Letter Read at Washington Embassy : Fresh From Jail, 5 Rabbis Renew Anti-Soviet Protest

Five rabbis, still in prison garb after serving time for demonstrating too close to the Soviet Embassy, renewed their protest Tuesday en route home from jail.

Gathering at the gate of the embassy, they read aloud a letter addressed to Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev and were told by a voice from an intercom that it should be mailed because it would not be accepted at the door.

The letter said in part: “We will not rest until every Jew in the Soviet Union is allowed to flee your vicious persecution. The horrible lesson we learned from Nazi Germany (at whose hands your country suffered greatly) is that we cannot afford to be silent.”

The rabbis again were within the 500-foot radius where demonstrations are not allowed, but police made no attempt to arrest them this time.

The suburban Maryland men had a reunion with their families following the letter-reading. Steven Bayar of Greenbelt, Md., said daily 15-minute vigils outside the embassy will continue as they have for 13 years.

He said another demonstration is scheduled next month with civil disobedience actions that could lead to further arrests.

The other rabbis released Tuesday from the federal prison in Petersburg, Va., were David Oler of Gaithersburg, Bruce Kahn of Chevy Chase, Mark Levine of Silver Spring and Leonard Cahan of Potomac.

They were imprisoned Dec. 13 by District of Columbia Superior Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly after refusing to accept her original sentence of six months’ probation and a $50 fine.

The 15-day sentence was reduced to 12 days because of credit for time spent in jail when they were arrested, good behavior and the Christmas holiday.