Menachem Begin (1913-1992) is perhaps the most revered of all Israel’s leaders. Although David Ben-Gurion may be more renowned, Begin is the one politician who was the most loved, the most modest, the most principled, and the most unwilling to allow Jews to fight each other over ideals. He twice averted what could have become civil wars under Ben-Gurion’s leadership: the sinking of the Altalena weapons delivery ship and the acceptance of German reparations. Begin’s premiership (1977-1983) marked the first Israeli government not part of Ben-Gurion’s socialist labor movement. It was also the first government with whom Israel’s Mizrahi population (Jews from Arab/Muslim countries) identified.
In preparation for a tour in Tel Aviv telling the story of Begin, I’ve been asked to sketch his life before he arrived in Palestine during World War II.
Early Life
Menachem Begin was born in Brest-Litsvok in Russia on August 16, 1913, where he attended heder (Hebrew school) and a religious Zionist middle school, eventually graduating from a government Gymnasium, a secondary school with an academic orientation.
Early Life
Menachem Begin was born in Brest-Litsvok in Russia on August 16, 1913, where he attended heder (Hebrew school) and a religious Zionist middle school, eventually graduating from a government Gymnasium, a secondary school with an academic orientation.
While a student, Begin joined Hashomer Hatzair, the first Zionist youth movement. But after hearing a speech of the charismatic Ze’ev Jabotinsky, Begin switched to Jabotinsky’s Betar organization, a militant anti-communist movement.
http://jerusalem.wikispaces.com/Menachem+Begin
http://jerusalem.wikispaces.com/Menachem+Begin
The Significance of Ancient Betar in Jewish History
“The Jewish challenge to Rome that had begun in 66 CE was eventually led by the messianic general, Bar Kochba. The revolt, which was largely successful and constituted a severe and unprecedented challenge to Rome, lasted almost 70 years. It was not so much a fight over territory or property, as it was a fight over the very way of life. Monotheism and the laws of the Torah were so deeply ingrained in the Jews that any attempt to separate the people from the essence of Judaism was seen as the death of the very soul of the nation.
“The Jewish challenge to Rome that had begun in 66 CE was eventually led by the messianic general, Bar Kochba. The revolt, which was largely successful and constituted a severe and unprecedented challenge to Rome, lasted almost 70 years. It was not so much a fight over territory or property, as it was a fight over the very way of life. Monotheism and the laws of the Torah were so deeply ingrained in the Jews that any attempt to separate the people from the essence of Judaism was seen as the death of the very soul of the nation.
“Bar Kochba made his final stand in the city of Betar, which is to the southwest of Jerusalem. The city fell on the saddest day in the Jewish calendar—the 9th of Av (135 CE), the same day as the destruction of the First and the Second Temple and other calamities. The Romans sought to extinguish Jewish presence in Jerusalem by renaming it Aelia Capitolina, and by changing [its name] Israel to Palestine.
“Ultimately, the Romans failed. Perhaps that is why Jabotinsky chose the name Betar: the Jewish nation cannot be defeated, even by the mightiest secular forces.”
http://www.simpletoremember.com/articles/a/the_bar_kochba_revolt/
http://www.simpletoremember.com/articles/a/the_bar_kochba_revolt/
The Birth of the Betar Movement
Ze’ev Jabotinsky was the founder of the Jewish Self Defense Corps in Czarist Russia, the organizer of the Jewish Legion in World War I, and the first Jew to be imprisoned by the British in Akko Prison. He had been arrested and severely punished for leading Jewish defenses against the Arab Pogrom of 1921. He was released suddenly, after a groundswell of support by prominent British Christian-Zionists, including Lord Balfour. Jabotinsky urged the establishment European Zionist leadership to adopt an activist program and not to depend on the British to allow a Jewish national home in Palestine. (Although there was much sympathy for Zionism in Britain, the Palestine Mandate government was staunchly anti-Zionist.) Jabotinsky called for mass immigration to Eretz Israel [including the east bank of the Jordan River at that time] and for Jewish youth to “learn to shoot.”
Ze’ev Jabotinsky was the founder of the Jewish Self Defense Corps in Czarist Russia, the organizer of the Jewish Legion in World War I, and the first Jew to be imprisoned by the British in Akko Prison. He had been arrested and severely punished for leading Jewish defenses against the Arab Pogrom of 1921. He was released suddenly, after a groundswell of support by prominent British Christian-Zionists, including Lord Balfour. Jabotinsky urged the establishment European Zionist leadership to adopt an activist program and not to depend on the British to allow a Jewish national home in Palestine. (Although there was much sympathy for Zionism in Britain, the Palestine Mandate government was staunchly anti-Zionist.) Jabotinsky called for mass immigration to Eretz Israel [including the east bank of the Jordan River at that time] and for Jewish youth to “learn to shoot.”
After Jabotinsky left Europe to agitate for a proactive Zionist strategy, Latvian Jewish students who were inspired by his speeches organized themselves into the “Association of Jewish Youth Brit Trumpeldor,” (acronym: BETAR) memorializing the Russian Jewish hero who fell defending the settlement of Tel Hai. (Trumpeldor had distinguished himself in the Russo-Japanese War and had co-founded the Jewish Legion with Jabotinsky.) The students decided to found a new Jewish Legion which would conquer all of Eretz Israel. “The principal was very simple, yet revolutionary: The subordination of everything to the realization of the Zionist ideal – a Jewish State within its historical boundaries.”
In 1924, while Betar was attracting young activists, Jabotinsky established in Paris the World Union of Zionist Revisionists as an opposition party to the more conservative World Zionist movement. Betar proposed that Brith Trumpeldor become the official Revisionist youth organization. The following year the Revisionist world conference in Paris enthusiastically accepted the Betar resolution. Over the next several years, Betar grew dramatically in Austria, Poland, Rumania, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Germany, France, and Eretz Israel. Betar emphasized military drilling, helping “illegal immigrants” to reach Palestine, instruction in Hebrew, and encouragement to learn English among its youthful membership.
http://betar.org.il/en/content/view/15/4/
http://betar.org.il/en/content/view/15/4/
Begin’s Years of Betar Activity
At the age of twenty-two, Begin received his diploma from the Jurisprudence Faculty of Warsaw University. Upon graduation Begin achieved his childhood dream of becoming a lawyer and helping the unfortunate. However, he never practiced as a lawyer. Inspired by Jabotinsky’s efforts, Begin rose to a top position in the Betar movement, where he was extremely active giving speeches at different conferences in front of Jewish Zionists. At the second World Betar Conference, Begin proposed that the movement progress from political activities to military actions.
At the age of twenty-two, Begin received his diploma from the Jurisprudence Faculty of Warsaw University. Upon graduation Begin achieved his childhood dream of becoming a lawyer and helping the unfortunate. However, he never practiced as a lawyer. Inspired by Jabotinsky’s efforts, Begin rose to a top position in the Betar movement, where he was extremely active giving speeches at different conferences in front of Jewish Zionists. At the second World Betar Conference, Begin proposed that the movement progress from political activities to military actions.
During the short time remaining before the start of World War II in 1939, Begin planned Aliyah (immigration) for some members of the Betar group, himself and his wife. But in Vilna, en route to Palestine, Begin was arrested by the invading Soviets, who convicted him for being an “agent of British imperialism.” Although Begin was sentenced to eight years in a gulag, he was given amnesty from a labor camp after serving approximately three years. He became an officer cadet in the Polish army, in accordance with a treaty between Poland and Russia. Ironically, Begin’s aliyah in 1942 to Eretz Israel was as a Polish soldier, after having fought the Nazis in a variety of places.
http://jerusalem.wikispaces.com/Menachem+Begin
http://jerusalem.wikispaces.com/Menachem+Begin
In Israel, Begin became the head of the Israeli Betar, which he balanced alongside of his relationship with the fighting force Etzel, also known as the Irgun. But that’s a subject for another article…
