After his tenure at Leeds, Dennis visited a friend on a kibbutz in Israel.
\n He was introduced to a wealthy man who sponsored brief trips by young
\n non-Israeli Jews to the Soviet Union to smuggle in Jewish religious items
\n like prayer shawls, and smuggle out information about Russian Jews. It
\n was 1969, two years after the USSR had broken off relations with Israel.
\n Life was tough for Jews in the communist state. <\/p>\n
"Seeing the world is usually a highly beneficial experience in killing
\n some naivete," said Prager on his radio show Dec. 1, 2009. "I
\n specialized in my studies in communist countries. I’ve been to many. That
\n shaped me more than almost anything in my life, seeing life under communism.
\n Reading about it is very important but experiencing it… When I had to
\n meet dissidents in the Soviet Union, they would tell me at which tree
\n in which park to meet them, to then continue walking. They would walk
\n behind me, catch up, and we will only talk while walking, because if we
\n stop to talk, it will be clear that they are talking to a Westerner. And
\n any other kind of conversation could be recorded, so we never met indoors.
\n I lost 14 pounds in four weeks in the Soviet Union. Biggest chunk of change
\n I ever lost. Because of that. I never sat."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After his tenure at Leeds, Dennis visited a friend on a kibbutz in Israel. He was introduced to a wealthy man who sponsored brief trips by young non-Israeli Jews to the Soviet Union to smuggle in Jewish religious items like … Continue reading