ABSTRACT
The national status of Romania's Jewish community during the Ceausescu era was unique in the East European communist bloc. This standing resulted from the historical continuity of its structure, the nature of its organizational leadership in the spiritual-religious, social and cultural spheres, and Ceausescu's needs in internal and foreign policies towards the USA, the West, and Israel. Despite the gradual decrease in the Jewish population, community institutions are carrying on their activities-especially in the large towns-as they did under the communist regime but now with greater freedom. It was not just a coincidence that the Jewish national awakening in the nineteenth century started in Romania before Herzl founded the Zionist movement, and even before the Hovevei Zion movement emerged in Russia. Lectures on Jewish themes on the adult level, given by Jewish university lecturers, were convened once a week in Bucharest and once or twice a month in the other main cities within Jewish communities.
