Hebrew Union College Cites Jewish Scholar in Russia

Mikhail Zand of Moscow, a Jewish scholar now seeking to emigrate to Israel, has been cited by the California School of the Hebrew Union College for his scholarly achievements in Jewish studies and his extraordinary courage in speaking up for the rights of fellow Jews in the Soviet Union. Dr. Alfred Gottschalk, president of the college, said he hoped to present the citation to the Russian scholar in the very near future either at the California School in Los Angeles or at the college’s Biblical and Archaeological School in Jerusalem. The Hebrew Union College’s citation to Prof. Zand is the first of its kind, said Dr. Gottschalk. It is being issued, he added, in tribute not only to the Russian Jew’s scholarly contributions and intellectual promise but also to his personal courage and sacrifices to advance the lot of all Jews in the Soviet Union.

Zand, 44, was recently fired from his post as a staff member of the Institute for Eastern Studies, a division of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, after being denounced by fellow Russian educators as a traitor and after serving 15 days in prison on a charge of hooliganism. Prior to that, he had been with the Institute for over a decade, during which time he gained international recognition for his distinguished contributions to the fields of both Jewish and Persian studies and literature. Dr. Gottschalk added that Prof. Zand in 1966 was a member of his country’s delegation to Teheran for the first International Congress of Iranists. It was there that his scholarship won him an invitation to be a visiting professor at the University of California at Los Angeles for the academic year of 1967-68, but he could not obtain an exit visa.