Wait
Is Over for 100 Soviet Jews
- Daily
News
Monday,
December 29, 1975
By John Kelly
One hundred Soviet Jewish refugees who were denied the
rite of circumcision on the eight day of birth, but who
underwent the ritual when they came to the United States
as grownups were honored yesterday at the grand ballroom
of the Brooklyn Jewish Center, 667 Eastern Parkway.
Circumcision as an Infant is not painful but circumcision
for teenagers and adults requires "personal courage, commitment
and sacrifice," center officials said.
During the past three months, these Jews, who were born
and raised in Russia, had the ritual performed at Brooklyn
Jewish Hospital.
They Helped
The ritual was made possible through the aid of Friends
of Refugees of Eastern Europe and was conducted by the
Rev. Eliyahu Shain (Mohel) and supervised and aided by
Dr. A. Pagovich.
The Soviet Jews were honored yesterday at a ceremony
attended by hundreds of relatives and friends. The 100
men accepted certificates acknowledging their "willingness
to sacrifice for what they believed in." At the ceremonies,
several teenagers and adults, speaking in Russian and
English, described what this accomplishment meant to those
who were circumcised.
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