are united by spiritual history, ” he said. Rabbi Weinstein described the active life of Jews in the United States, both religious and secular and the role of the young people in the synagogue. Earlier in the services, the congregation was visibly impressed when David Lieberman, the 13-year-old son of Rabbi Lieberman, recited the blessings on being called to the reading of the Torah.

Responding to the addresses by the American rabbis, Moscow Chief Rabbi Yehudah Leib Levin said: “We Jews pray for peace and when you go back to America, use your influence to insure that peace will come. Do what you can to end the war in Viet Nam, because once the destructive forces are given sway, they gain strength and it is difficult to stop them.”

The American rabbis, who arrived in Moscow after a three-day visit to Poland, will travel to Vilna, Leningrad and Kiev before leaving July 27 for Hungary and Czechoslovakia.