Jews in U.S. Armed Services Will Observe Passover on Far Flung War Fronts Today

Jewish men and women in the U.S. armed forces in all parts of the world, will have an opportunity of attending Seder services tomorrow evening and will be provided with matzoth during the entire Passover week, it was announced here today by the Jewish Welfare Board.

“Examples of the full cooperation of Army authorities is evidenced by the fact that Jewish soldiers stationed in camps in the upper reaches of the Rockies received their Passover supplies by parachute,” the announcement said. “In the far Alaskan outposts, deliveries were made by dog sleds. Even in the newly won jungles of Bougainville, Seder arrangements have been completed for the Jewish fighting men.”

Lauding the cooperation of the Army and Navy authorities which enabled the Jewish Welfare Board to provide matzoth, sacramental wine and Haggadoth in every war sector, Frank L. Weil, president of the Board, disclosed that in this country, the 532 local J.W.B. Army and Nary committees “are outdoing themselves in seeing to it that every man and woman in the armed services is taken care of on the Seder nights and the observant are provided with Passover packages for the entire week.” Isolated posts throughout the country will be reached by U.S.O. Mobile Service, which will also bring Passover supplies to the maneuver areas.

JEWISH SOLDIERS IN EGYPT TRANSPORTED TO PALESTINE FOR PASSOVER

Jewish soldiers serving in Egypt will relive the dramatic exodus of the Jews from that country when a special train carrying every Jewish man and woman in the U.S. armed services will leave Egypt tonight for Palestine. They will be the guests of the Jewish community in Palestine and will observe the Seder in private homes in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

As in former years, Jewish communities in the Caribbean Islands, South America, Great Britain, North Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, India, Iran and elsewhere will provide home hospitality for many of the American men and women and will cooperate with the Jewish chaplains in arranging for communal Sedarim. Supplies and funds have been furnished by the Jewish Welfare Board.

Passover arrangements for Jewish troops stationed in Great Britain are being supervised by the Jewish Hospitality Committee in 160 communities throughout the British Isles. The Committee was organized by Walter Rothschild, chairman of the Army and Navy Committee of the Jewish Welfare Board and operates with a subsidy from the Board. Arrangements for the observance of the Passover ceremony in Australia and the Pacific Islands, were made by Moritz M. Gottlieb during his recent visit to the South and Central Pacific areas as Special Commissioner for JWB.

JEWISH REFUGEES IN RUSSIA AND SPAIN RECEIVE PASSOVER FOOD

Jewish refugees in Russia, Spain, Portugal and other countries will be provided during Passover with matzoth shipped by the Joint Distribution Committee. Passover food has also been shipped to refugees in Cuba, San Domingo, Haiti, Jamaica and to the 1,400 Jews who have been deported by the Palestine authorities to the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. Among the recipients of Passover food sent by the J.D.C. to

The United Palestine Appeal has made provision for the Passover holiday for newly arrived refugees in Palestine who have come there recently from the Balkans, Spain and Turkey. In the United States, the National Refugee Service has made it possible for newcomers in need to take part in Passover ceremonies. Seder services for detained immigrants will be held tomorrow and Saturday evenings at Ellis Island under the supervision of the Hias which has also arranged a special Seder in its building in New York for the benefit of recently arrived refugees who are being provided with food and shelter by the organization prior to their departure for other cities to join their relatives who sponsored their immigration to this country.

JEWISH LEADERS BROADCAST PASSOVER MESSAGES TO 500,000 SERVICEMEN

Judge Joseph M. Proskauer, president of the American Jewish Committee, speaking on a special Jewish Welfare Board Passover broadcast over the Columbia Broadcasting System to more than 500,000 Jewish men in the U.S. armed forces throughout the world, said that the juncture of Passover and Easter this year is symbolic of the unity with which Jews and Christian are today fighting for “a world of freedom and peace where all men may again live as brothers.” Also heard on the program, speaking from Washington, was Chaplain Aryeh Lev who just returned from a 40,000 mile tour of the fronts.

Dr. Israel Goldstein in a radio broadcast arranged by the Synagogue Council of America, expressed the hope that by next Passover the rescued remnants of European Jewry will be able to say, “Last year we were slaves, this year we are free men.”

Judge Meier Steinbrink, Justice of the New York State Supreme Court and president of the New York Federation of Reformed Synagogues, commented in a Passover broadcast on the similarity of the two Jewish oppressors, Hitler of today and Pharoah of 3500 years ago, both of whom followed the pattern of the aggressor-tyrant. “We must see that the so-called problem of the Jews is really a problem for the world to solve. But conversely we must also see our responsibility to the world in which we live,” he said.

In a Passover message to Jewish congregations throughout the United States, Dr. Louis Finkelstein, president of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, urged that prayers be offered for the speedy liberation from the Axis yoke of all those “that are today in bondage under the Pharachs of today.” Passover messages were also issued by Judge Morris Rothenberg, president of the Jewish National Fund, and by Mrs. Moses P. Epstein, president of Hadassah, each appealing for increased support for Palestine to facilitate the settlement there of Jewish survivors of Nazi torture. The Mizrachi Women’s Organization of America cabled $10,000 to Palestine for Passover food for needy persons.