Natan Sharansky Sharansky is married to Avital Sharansky and has two daughters, Rachel and Hannah. In the Soviet Union, his application to marry Avital was denied by the authorities. They were married in a friend's apartment, in a ceremony not recognized by the government, as the USSR only recognized civil marriage and not religious marriage. Sharansky was denied an exit visa to Israel in 1973. The reason given for denial of the visa was that he had been given access, at some point in his career, to information vital to Soviet national security and could not now be allowed to leave. After
Shalem Center a $4.5 million grant to enable the creation of the "Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies" at the Shalem Center, to be headed by Natan Sharansky. The Institute closed in 2009, with the departure of Sharansky to head the Jewish Agency. In 2010, the Center announced a $5 million gift from the Chicago-based Conduit Foundation, headed by long-time Shalem trustee David Messer, to seed the establishment of Shalem College. Other significant supporters of Shalem College include the Klarman Family Foundation of Boston, George and Pamela Rohr of New York, Harvey and Jayne Beker of New York, Larry and Judy Tanenbaum of