I rise today to comment on the sorry state of the Jewish community in the Soviet Union. a community whose bravery and tenacity has astonished the free world. and created a new word in our vocabulary "refusenik." Why is this small community so severely repressed by the Soviet Govern. ment? Because they dare to demand that their government live up to the terms of the Helsinki accords which the U.S.S.R. has signed and because their cries for freedom cannot be suppressed. Despite the terrible power of the Soviet state they continue to press for the right to freely emigrate to join their loved ones in the promised land. Israel. They join together to teach their children Hebrew. and to educate them in the ancient traditions and teachings of our religion. Next Monday when the Passover holiday begins. they will prepare their seders in secretfearing that the knock on the door will not be a longawaited guest. but the dreaded secret police coming to raid their homes for evidence of their "treachery"-Bibles. religious pamphlets. religious articles. Jews who decide to seek permission to emigrate know that they also face the loss of their jobs. their apartments. and even their ration books. Now. to further harass those seeking to leave. visa applications are good for only 6 months. and then the whole torturous application and documentation process must be begun all over. Last year only 1.315 Jews were allowed to leave the Soviet Union to join their families abroaddespite the fact that literally tens of thousands have asked to leave. and hundreds of thousands more clamor for the chance to leave this land of oppression to live freely and openly as Jews In Israel. Virulent antiSemitic propaganda circulates widely today in Russia.
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