10 Friday, December 3, 1982 en a THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Begin Reviews His Past and Future (2. (Continued from Page 1) raham Stern, who was a friend and deputy actually of David Raziel though later they parted and Stern or- ganized what was later the famous Lechi, the Fighters for Freedom of Israel. Lovely Kitchenette Ants . TV . Frost Free Refrigerator • Free Parking • Private Pool • FULL HOTEL SERVICE Write for Color Brochure $225.n* daily per person IV double occupancy Dec 20 to Jan 15 =25 of 100 Apts. ATTRACTIVE SEASON RATES Phone or Write for Reservations 305-531-6604 GOING AWAY THIS WINTER? Let Winter Watchman give you a Worry-Free Vacation AVOID HOUSE FREEZE-UP WITH AN EASY-TO-INSTALL WINTER WATCHMAN Pennies Can Save You Dollars! CALL 967-0548 vt o. CAB OF sours PI EL D 559 - 1972 '4 r ------ussommorsammessetimmo s Start Your Vacation At I • YOUR FRONT DOOR I Avoid: • Airport 1 1 • L Hassles Parking Problems S pecial Rates with this ad Are You Going Around Town? 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I have a deep sentiment for him, although I did not fight under his command or in his organization. And then above all we must remember all those who were executed on the gallows, because those men showed heroism which is very rare, certainly unsur- passed. They stood before their judges, British offi- cers, and said we don't rec- ognize your right to judge us. And they knew that they were going to be sentenced to die. And we did whatever we could to save them but sometimes we just didn't have the possibility to do so. Plan after plan was pre- pared. There were also cir- cumstances which made it impossible to save them. And, ultimately they were brought to the gallows and they sang the Hatikva until their last breath, until the last moment of their lives. I got letters from Dov Gruner, perhaps the most famous of those executed, world-famous. And those letters prove how heroic those young men were .. . Schindler: If you were asked by a young Jew what's so special about being a Jew, what would you say? Begin: A Jew should be a man prepared to suffer, to resist, to be proud of his heritage, and to always guard his country and his human dignity. Schindler: What does Torah mean to you and what does God mean to you? Begin: Well, first of all I will say something about my Jewishness. I never say that I'm an Israeli; I say that I am a Jew. Of course I'm a citizen of the state of Israel .. . • As far as the Divine Pro- vidence is concerned, I be- lieve in it wholeheartedly. Some people say that in our generation, it is difficult and perhaps impossible to believe in God, Divine Pro- vidence. Where was God when a million, half-a- million little Jewish chil- dren were brought to Au- schwitz and to other camps of extermination? But, to the contrary, I be- lieve that it proves the existence of Divine Provi- dence. Because, were it not for Divine Providence, Hit- ler would have won the war. He was very close to the de- tection of an atomic bomb before the United States did. If he had detected, and it was possible in 1944, an atomic bonb, he would have threatened to drop it on Great Gritain. And as far as atomic destruction is con- cerned, nobody, even the most heroic leader, could have withstood the threat. And then maybe the whole history of our generation- would have been different. Of course, the Jews and the Land of Israel would have been completely de- stroyed. Perhaps the Jewish community, the United States would have been left. And the war would have gone on between the old world, completely Nazified . . . and the new world. How long it would have lasted nobody can say and nobody can say who would have won it. And because of Di- vine Providence, just be- cause of that, mankind was s ved. Yes. There is evil in mankind and mankind is being led sometimes to disaster; sometimes he faces the brink of the abyss. But ul- timately mankind is being drawn from the abyss. And therefore what happened to our generation never weakened my faith. On the contrary, it strengthened it. Schindler: What does it mean to you when you go to the Kotel (Western Wall)? Begin: I pray. Very sim- ply I take the Book and I say a few chapters of Psalms. Minly those written by David the King. They are the most beautiful ones, be- cause David our king was a soldier and a poet. The meaning of it is that I really pray for success in my mission, because it is a mis- sion connected with the fu- ture of our people. Yes, in- deed, as I do also on Yom Kippur when I pray, to- gether with others, for the future of our people. Be- cause our people need help, understanding, still sur- rounded by enemies which connive at its destruction. Schindler: Is the survi- val of a nation its own self-justification? Or does the nation have to be measured against the ideal to which we ascribe the words "dive" or "Jewish?" Begin: Every nation has a right to live; therefore I never ask anybody to recog- nize our right to exist .. . We have a right to exist like France, like Britain, like the United States, like any other country. No more, but no less. We have a special role, perhaps. It is different from that of others because of our unique history. It is unique. We don't have to boast about it, but we can be proud about it in a positive way. Schindler: What is that special role? Begin: I don't have to prove it. It's absolutely unique. A nation stub- bornly fights for its freedom against empires, always .. . It lives in dipersion for 19 centuries, and then it is per- secuted, then humiliated and deported and decimated and brought to the stake, and there was inquisition and deportation and un- doubtedly it is physically destroyed. It never loses its faith. It always believes it will go back to the land of its forefathers. Then it builds it up, it has to fight for it. It liberates it, it creates, it rec- reates its own state. Find me in the pages of history a such a story. I don't think you will find it. Schindler: Many times I've seen tears in your eyes when you spoke. Have you ever really wept in terms of the ex- (Continued on Page 11) God respects me when I work, but he loves me when I sing. —Rabindranath Tago-e SMAR CHARTER TO LAS VEGAS H.M.H. & F. 557-5145 SalL11111' IS MIAMI BEACH'S NUMBER • • • • • • • • OLYMPIC HEATED POOL Full Block Private Beach TV In All Rooms Rooms With Balconies Gourmet Glatt Kosher Cuisine Private all Weather Tennis Courts Panoramic Ivory-Tower Disco Star Studded Entertainment LUXURY KOSHER HO HESITATE! DON'T Reserve Now for the PASSOVER HOLIDAYS Sedurim & Services Will Be Conducted By CANTOR ROBERT VEGH SPECIAL RATES FOR LONG STAYS r ein TOLL FREE: Gut RATIONAL USHATI I v 800-327-8169 New York Office 258-8787 3201 COLLINS AYE. 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