|
Trending Topics
|
Source: https://www.jpost.com/judaism/article-886225
Why I'm Optimistic about the Jewish Future
(Jerusalem Post) Natan Sharansky interviewed by Mathilda Heller - "Jewish children have to be reminded how much strength the Jewish people have; you will not find anything like the story of the Jewish people," Natan Sharansky, who served 9 years in a Soviet prison, told the Jerusalem Post on Monday. After the Six-Day War, when Jews in the Soviet Union began to connect to Israel and learn about their identity, "You discover that there is a great history that you want to be a part of. There are great people, there is a great country. Then, there suddenly appear values in your life which are bigger than survival, than political career, professional career, and then you have enough strength to say publicly that you want to go to Israel; that you want to be Jewish." While working as Israel's interior minister, he realized that the "Free World" was not as free as he thought. "In 2003, I had my trip as a minister of Israel to certain different universities; it was the time of the Second Intifada. I discovered that there are more and more Jews in the best universities in America - at Harvard, in Columbia, in Berkeley - who want very much to express their solidarity with Israel, but they're afraid that it will condemn their careers." Sharansky then wrote an article published in Maariv called "Traveling to Occupied Territory," referring to the American universities. This was "the most important battle for the future of the Jewish people, because our survival depends on whether we have a proud, strong Jewish identity. I believe that our history, our very tragic history, is very optimistic. You will not find anything like this. Not in terms of survival of a people, not in terms of rebuilding after thousands of years and gathering in exiles and rebuilding the state. So yes, I am optimistic."