Ukraine--An estimated 700 Sifrei Torah confiscated from Jewish
communities during the Soviet Union's Communist rule will be returned
under a presidential order from Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko
.The decision is seen as an attempt to mollify Jewish and Israeli opinion in advance of a visit to Israel by Yushchenko next week.
The issue of state-held Torah scrolls has touched many nerves over the last year. The Jewish communities in Kiev and Zhitomir have been using scrolls on loan from the government, but, a few months ago, the state archive in Kiev demanded the return of the scrolls, citing misuse.
Ukrainian Chief Rabbi Moshe Asman, who has connections in the President's office, intervened, and the local synagogues were allowed to continue using the scrolls. Simultaneously, efforts were made to recover all the estimated 700 scrolls confiscated by the Communist authorities in Ukraine, culminating in Yushchenko's order on Wednesday.
Yushchenko incurred the anger of Jewish activists two weeks ago after honoring a Ukrainian nationalist who was also a virulent anti-Semite, and his latest step is seen as an attempt to improve relations before his visit to Israel next month.
The countries of the Soviet Union, especially Russia and Ukraine, still hold considerable cultural and religious treasures - both those confiscated by the Communists and those that were pillaged by the Nazis during World War Two and captured later on by the Red Army.
Israeli attorney Mordehai Tzivin, who is active in cases of restitution of Jewish cultural property, said that "we should praise President Yushchenko for taking the feelings of the Jewish people in consideration, this was a brave move by him. We hope that other nations of the former Soviet bloc will take the same attitude and return the Jewish treasures they are still holding."
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