Despite official harassment and the banishment of a major teacher, Dr. Joseph Begun, to Siberia, the unofficial teaching of Hebrew is very much alive in Moscow, according to the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry and Union of Councils for Soviet Jews. It is estimated there are 30 marim (teachers) and 500 talmidim (pupils) of Hebrew in the capital.
Hebrew teachers gather every other week for their own meeting. Both teachers and pupils are planning to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Hebrew as a modern language during the second week of March, which coincides with the second anniversary of Anatoly Shcharansky’s arrest.
Meanwhile, Aviral Shcharansky, Anatoly’s wife, has arrived in the U.S. for a speaking tour under the auspices of the UCSJ, with the cooperation of the SSSJ. She will also consult with scientists and legislators. Mrs. Shcharansky will seek to renew American efforts for her husband’s release. She said the two years since her husband was arrested “have been an ordeal for both me and Anatoly’s parents in Moscow. We have not heard from him for two months and his parents were recently refused their half-yearly visit with him.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
