(Courtesy of Bar Ilan University) Bar-Ilan University’s Ingeborg Rennert Center for Jerusalem Studies will present the 2019 Guardian of Zion Award to Natan Sharansky, former minister, deputy prime minister, and Jewish Agency chairman. Sharansky will deliver the Distinguished Rennert Lecture, entitled “How to Make Sure That Jerusalem Unites Us as Israelis and as Jews, and Doesn’t Divide Us.”
The Ingeborg Rennert Center for Jerusalem Studies was established at Bar-Ilan University in 1995, with Ingeborg Hanna and Ira Leon Rennert expressing their commitment to preserving and advancing Jerusalem’s unique heritage. Integrating studies on the history, archaeology, geography, demography, economy and sociology of Jerusalem, the Rennert Center is regarded as a prestigious academic center for the study of Jerusalem’s past and present.
Born in Donetsk, Ukraine, Natan Sharansky was a prisoner of Zion, a leader in the struggle for the freedom of Soviet Jews and an activist in the human rights movement. Subsequent to his request to make aliyah, he was arrested on trumped-up charges of high treason, espionage and anti-Soviet activity, tried in a Soviet court and sentenced to 13 years in prison. He served 9 years in a Gulag, including many years in solitary confinement and 405 days in punishment cells. He was released following massive public campaigns led by his wife Avital and political leaders in the West. He made aliyah on the day of his release. Natan Sharansky was among those who initiated the historic demonstration coinciding with Gorbachev’s first visit to Washington, which drew over 250,000 participants.
In Israel, Sharansky established the Zionist Forum to assist in the absorption of Soviet olim and the Yisrael B’Aliyah party to accelerate the integration of Russian Jews. He served in four Israeli governments, as a minister and deputy prime minister. He is the author of “Fear No Evil: The Case for Democracy” and “Defending Identity” and is the recipient of the United States’ two highest civilian honors, the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Between 2009 and 2018, he served as chairman of the executive of the Jewish Agency for Israel and worked to strengthen the connection between the Jewish People in Israel and the Diaspora. Last year, Mr. Sharansky was awarded the Israel Prize Lifetime Achievement Award.
This is the 23rd year the Rennert Center is conferring the Guardian of Zion Award, which honors those dedicated to the perpetuation and strengthening of Jerusalem. Previous recipients include Israel’s former chief rabbi Israel Meir Lau, U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton, World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder, former U.S. senator Joseph Lieberman, Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the late Dr. Charles Krauthammer, Cynthia Ozick, the late A.M. Rosenthal, Herman Wouk and the late Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel.
