The B'nai B'rith magazine · 1927-07-01 · 10 (7.1927) · p. Seite 416

416 B'NAI B'RITH MAGAZINE Iront, it is being strengthened in other sections. The best proof of this are the Jewish communistic newspapers which recently have been full of alarm at the "invasion of clericalism" and at the influence of the "clergy" on the Jewish population of the villages. Correspondents from many towns and villages tell of the revival of "the old Jewish institutions," such as kehillos, chevroh kadisha, and chevroth mishnayis. The correspondents complain that rabbis have again raised their heads. "The influence of the rabbis and magidim," they 'further report, "extends not only to the nep men and members of the middle class, but also to artisans, and even workmen fall into their net." These people go to the rabbi's house for kiddush, participate in a siyum tor ah (completion of the torah), and do other unheard of things. Chedorim have again sprung up in the small towns, in some places openly, and in others secretly. The Yevsekzia at one time persecuted these secret chedorim unremittingly; now, however it seems to be winking at them. It is true that the synagogue and botei-midrashim are rather deserted but, should a good chazon be there, they will be crowded to suffocation. And what is far worse, the correspondents complain, you will find there a great many young people. It even happens that a comsomoletz (young communist) may steal into the synagogue to hear the chazon. It seems to me that now, more than ever, since the Soviet Government has proclaimed and established absolute freedom of conscience, it is possible for those who so desire to practice Judaism. In proof is the rabbinical conference of rabbis from three districts (Korosten, Zhitomir, and Shepetovke) which was held last October at Korosten, in the government of Kiev. Besides the fifty rabbinical delegates, a great number of guest rabbis and pious Jews were present. They came from all parts of the soviet union. During the czarist regime, such an assembly would have been impossible in Russia. The official program of the conference was brief, dealing with the right to amalgamate the various congregations of a town into one religious organization,* and the mikvah problem. Unofficially, in the discussions, the rabbis introduced veritable sermons on shechitah, kashruth and tarfuth, on rearing children in the spirit of the Torah, on Sabbath, on marriage, on circumcision, on burial according to the Jewish law, and on many other religious questions. Their speech was not restrained by the representative of the Soviet Government who was present throughout the conference. And the rabbis not only asked that Jews in Soviet Russia be given the right to observe all religious practices, but they demanded it. "We should not request, but we should demand, "said Rabbi Rabinowitz, of Leningrad." We do not ask for favors, but for justice for the Jews. Our demands are legal and just and we demand that they be complied with! We are governed by a democracy at the head of which are representatives of the people. Therefore, demand what belongs to you of right and what you need!" When rabbis can address such language to the government, I do not believe there is any cause to fear for the future of Judaism in Russia. We have discussed one phase of Judaism—the religious. Now, as for Jewish nationalism, it is being strengthened by the various instruments and agencies of Jewish life which are fostered by the government. Jewish theaters subsidized by the government, Jewish newspapers and magazines, Jewish books distributed by the government press and by co-operative publishing firms, Jewish schools where Yiddish is the medium of instruction, Jewish normal schools, Jewish labor universities, Jewish departments at the state universities at Moscow, Leningrad, Minsk, and Odessa, a Jewish department at the Institute for White Russian Culture, a Jewish professorship at the Ukrainian Academy of Science, hundreds of Jewish clubs for workmen ♦According to the rules and regulations now in force, only the members of a synagogue may organize themselves into a religious community; the exceptions to this are in Moscow, Leningrad, and a few other large cities where all the synagogues are united under one administration. A conference of All-Soviet kehillos is to take place shortly where the question of consolidation will be considered. It is expected that the government will enact the necessary law which will grant the right to establish a religious community with certain rights and duties. and artisans, Jewish evening schools, Jewish administrations in the unions that have a majority of Jewish members, Jewish police districts, Jewish courts, Jewish Soviets, and even entire Jewish districts—the entire process of "Judaization" which is a result of the general "nationalistic" policy of the Soviet Government—all this inevitably leads to the union and closer association of the Jewish masses in Soviet Russia. No matter how hard the Jewish Communists try to prove that this Jewish work is not nationalistic, but political-cultural, the fact remains that it is conducive to the development of national consciousness among the Jewish masses. Another factor in the preservation of Judaism in Soviet Russia is the Jewish colonization movement. The settling of compact Jewish masses on the land, the creation of exclusively Jewish districts, of purely Jewish colonies, lead to the strengthening of Jewish life. With its hundred per cent Jewish population, the Jewish colony is a more favorable place for the preservation of both religious and secular-national Judaism than the city with its mixed population. The Jewish colony is totally devoid of those conditions which lead to partial assimilation in the city. Mixed marriages are absolutely impossible in the Jewish farm settlement. People even look askance at a youth of the colony who marries a Jewish town girl. "Aren't there enough girls in the village that one must import them from the city?" they ask. And if any should dare to marry a shikseh, he would have to flee from the colony. All in all, Judaism is no worse off in Russia than in other non-Soviet countries. Side by side with mixed marriages there are chedorim and ten yeshivoth where young men are trained for the rabbinate; on the one hand there are Yom Kippur balls—on the other boycotts against atheists. In short, everything is as of old. Even the institution of chalitzoh, the ban, and other anarchronisms and superstitions of the past have not entirely disappeared. We need have no fears. Judaism is safe in Soviet Russia.