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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
A Personal View of Jabotinsky,
Political Father of Israel's Premier
To All Our Relatives And Good Friends
We Wish A Happy New Year
MAURIE and FLORENCE CASCADE
Southfield, Michigan
BY BORIS SMOLAR
(Editor-in-chief, Emeritus, JTA)
(Copyright 1977, JTA. Inc.)
ALBERT EINSTEIN LODGE
of BNAI BRITH
extend best wishes for a happy, healthy,
prosperous New Year to all their members and friends.
Sam Freedman, pres.
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ALEX & BEA KLEIN & ZORA •
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SOUTHFIELD
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WISH ALL THEIR FAMILY AND FRIENDS
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A YEAR OF HEALTH & HAPPINESS
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SAM MOLITZ
wishes all of his relatives and
friends a healthy & happy New Year.
May you be inscribed in the book of life for a good year
f
EVELYN and JACK MUNSON
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extend heartiest best wishes for
a most happy, healthy and
prosperous New Year
to our family and friends
(Editor's note: There is
no other person in contem-
porary Jewish history who
is as much venerated by
Premier Menahem Begin of
Israel as the late Vladimir
(Zeev) Jabotinsky, the
founder of the Zionist-Revi-
sionist Movement. A follow-
er of Jabotinsky, Begin con-
siders him as his mentor
who influenced his life and
his political thinking. Boris
Smolar, although not a Rev-
isionist, had for years been
a close friend of Jabo-
tinsky. This article—a chap-
ter of his forthcoming book,
"In The Service of My
People"—throws light on
why Jabotinsky was highly
respected by many thou-
sands who did not see eye-
to-eye with him politically.)
One could support the
policies of Vladimir Jabo-
tinsky—the father of ex-
tremist Zionism—and one
could oppose them, but
even Jabotinsky's bitterest
opponents respected him
enormously. They admired
MR. & MRS. SAUL ROTT
AND FAMILY
wish their dear friends and
relatives a healthy and
happy New Year
MRS. HARRY RUBENFIRE
extends to all her family and
friends a wish for a year of
good health and happiness
Best wishes for a Happy, Healthy
new Year to all our Family & Friends
MR. & MRS: JULIUS STOBINSKY
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Best Wishes for a Healthy and Happy
New Year to our Relatives & Friends
HARVEY AND BRENDA VINTON
BONNIE & JEFFREY
\
= MR. & MRS. WILLIAM ZIMMERMAN
Huntington Woods
wish all their family and friends
•
a year of good health and peace
MR. and MRS. LOUIS KEPES
14511 Ludlow, Oak Park
wish all their friends and
relatives a year filled
with health, happiness
and prosperity
ISADORA and JERRY HELFMAN
AND FAMILY
send to all their friends and family
best wishes for a year filled with
health, happiness, prosperity
and peace
=
VLADIMIR JABOTINSKY
him for his dynamism, for
his brilliant writing, for his
titanic oratory, for his ling-
uistic abilites, for the
charm he displayed in pri-
vate life—when in his pub-
lic life he was hard and dic-
tatorial.
Aside from the fact that
Jahminsky was a great ora-
tor, he was also a publicist
with rare talents. Even
when he was in his
twenties, his articles com-
manded attention. He was
then writing in Russian in
the great Russian daily
"Odeskiya Novosti."
I read his Russian feuille-
tons (which were later col-
lected in several volumes)
and never have forgotten
them. His written style was
masterful. I enjoyed his
writing like a glass of good
wine.
He was not only an excel-
lent feuilletonist but also a
good fiction writer and po-
et. He translated Chaim
Nachman Bialik, the nation-
al Jewish poet, into Russian
and his translation was no
less artistic than the origi-
nal.
When he was 21, his arti-
cles in the "Odeskiya No-
vosti" were so successful
that the editor began pay-
ing him 120 rubles a month.
This was then equivalent to
$60—a huge sum for a jour-
nalist in those days.
As he grew older, his
fame as a master of the
Russian language grew and
grew. Great Russian
writers, like Maxim Gorki,
Leonid Andreyev and oth-
ers, were enthralled by his
BORIS SMOLAR
writing. He had great po-
tentialities. He was popular
in liberal circles in Czarist
Russia, which were then be-
ginning to attract a follow-
ing and gain in strength.
Jabotinsky was attracted
to Zionism, however, even
though he had been raised
in a home where everyone
always spoke Russian. He
moved farther and farther
away from the Russian envi-
ronment and closer and
closer to Jewish life.
In his early years he be-
came extremely active in
the Zionist movement and
gave it his fervor and
boundless devotion. Zionist
leaders in Czarist Russia be-
gan to see in young Jabo-
tinsky a major pillar of
their movement. He was lat
er to play the same role on
an international level.
I was able to observe
Jabotingky closely in Paris
where he had moved after
the Russian Revolution. He
still spoke Russian to his
wife and close friends who
knew the language.
His fame as a writer and
orator continued to grow.
People paid all kinds of
prices for tickets to hear
him at huge public meet-
ings. He spoke in the .larg-
est halls in Paris, London,
Warsaw and other capitals
before many thousands of
people; thousands of others
stood outside for lack of
space within.
He could have had a huge
income just from his speak-
ing engagements, but he
never kept the money he
got from his appearances.
He always contributed, it to
his party-the Zionist-Revi-
sionists—for party activi-
ties. He and his family ac-
tually lived in poverty in
Paris.
He lived on $35 a week,
which he got for a weekly
article in the New York
Yiddish daily "Morgn-Zhur-
nal." Jacob Fishman, the
paper's editor, was strongly
opposed to Jabotinsky (he
was a Weizmannist) and
fought the Zionist-Revision-
ists in the columns of his
newspaper. -
But tie was impressed by
Jabotinsky's great talent as
a publicist and considered •
it an achievement for his
paper that he had gotten
Jabotinsky to write for it.
He gave him free rein to
write about anything he
wanted to, knowing that
Jabotinsky would - otherwise
not write for him, even if
he needed money.
Poverty didn't help his
creative spirit much, but he
even refused to listen when
somebody said to him that
he should be giving less
money from his public ap-
pearances to the party and
keep something for himself.
In this sense he was a true
aristocrat and a fanatic,
too. The success of his
ideas was more important
to him than his daily needs.
He was the only Zionist
leader I recall who lived in
great financial need even
though he was in a position
to lead a very comfortable
life.. After the outbreak of
World War II, he travelled
from London (where he
was living with his wife),
to New York on a mission
in February, 1940. The
American Consul in London
had brutally refused to is-
sue his wife a tourist visa
and she had to remain
alone in bad health in Eng-
land. He was never to re-
turn, for he died of a heart
attack in August at a Revi-
Friday, September 9, 1977 77
Best wishes to our family
and friends for a happy,
healthy New Year.
MR. & MRS. SAM
GENDLEMAN
and Family
MR. & MRS. JACK
KEYS
AND FAMILY
wish all their relatives and friends a
happy, healthy New Year
MR. & MRS.•SIMON
SHIFMAN
extend best wishes for a
happy, healthy Year to all
SADIE• & BEN
SKLAR
Oak Park
wish all their relatives
and friends a healthy
NEW YEAR
(Continued on Page 78)
Mr. & Mrs. Saul
Fleishman
and Family
Best wishes for a happy and healthy
New Year to all our family and friends
Detroit
wish all their family and .
friends a happy, healthy New
Year
MR. & MRS. MICHAEL
WEINER
AND FAMILY
MR. AND MRS. MAX GVAZDA
and Family
Southfield
wish all their relatives and
friends a healthy, happy New Year
MR. & MRS. LEO WEINGARDEN
AND MARCY
wish all their friends and relatives
a year of good health and happiness
AMMI11 1■ 111 ■ , -
Noe
Best wishes to all our family
and friends for a healthy and
happy New Year
MR. & MRS: JOE WEINMAN
AND FAMILY
MRS. ABE (ANNE) WEISBERG
extends best wishes to all
her relatives and friends
for a happy, healthy and
peaceful New Year
We wish all our family and
friends much joy, happiness
and contentment in this New Year
THE DEMBS
Mark and Mona
Marla, Cindy, Lisa
Wishing All Out Friends
A happy, healthy and prosperous
New Year
FLORENCE ABEL & JUDY STEIN
The Durbin Company, Realtors
559-8181
MR. & MRS. LEON HALPERN
AND FAMILY
extend best wishes for a happy,
healthy and peaceful New Year
to all our relatives and friends