Jabotinsky Vindicated as a Prophet, Humanist, Statesman
By S. 3. GOLDSMITH
atmosphere is clear and i t they did not dare utter it, ily honor his declaration. Er-
(Copyright 1972, 'Tx, inc.)
1922; Jabotinsky wrote sev-
is possible to evaluate Jabo
All we have for the mo- tinsky objectively, withou - So he spent his time trying nest Sevin appeared on the eral letters. In one he ex-
t
to
convince
them
that
there
scene only 25 years after presses his view to the exec-
ment of Vladimir Jabotin- having political puppies yap-
utive in London that the
sky's letters is the first vol- ping at one's tail. I say this was nothing to fear. In the Arthur Balfour.
end,
this
objective
was
de-
It was a bitter irony that Zionist reaction to this docu-
. ume in a Hebrew version. It with some feeling. It hap-
is leading up to 1924. But we pened to me in the past, fined by one of Jabotinsky's Jabotinsky had, on occasion, ment was far too mild. "A
are offered only a list of the though I was never a follow- determined opponents—David to hobnob with fascists and mixed commission for Aliya
reactionaries. He did it for is a great danger ..." Today
letters, an index • and brief er of Jabotinsky and often a Ben Gurion.
We have all—followers and the sake of Zion. But his own we know how right he was.
summaries of their contents. critic. Today his remains rest
I am not inclined to blame in Jerusalem, and we can opponents — learned three movement sometimes went In a second letter, also to
the publishers — the Chaim look at his place in Jewish great truths from Jabotinsky, astray, like when the Betar the executive, he writes: "I
but only in the nick of time. donned brown shirts and have now read the full text
Weizmann Institute of Tel history calmly.
First, there is no such black jackboots.
4r
of this White Paper. I can-
Aviv University and the Ja-
Like
one
of
the
giants
of
thing as partial sovereignty,
botinsky Institute of Tel Aviv
Jabotinsky's departure not understand why you all
the
Renaissance,
Zeev
Jabo-
a
national
home
without
think that it is not a danger-
—because they simply lacked
tinsky was a homo univer- statehood. Jews are entitled from the World Zionist Orga- ous document. The Arabs
the funds for a comprehen-
a
sahs, perhaps the last of the to as much as all other na- nization was his greatest po-
'VLADIMIR JABOTINSKY
are
bound to exploit it . . ."
sive edition of the full letters.
litical error, born out of frus-
— It is 32 years since Zeev Ja- genus amongst us. Ile was a tions. By 1948, all of us said tration.
Churchill himself remarked
so.
prophet
and
a
practical
botinsky's death. The Jewish
I must go back to the let- much later: "I could not al-
Douglas Directs
statesman, a dreamer and an
Second, a Jewish state will
people finds money for much
ways give expression to my
Kirk Douglas has returned less exciting literary enter- organizer, a fabulous orator not be given to us as an ters. Little of Jabotinsky's
from Yugoslavia where he
and an incomparable linguist, award for the Ten Com- brilliance as a writer comes Zionist inclinations." Jabo.
prises. But Jabotinsky never
tinsky
understood Churchill's
produced and directed a had much luck with those a fine novelist and a great mandments and the prophet through in the brief summa-
journalist, sometimes an of- Isaiah. We shall have to fight ries. But Jabotinsky the man dichotomy in 1922.
Western, "Scalawag," plus who disposed of funds.
The letters throw a new
ficer - in uniform, and at other for it. Our practical achieve- does. And Jabotinsky the
playing the central charac-
Zeev Jabotinsky, Vladimir times a conspiratorial plan- ments will be obliterated if prophet, too.
light on the creation of the
ter.
Yevgenevich,
as
In 1922, Jabotinsky writes Jewish Legion. They also
he is known ner of Jewish self-defense, an we are not willing to defend
This was his 52nd pic-
ture since he made his among Russian Jews, was engaging wit and a satirist them in battle. The last two to Mussolini (in Italian, of warn about anti-Semitism
born
in
1880.
He
died
in
1940..
course):
"You seem to desire within the mandatory gov-
of
no
mean
stature,
a
hu-
words
of
screen debut "as a villain"
Jabotinsky's famous
opposite the late Van Hef- It was not given to him to manist and a wise friend, a novel "Samson the Nazarite" to establish in Italy a center ernment. Soon they relate to
see the Jewish state. Ile
of
Pan-Arabism.
It will never the riots in Jerusalem and
man and a brother and a read: "Collect iron." We did,
lin's "hero" in 1945 in the
would have been only 68 at good companion. He could all of us, followers and oppo- come to pass. It will fail Jabotinsky's arrest. He com-
Hal Wallis production of "The
from its beginnings. You will plains bitterly that the Jews
Strange Case of Martha the time of its establishment. command boundless devotion nents.
From a distance of three from his followers and awed
'vers." Douglas produced
Third, governments usually only reap disadvantages out outside Eretz Israel did not
of
this plan." Mussolini was react strongly enough in the
decades,
with
the
bitter
con-
v. - Scalawag" for his own Bry-
respect from his opponents.
act like horse thieves and not
At each of these levels, he like sportsmen. Balfour's at the time very far from face of a blatant betrayal of
na Company, securing Wall troversies out of the way, it
Street financing and arrang- is now possible to see the could have taken a place of successors will not necessar- anti-Semitism. He gave the the British trust.
idea up, eventually.
Private matters, touched
ing for the distribution deal man as he was. True, we had prominence. In each of these
In a letter to Col. Fred- upon or referred to in these
himself. The screenplay is the monumental biography of spheres, he could have left 'Spiritual Center'
erick
Kish,
written
in
1923,
Joseph
Schechtmann
for
letters,
throw light upon Ja-
a lasting impact. In better
by Sid Fleischman. Prior to
First of all, the Hebrew
"Scalawag," Douglas appear- some years. But Schecht- times, he would have been University will be established Jabotinsky says that Hao- botinsky the man. In 1923, he
lam,
the
Hebrew
organ
of
writes to Shmaryahu Levin:
ed in Rome in the motion mann's three-volume work is a great and beneficial influ- —a treasure house of the
the Zionist movement, should "The widow of Taviov (a He-
picture, "A Man to Respect." by a dedicated disciple; the ence upon Jews and the world people's precious spiritual as- be
moved to Jerusalem, and brew writer) is without
letters speak for themselves. at large; in times of stress
Jabotinsky was one of those and tragedy, he was mainly sets. Within it, the living na- not from one Diaspora (Ber- means and we must pay her
Put your creed into your
tional language will be lin) to another (London). the fee due to her late hus-
deed. —Ralph Waldo Emer- rare men which a people, preoccupied with polemic fostered and every Hebrew
They did not pay attention band." In the same year, he
even a gifted people, pro- against the timid in Jewry,
son.
work in the spheres of litera- to him. The Haolam lan- writes to Dr. Chaim Weiz-
duces once in 10 generations. who were fearful of losing all
ture, art and science will be guished among British Jews mann: "Israel Irivash has
He was a bright star, some-
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS times dimmed by a cloud of by defining the objective collected. In a word — it will who could not read it.
been dismissed from his job.
clearly. Like him, they also serve as a "spiritual center."
SO—Friday, Dec. 8, 1972
On a more basic issue, the We should pay him at once
political argument. Now the wanted a Jewish state, but
—Chaim Weizmann Churchill White Paper of what is due to
him in comp-
ensation."
There are also in this vol-
ume fascinating glimpses of
Jabotinsky the writer and In.
spired translator. He writes
to Chaim Nachman Bialik in
1910 that he is enclosing sam-
ple translations from the
master's works into Russian
for approval. Blank knew
Russian well, of course, but
entrusted his poems to Jabo.
Bosky for translation into
Russian. Jabotinsky inquires
in the same letter what else
Bialik wanted translated.
Alas, we have not the reply
here.
In another letter, Jabotin-
sky asks Bialik to explain
"Megilat Haesh," (the scroll
of fire), a harrowing and
enigmatic poem about the
destruction of the Temple.
How one wishes Bialik's re-
ply were available, even if
only in a footnote. But we
have not even the full text
of Jabotinsky's letter. This
is what I mean when I
grumble about summaries in-
stead of full texts.
Again, the compilers must
Weekly Review
be deemed cruel for depriv-
of Jewish Events
ing us of the full text of a
letter by Jabotinsky to Bialik
in which the rhyming method
of Dante's "Divina Comme-
THE JEWISH NEWS
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