▪ 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. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ALEX & BEA KLEIN & ZORA • • • SOUTHFIELD • • • WISH ALL THEIR FAMILY AND FRIENDS • • • A YEAR OF HEALTH & HAPPINESS • •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 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 i 1 1 1 j 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 • • • 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