NATAN SHARANSKY
15
Gorbachev demonstrated perhaps the most sophisticated part of
glasnost .
He almost disbanded the institution of prisons for Zionists
and
refusniks,
the means by which they used to frighten the others.
He gave to the West as personal presents most, not all, of those
refusniks
and dissidents for whom they were fighting. The level of
emigration is almost ten times as high as it was a year ago. Never–
theless, it is much less than it was in the best Brezhnev days . Dic–
tator Brezhnev , however, for letting fifteen thousand Jews go, could
never dream of getting the compliments which liberator Gorbachev
is getting for ten thousand. And Gorbachev also has enacted a new
law that , for more than a year, has allowed only those who have im–
mediate relatives abroad to apply for visas. So , from more than
370 ,000 Jews who had already made their first decision to go, if this
law is strictly enforced, more than ninety percent now cannot even
apply. But the impression of liberalization is so strong that there is
almost no criticism. On the other hand,
glasnost
and
perestroika
so far
have done virtually nothing for the restoration ofJewish culture. No
Jewish schools have been permitted ; no books in Hebrew are
published ; there are no new synagogues , and there is only one rabbi
for the entire Soviet Union, who is used mainly for public relations,
in trips to America . There is one kosher restaurant, which exists
mainly on the pages of
The New York Times:
it consists of a room with
three tables , to which a rabbi invites foreign correspondents, and
then we read in
The Times
that for the first time in over seventy
years you can sit and eat kosher food in the Soviet Union. Still, we
have to understand that
glasnost
permits new opportunities. We can
bring more literature in ; we can have much more contact with the
Jews in the Soviet Union . Without using
glasnost ,
without trying to
test its limits , we will get nothing.
RR:
You are familiar with the imprisonments of prison. Now that
you have been out for awhile , what are the imprisonments of free–
dom?
NS:
I think the main aspect of freedom is that there is a constant
temptation to make life superficial . Of course, it is very tempting to
make life more and more comfortable, but there are no limits to it,
and you don't really notice when the means for making life more
comfortable become your end . In prison you have only one aim: to
be
free inside the prison. Well, Western prisons are better; you have
the opportunity to leave them. But then you have the problem of
having too many choices . In the Soviet Union, whether you want to
