Mr. Integrity

servative and Reform Jews are expected
in Israel to lobby Knesset members.
American Jewry's harsh reaction to the
measure surprised Mr. Sharansky.
"I hear that, 'From tomorrow my chil-
dren and grandchildren will not be con-
sidered as Jews in Israel,' " he says. "Even
if this law is passed, which is the least of
evils, the attitude to the children of those
people will be the same as before because
the status quo will remain."
His solution for the moment is for both
sides to back down. Until the recent
Supreme Court rulings, he says, the Or-
thodox didn't seek to codify conversions be-
cause the status quo was observed.
"I believe that it's a pity that, for all these
years, many leaders of the Reform and

Conservative movement were trying to
change Israel through external pressure,
instead of trying to build a powerful com-
munity in this country," he says.
Of course, for Reform and Conservative
leaders the issue is Knesset funding for
the movement's institutions. Discussing
this, Mr. Sharansky is animated.
"This is an absolutely legitimate point,"
he says, waving his hands and slapping
his thigh. "I read in some newspaper that
every person that goes to an Orthodox syn-
agogue, [Israel] spends $800. And to the
one who goes to Reform and Conservative
synagogues, $5. But that's not [an] ideo-
logical struggle. That's equal rights. I'm
ready to fight for this if someone comes
to us. We will do this through the ministry

UJA P RESS SERVICE PHOTO BY TIRAM SASSON

vote] was a first read, that it will be added
to the text of this amendment that before
it will come to a second or third read, we
have to have dialogue with diaspora Jews."
Mr. Sharansky had spoken with Mr. Ne-
tanyahu about the matter three hours ear-
lier.
"The ultra-Orthodox are pushing very
quickly because the Supreme Court is
pushing," he says. 'They want to bring it
to the debate in the Knesset."
Minutes earlier, he had called Yisrael
B'aliyah leaders to tell them, "We can't stop
debate, but we will resist bringing it to the
second committee in the Knesset before
the dialogue resumes in the middle of
June."
At that point, representatives of Con-

of education, not the ministry of religion."
But haven't Reform and Conservative
Jews asked for such help?
"No," he says. "I'm inviting this pressure
for 10 months — no, a year — and nobody
is coming! I feel it's something that's nat-
ural for me to fight for. I want to fight for
this!"
Mr. Sharansky also knows that hun-
dreds of millions of dollars are sent each
year by American Jews to Israel through
federation campaigns — and hundreds
of millions more through private donations.
The conversion bill, some fear, will en-
courage non-Orthodox Americans to with-
hold money from or manipulate federations
to give directly to non-Orthodox causes in-
stead of social service ones, some of which
are operated by Orthodox
groups.
Mr. Sharansky sounds
as if he's mastered the art
of a politician's lingo: "I be-
lieve that everybody
should give charity for
those institutions that's
important to him. The
support of aliyah is very
important to every Jew. If
not enough of money
is used to Reform and
Conservative institutions,
it's absolutely normal to
appeal to the Jewish
Agency to say that's where
some of the money has to
be earmarked. If people
are enthusiastic about the
projects, people give in ad-
dition to what they give. I
don't see it was something
damaging or negative.
"If you feel so strongly
about these institutions,
why are you waiting for
the Israeli government to
do something wrong?"
"Sometimes, it makes
me to think that all of this
is political, with that some
people are more interest-
ed in the political struggle
instead of practical terms."

Old home week: With wife
Avital, Sharansky returned to
Moscow this January for the
first time
in 20 years.

The Sharans
Spring 1973 --
File
1 1
First denied exit visa

to Israel by Soviet
authorities.

7,0444' ***4.WWWWEIWo

— July 4, 1974 -- Released from jail
previous day, marries Natasha
(Avital) Stieglitz. One day later, on
visa that will expire that day, she
emigrates to Israel. "I'll be there in
six months, before you learn He-
brew," he tells her.

— July 14, 1978 -- Sentenced to 13
years imprisonment for treason.
Serves nine years, including 400 days
in punishment cells and 200 days on
hunger strikes.

— Dec. 6, 1987 --Plays central

role in bringing more than
200,000 Jews and others to
Washington, D.C., for Soviet
Jewry rally on eve of second
Reagan-Gorbachev summit.

L Feb. 11, 1986 — Reunited with Avital in

— Jan. 20, 1948 — Born
Anatoly Borisovich
Sharansky in Donetsk,
Ukraine.

— Early 1974 -- Forms Helsinki —
Watch group with Andrei
Sakharov to monitor Soviet
compliance with signed hu-
man-rights accords.

March 4, 1977 — Full page article in lzves-
tia accuses him and several others of spying
on the Soviet Union for the CIA. Eleven days
later, abducted by KGB from Gorky Street in
Moscow. Detained for 16 months in Leforto-
vo Prison without visitors.

Berlin, West Germany, after East-West
prisoner exchange. His first words in 12
years to her are in Hebrew: "Sorry I'm a
little late." Hours later, jubilant throngs
hoist him on their shoulders in front of the
Western Wall in Jerusalem.

,-/