8

DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and the Legal Chronicle

JABOTINSKY

had their own controversies and
their own programs. They were
really the formulators of Zionist
ideology. They had their own
views on Galuth politics. They
were involved in Russian politi-
i
cal issues.
They developed the
renaissance of Hebrew and lived
in a circle of their own, slightly
influenced by what Herzl and his
Actions Committee were doing
in Vienna. Their talent for criti-
cism and non-conformity was
given great exercise at Zionist
Congresses, where they were of-
ten at odds with the "western"
Zionist leaders. To a large ex-
tent, their language was Russian.
I attended the Vienna Zionist
Congress in 1913 and strolled
into the caucus of the Russian
delegates. There were over 400
men present, and I remember
Tiomkin holding forth in Russian,
at great length.
It was in this Russian world—
liberal, not revolutionary —that
young Jabotinsky lived, and from
which he was recalled to his peo-
ple. He was not a product of the
Yeshivah or of a Hebraic atmo-
sphere. He passed as a youth
straight into Russian life, with-
out regrets, swimming with ease
in its literature, sharing its hopes
and ideals. He did not return
from this brief adventure empty-
handed. He had the equipment
of an educated, liberal Russian.
He proceeded to apply his intel-
lectual experiences to Zionism,
and looked down on the achieve-
bents of the Zionist movement
with Russian eyes. He was an
"outsider" looking in. They said
that he had a goyish head, and
they were right. He was a child
of emancipation, and saw in Zion-
ism the reflection of an awakened
Galuth seeking national freedom,
but using the old methods of
the Galuth to pave the way for
the Geulah. He hated the chains
of Galuth, and hoped that through
Zionism the Jewish people would

throw off the spirit of submis-
siveness, inferiority, opportunism,
and that Jewish life would be-
(Continued from Page 1)
come bold, proud and aggressive.
vas this so in the case of Jabot-
Zionism meant revolution. It
insky. Later, I learned that he
meant freedom not through grant,
was at that time only about 20
but through self-emancipation, and
years old. Behind the seeming ma-
for that emancipation Jews must
turity in Jabotinsky's writings,
profit by the example of other
there lurked traces of that youth-
peoples who had won their free-
fulness which he never lost. He
dom. He had found his intellec-
never aged much, really, He
tual freedom 'through the culture
seemed always filled with the dar-
of another people; they could
ing of youth, its vigor and cock-
learn from other people how to
liberate themselves, and how to
sureness.
* * *
maintain their freedom in self-
gove•nment.
In early days, Russian Zionism
* *
lived within its own confines. It
reluctantly joined the Herzlian
Jabotinsky was not born to be
movement. The Russian Zionists
domesticated; he was always rest-
less, inquisitive, longing for
change. He loved adventure. He
began to move about the world
at an early age. After he had be-
come saturated with Russian cul-
ture, he moved on to Italy, where
he studied a number of years, He
admired Dante, Alfieri and d'An-
nunzio in literature; Mazzini and
Garibaldi as creators of Italian
unity. The liveliness and grace
of the Italians impressed and in•
fluenced him in many ways. He
was a good speaker in Russia;
in Italy he became a brilliant
dramatic speaker, with a flair for
the theatrical. Under the Italian
skies, stirred by the vivacity of
Have a beautiful chrome-
its people, his style of oratory
finished Electrovent Kitchen
changed and the Italian influence
ventilator installed in your
was recognizable in his speech,
home. All wiring, labor, and
no matter what language he used.
unit at one low price, removes
He had learned how Italians had
steam and cooking odors. pro-
forged their democratic unity on
tects furniture, walls and
the field of battle; he had studied
drapes.
the teachings of Mazzini, and
Writer or Phone for
found much the Zionist movement
Information
could learn from him.
* * *
During the World War he
went to England. All Russian
Zionists were attracted to Eng-
land as the land destined to be
5249 WESTERN AVE.
of help in the realization of Zion-
OREGON 4242
ist aims. Jabotinsky learned Eng-
lish rapidly and made many
friends in London. They were not
among the upper classes; they
CUSTOM MADE QUILTS
were of the restless, protesting
Celenese Curtains Made to Order
middle class—dissatisfiefid army
officers, politicians of the minor•
ity, liberal journalists and ar-
tists. These friends he enlisted in
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the work for a Jewish Legion.
He got his martial slant in the
gmmosionsuimmonumuismiminiumuminommisimmumnininthommomminummenonimirA recruiting of that first group of
Jewish fighters for the freedom
of Palestine. His service in the
Where the Family Likes to Dine
Legion gave him a military bear-
ing; it provided hint with a war
vocabulary; he learned how to
click his heels and salute; it
Bring the whole family and en joy a welcome
made him conscious of military
discipline. It was his English fix-
change. It's a delightful treat that won't strain
ation that made him profoundly
the pocketbook .. .
admire the English people and
at the same time the dogged
Have You Tried Our FREE DELIVERY SERVICE?
opponent of British policy in Pal-
Just Phone TRinity 2-9366
estine. The authentic Englishman
was a non-conformist and "a`g.in"
the government. In England he
raw the Parliament in session
0 and learned how parliamentary
speeches should be delivered. He
saw how "muddling through" was
12TH at HAZELWOOD
useful in maintaining democratic
Eitimmmiliguilmmiiimminummomminumnimiliminemainnumpsimminimmominummonionnimminimminume balances; and envied the English
their ability to cut loose from
all serious problems at intervals
—for tea, for week-ends, for the
hunting season. He appreciated
the qualities of English sports-
manship; he learned how to be
bulldogged; what it meant to be
now being sold and
an English gentleman.
The fruits of his threefold ad-
serviced by
ventures—in Russia, in Italy, in
England—he laid at the feet of
the Zionist movement. (It is curi-
ous that of all Zionist leaders he
owed least to German influence.)
But when he appeared in Zionist
circles and spoke of his adven-
tures among the aliens he found
himself more of an alien than
ever before. He could not under-
stand how the movement launched
by Herzl could remain bogged in
middle class achievement. He
imagined that at least a sugges-
12250 JOS. CAMPAU
tion of Garabaldi would find its
way into the Zionist movement.
TO. 8-9310
He thought that Zionists would
act something like Englishmen,
once they became partners of the
Empire in the Mandate. To his
profound disappointment he found
that it was not easy to have Jews
accept alien methods and man-
TRinity-
8210 Twelfth Street
ners. Jewish freedom would have
to come in a Jewish way. The
Friday Eve., Sunday Mat. and Eve., Oct. 25 ana 27
other nations had had a long his.
GUSTOW BERGER
FANIA RUBINA
tory of struggle for freedom on
their own soil. The Jews had had
Nathan and Rose Goldberg
a long history of struggle for
survival through oppression, al-
Jacob and Bettie Jacobs
ways on alien soil, The older
in the successful dramatization of the famous Forward novel
Zionists argued that self-emanci-
pation would have to come through
an inner revolution, new condi-
("SINNING MOTHERS"
tions producing different national
Leon Seidenberg. Vitee Dubrow. Harold Miller. Ella Wallenstein.
traits. They saw Zionism as evo-
Leah Seidenberg. Louis Buckshitzky. Harry Jordon
lution which at the end of the
Produced by Nathan Goldberg—Music by Yasha Kreitzberg
road would be seen as a cycle of
Lyrics by Jacob Jacobs
a completed revolution. You could
talk to them of the English but
Prices: EVES., 50c, 75c and $1; MATINEES, 50c and 75c
they were not Englishmen; you

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Carl S.

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tom

"ZINDIGE MAMES"

October 25, 1940

could talk to them of Mazzini and
Garibaldi but they were not Ital-
ians. Nor was the Promised Land
on the fringe of the Arabian des-
ert comparable to England or
Italy. They would have to learn
through their own experience how
to govern themselves. They would
have to learn the arts of war,
only when war became an essen-
tial requisite for national. sur-
vival. They could not become like
other nations in the spirit of imi-
tation. They would become like
other nations when driven by
their own history.
But Jabotinsky was simple and
direct. Personally he was a shy
man, but in expression he was
audacious. He saw the idea but
none of its practical implications.
What was lacking in the picture
of the Jewish State he pieced to-
gether from his study of history.
Plant the seed; a flower would
emerge. Set the idea in motion
and its realization would inevi-
tably come. A Jewish Army-
small,•one battalion, one company,
a flag, a bugle—you needn't wor-
ry about the National Army. A
Jewish State on both side of the
Jordan—demand it, declare it,
act as if you had it—and one
day a trumpet would be blown
and the full structure of the
State would be visible for all
eves to see. Jewish exacuation of
all European positions —a few
ships at first, then fleets, a few
sailors. then a navy. Make the
beginning and the beginning
would grow. He stood for Jewish
National rights in Russia long
before it had the slightest chance
to be regarded as a practical
issue. He believed in a large scale
immigration to Palestine; then be-
came an advocate of the unsys-
tematic, sporadic, illegal immi-
gration.
He was it stormy petrel in the
Zionist movement. He disturbed
the minds that were orderly. He
disturbed the bureaucracy of re-
sponsibility. He disturbed the
leadership of the corporate obli-
gations of the Zionist movement.
He had a personality of charm,
but not of persuasion. He pro-
voked but did not soothe. When
he stood tin in the Vienna Con-
gress of 1925 and launched into
a grand criticism of Zionist pol-
icy—satiric, courteous, denuncia-
tory—he was like the Angry Con-
science of the movement. He
poured acid on open wounds. He
reminded us of the goal and made
us ashamed of the results.
I remember what Jabotinsky
said in Philadelphia in 1923 about
the Shekel. He used the illustra-
tion of the Water-carrie• of War-
saw. He painter a picture of a
ragged, starved, unindentifiable
victim of the Galuth. The Water-
carrier was anonymous; he did
not count; he suffered in silence.
But when the Zionist organiza-
tion awakened him to the con-
sciousness of belonging to a liv-
ing people, with a destiny of their
own, with natural burdens of their
own; that man stood up and
bought a Shekel conscious of the
fact that he had a place in the
State that was "in the process
of becoming". It was that same
Shekel, Jabotinsky many years
later, angry and disappointed, tore
in shreds in the Congress when
he left the organization.
Even when he was at peace
within the Zionist organization
he was at war with himself. He
could not for long remain a mem-
be• of the majority. It irked him
beyond words to be bound in the
responsibilities of the Zionist Ex-
ecutive. Just as he broke the
Zionist discipline, so he broke
the Revisionist discipline. He was
man who played best as a soloist,
as a lyricist; he did not fit into
any ensemble and was at his best
when he spoke his own mind
devoid of any collective responsi-
bility. For he never lived in the
regular time of day. He had his
Own time. While the Zionists
saw the clock at 6, he saw it
at 12. He did not know what was
meant by premature; whatever
was true was timely. He saw the
cycle of Jewish emancipation as
a thing complete and was blind
to reality.

* * *

The last years of his life were
days of illusionment. All great
adventurers in life have found
themselves in the last few years
in a stifling atmosphere. He saw
the trampling under foot of all
Jewish rights and had to aban-
don Emancipation for Evacua-
tion. He had fought against the
Mandatory Power for many years
and was compelled to become an
advocate of helping England de-
fend itself against Germany. He
came to the United States when
it was frozen in the spirit of iso-
lation and died before American
isolation became defense and aid

With the Jewish

War Veterans

Sunday, Oct. 20, was red let
ter day for the Jewish Commun-
ity of Flint, Mich., making the
institution of Eli Rosenblum
Post No. 331 of Jewish War
Veterans of the United States.
Four hundred comrades and lad
ies witnessed the ceremonies un
der the direction of Department
Commander Dr. Robert Rosen and
later in the evening attended the
banquet at the Durant Hotel. The
speakers of the evening included
Rabbi S. Z. Fineberg, Dr. Rosen,
Samuel Zusman, Judge Paul V.
Gadola of Flint; Elizabeth W.
Shapero, national conductress of
the Ladies Auxiliary; Ben Cowan
and Rev. Callon, Foltz, Dr. II. W.
Goldstick was master of cere-
monies. Vocal selections were
rendered by Mrs. Winegarden, ac-
companied by Mrs. Emily Hixon.
The ceremonies were preceded by
a parade with the comrades from
the Detroit, Flint and Wyandotte
posts participating. American Le-
gion Auxiliary Drum and Bugle
Corps, Wayne County No. 1 led
the parade with the Drill team
from Charles A. Learned Post N.
1 acting as the color guard .
The Military Bull to be held
at the Masonic Temple on Feb.
21 will be the first given under
the auspices of the Department
of Michigan with all posts and
the Auxiliary participating.
Detroit Post No. 135 will pre-
sent an American Flag to the
Beth Tfilo Emanuel on Friday,
Nov. 8. Americanism Chairman
Albert Silverman will be in
charge. All comrades and ladies
are urged to attend the ceremon-
ies commencing. at 8 p. m.
Department Commander Rosen
announces the appointment of
Harry L. Carson as Department
membership chairman.

Jewish Children's Home
Auxiliary Tea Nov. 6

MRS. A. 0. BARSKY

The Women's Auxiliary of the
Jewish Children's Home will hold
its membership tea on Wednes-
day, Nov. 6, at 2 p. m., at the
Jewish Children's Home.
Mrs. Morey Abrahams, mem-
bership chairman, and Mrs. A. 0.
Barsky, co-chairman, and their
committees, are arranging this
social affair.
Mrs. George M. Roberts an-
nounces that a book review will
be given by Mrs. Morris Adler.

Sigma Gamma Tau

Sorority

The Sigma Gamma Tau Sorer
ity met at the home of Lenore
Willis of Oakman Blvd. and elect-
ed the following officers: Shirley
Goldblatt, president; Doris Lee
Abramsohn, secretary; Irma Pos
ner, treasurer; Edythe Nelbor.
corresponding secretary.

for England. lie preached to his
last (lays for a Jewish Army and
a Jewish flag (Jews as allies 01
the fighters against Hitler), but
he did not live to see the fulfill-
ment of that hope.
He was dazzled by a Light.
He saw his people once more like
other peoples of earth, at home
in freedom, the masters of their
own land, no longerd suppliants
and Pariahs, no longer enduring
inferiority; but bravely and cour-
ageously fighting for their free-
dom. That Light never got out
of his eyes. Even when closed in
death they seemed to see the
coming of the day. Ile was a
bold, imaginative, brave man.
Practically alone, he marched
ahead. He was sure the Army
would follow some (lay. That
Army mourns the death of :I
Leader. He died too soon.

