Freedom Sunday for Soviet Jewry was a massive historic rally held on December 6, 1987 (1987-12-06), on Washington D.C.'s National Mall, drawing an estimated 250,000+ participants and marking the largest Jewish-organized gathering in U.S. history. It demanded freedom and exit visas for Soviet Jews and refuseniks, the day before the Reagan-Gorbachev Washington Summit (December 7-10, 1987). Proposed by Natan Sharansky, who called for 400,000 attendees, the event was nationally coordinated by David Harris of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), with involvement from the National Conference on Soviet Jewry (NCSJ, via Summit III Task Force) and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. Key speakers included Vice President George H. W. Bush, Natan Sharansky, and Elie Wiesel. Highlights featured the lighting of a giant menorah by former refuseniks for Chanukah. Broadcast by Voice of America to the Soviet Union, the rally demonstrated solidarity rather than protest. President Reagan referenced it during his summit meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev, urging action on Jewish emigration, and it is widely credited with contributing to the opening of emigration gates, leading to over 1 million Soviet Jews leaving the USSR in subsequent years.