Forward - 07.05.2007

Diaspora Museum Honors Sharansky

NATAN SHARANSKY HONORED BY WORLD’S ONLY MUSEUM OF JEWISH DIASPORA

By Masha Leon

“I was a totally assimilated Jew… didn’t know [where] Jerusalem was,” admitted Natan Sharansky, former member of Israel’s Knesset. Sharansky was the honoree at the May 11 American Friends of Beth Hatefutsoth Museum of the Jewish Diaspora gala, held at New York’s Hotel St. Regis. “We knew we were Jews, because it was written on our parents papers…. And then came the Six Day War.” Sharansky, who in 1977 was accused by the Soviets of being a CIA collaborator and sentenced to 13 years in prison — including solitary confinement — described the tectonic effect of Israel’s victory on Soviet Jews’ self-image. “We began to study Hebrew… history, not from Tanach, but from [Leon Uris’s] “Exodus.” We requested 1,000 copies [and] began to see ourselves as part of a 1,000-year heritage. You were no longer afraid to say ‘I’m a Jew.’… Jokes appeared about the Jews with chutzpah who beat the Arabs. Goyim told us: ‘Look what God is doing for you.’” And in keeping with the museum’s Diaspora outreach imperative, Sharansky underscored the need for Israel to strengthen its identity ties to American Jews.

Sharansky recalled being called in by the KGB: “You really think the people will hear you… they are students and Jewish housewives.’ Smiling, Sharansky said, “That’s the army that destroyed the Soviet Union.” Since Sharansky’s release in 1986, when he joined his wife, Avital (née Natasha), in Israel, he has built a curriculum vitae that includes forming the Zionist Forum (an umbrella organization of former Soviet activist groups), co-founder of Peace Watch, associate editor of The Jerusalem Report and founder of the political party Yisral B’Aliya (“Israel for Immigration”). From 1996 to 2005 he was minister and deputy prime minister in all of Israel’s successive governments. Currently he is chairman of the Institute for Strategic Studies, at Jerusalem’s Shalem Center. “The Six Day War,” Sharansky said, “was not a local victory, but the Day of Destruction of the Soviet Empire.” Reflecting on 40-year-old Beth Hatfutshot Museum, located at Tel-Aviv University and supported by the Israeli government, Sharansky underscored that it is the only one of its kind in the world to address the full spectrum of Jewish communities, their heritage and customs — “a bridge between the past and the world today.”

Recalling his visits to 40 American campuses —“centers of new antisemitism” — Sharansky remembered his shock when a cake was flung in his face at Rutgers University. Nonplussed, he added, “It was a kosher cake — delicious.” Also honored was Stephen Greenberg, the museum’s past president, who declared: “We’ve adhered to the [Holocaust] call: ‘Remember, Never Forget!’ Beth Hatefutsoth remembers not the [Holocaust] horrors but the [glory] of the Jewish world that was.” I first met Sharansky in June 1986 in Anaheim, Calif., at an American Booksellers Convention reception hosted by Random House, publisher of his “refusenik” memoir “Fear No Evil.” As champagne flowed and chocolate-covered fist-sized strawberries beckoned, a modest, smiling Sharansky chatted easily with guests. including then Random House chairman Robert Bernstein, its trade division head, Joni Evans, and David Brinkley, former Moscow correspondent for The Washington Post. Would I like to do an interview in New York? What a question! Upon my return, a hand-delivered copy of the book arrived at my office, and in a marathon read I completed it in time for the next day’s “10:50 a.m., 45-minute maximum interview.” Mine was the third interview that day.

Sharansky’s body language suggested, “Here’s another one to get through.” He was unfamiliar with the Forward, so I gave him a few copies of the paper plus a speedy overview of the Forward’s history, ethos and readership. “I don’t know how many ‘interrogations’ you have gone through so far,” I began. He interrupted: “More than with the KGB.” I assured him that my questions would be different, since I had witnessed my father’s arrest by the NKVD (KGB’s predecessor) and later discovered he had shared a cell with Menachem Begin in Vilno’s Lukishki prison. At the end of an interview more than an hour long, focusing on his fortitude in prison and on the evolution of his Jewish identity, he autographed my copy of his book: “To Masha — To Jew with Russian name from Jew who had Russian name Anatoly.You are the first reporter who asked me original questions. Thank you and all the best. Sincerely, Natan Sharansky.”