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there was still a spark of love for
the cultural and spiritual heritage
of Judaism. There was still reason
to believe that should the opport
unity be afforded within the next
few years to provide Jewish educa
tion and cultural expression, many
of these lost Jews will be reclaim
ed. If these Sovietized and assimi
lated Jews can still be aroused by
nostalgic Jewish music, there is
reason to hope that this spark of
Jewishness can be fanned into a
bright flame.
After the concert we left the hall
and conversed with each other in
Yiddish. Jews, young and old,
clustered together discussing
Peerce’s performance. Rabbi Lie-
berman, our Russian-speaking col
league, entered the conversations.
When t .ey learned that he was
an American rabbi they excitedly
asked him many questions about
Jewish life in America. His answers
exploded their myths about Amer
ica and the status of the Jewish
religion and the Jewish people in
America. Soon others joined the
circle and before long he was sur
rounded by a hundred or more Rus
sian Jews who expressed a lively
interest in American Jewry. The
crowd grew so large and the excite
ment so great that I rushed over to
him and asked him to leave, being
afraid that this demonstration
might invite trouble for the parti
cipating Jews and perhaps others.
He tried to leave but they contin
ued to press him with questions
and it took quite a while before he
succeeded in getting away.
They continued to discuss what
they had heard from him. They
\sere pleased, perplexed and dub
ious as to the truth of his state
ments. After all, he had been ex
posing as falsehoods many of the
beliefs and opinions they had held
for years. But the fact that they
stood in the street, assembled in a
group, and openly discussed the
United States and the Jews of
America, showed that they possess
ed new-found courage and bold
ness. I had the feeling that Jan
Peerce’s appearance, his stirring
Yiddish songs, his dignified and
proud bearing, boosted their morale
and endowed them with a new
sense of pride and strength. In
their enthusiasm and excitement
their tongues loosened and at least
momentarily they were emancipat
ed from the tyranny of fear which
held them captive.
How do you account for this re
markable, almost miraculous spark
of Jewish loyalty and kinship? A
partial answer lies in the very
device contrived by the Soviets to
weaken the Jew economically. By
marking his passport “Jew” his
chances of advancing to positions
of authority in schools, factories,
industries, and so on, was serious
ly hampered under the "local au
tonomy” rule described in an earl
ier article. At the same time it com
pelled Jews to remain bound to the
Jewish group. They bore the stamp
“Jew" at all times, a designation
they could not abandon or erase no
matter how much they tried and
willed it. Even those Jews born
and raised in Communism had to
identify themselves as Jews. Under
other circumstances many of then
would have completely submergec
their Jewish identity and would
have been absorbed in the Rus
sian community. This door of es
cape was tightly shut. Regardless
of their Jewish attitudes they had
to respond to the name Jew. bear
the burden and stigma of what to
many must have been an unwel
come and unwanted fate. This iden
tity imposed from without by the
USSR has helped assure the sur
vival of the Jewush people. This
factor which made the Jew unas-
similable may yet be responsible,
given favorable conditions, for the
revival and restoration of an af
firmative and creative Jewish life.
Before I leave the Jan Peerce
story I want to relate two other
incidents. Mr. Peerce attended a
Friday evening service in the Mos
cow synagogue. He was deluged
with requests to chant the Sabbath
services. While not assenting, he
promised to give it serious thought.
This encouraging response was
enough to set in motion the highly
developed and amazingly efficient
Jewish grapevine. The next morn
ing the synagogue was filled to
overflowing and many were stand
ing in the aisles, corridors and
street. His beautiful chanting of the
service so enthralled the congre
gation that they literally carried
him on their shoulders thanking
and blessing him for the spiritual
delight he afforded them. Mr.
Peerce not only satisfied their
hunger for authentic cantorial mu
sic but also lifted their sagging mo
rale. For the first time in recent
history an American artist of any
faith and particularly’ an intense
and proud Jew had received a roy
al welcome from the Soviet govern
ment. For the first time in years
a religious Jew was accorded the
highest honor by the heads of the
Communist regime. And to have
this same American Jew officiate
at a Sabbath service filled their
hearts with a sense of self esteem.
For a few fleeting moments they
were able to feel proud of being a
Jew. Perhaps I am reading too
much into this incident, but I could
not help ascribing these thoughts
and sentiments to the people with
whom I spent some five or six
hours a day for eleven days .
The other incident is related to
the party the Peerces gave in honor
of our rabbinical group at Hotel
Metropol, where they were resid
ing, following the concert on July
3rd. Peerce had ordered a sumptu
ous repast of various type of fish,
liquors, drinks and other kosher
foods. We sat around the table
singing songs, both American and
Jewish, and enjoyed a delightful
social evening.
Toward the end of the evening I
asked Mr. Peerce whether he would
join us in a "Maariv” (evening) re
ligious service. He enthusiastically
consented. And so in Hotel Metro
pol, the most fashionable hotel in
Moscow, Mr. Peerce. his accompan
ist Warner Bass, seven American
rabbis and two guests, chanted the
traditional “Maariv” service for the
The Southern Israelite
16