Note: Ezra Yachin, at left, is one of the last surviving Lehi fighters who has written and lectures widely about the Lehi and 'Yair.'
The 25th of Shevat marks 80 years since the murder of Lehi commander, Avraham “Yair” Stern, by the British Police in Tel Aviv. Here is an excerpt from my historical novel, “The Lion’s Roar” which brings the mysterious personality of the legendary underground leader into clearer focus.
The scene takes place at the 1938 Betar Conference in Warsaw, where Menachem Began challenged Ze’ev Jabotinsky, the Betar leader, for his too passive response to the latest wave of Arab violence in Eretz Yisrael, condoned and encouraged by the British. Behind the scenes, Yisrael Eldad, a young Betar enthusiast, meets with Stern who tries to recruit him to join the more militant Lechi movement which Stern is soon to create: The conversation is based on Eldad's own transcript, to be found in his biography.
Excerpt:
ELDAD HURRIED into the convention hall lobby, hoping to meet Uri Zvi Greenberg, but the poet had vanished. A half-hour recess had been announced before the convention would reconvene to vote on key issues. The lobby quickly filled up with animated, young Betarim who sensed that something unusual had transpired in the hall. A stranger approached Eldad with a serious expression.
“Mr. Scheib?”
“That’s correct.”
“Someone would like to speak with you upstairs on the fourth floor,” he said.
“Who?” Eldad asked.
“I don’t know,” the messenger replied. “I was only given a room number.”
Much later in his life, Eldad would write a book called, First Tithe, an autobiography written with the picturesque clarity of an Impressionist’s canvas. This is how he described the encounter with the mysterious man who had stood on the balcony.
“I went upstairs and entered the long, narrow, calm room – strikingly calm in contrast to the noisy auditorium. Seated at a small table was a man, also calm, dressed unlike most everyone else at the conference, in a dark, civilian suit. His face was thin and calm. His fingers long, thin, calm. Even the calm was long and thin, like the room. Calmest of all was his dark, gray voice – like his eyes. He told me he had heard my words from the balcony. The words were well-spoken, words filled with obligation. What did I think should be done? Should Betar continue following along with the Jewish Agency’s policy of restraint? Should we remain loyal to Betar come what may?”
Eldad realized that the strikingly calm man was Avraham Stern, an Irgun leader from Eretz Yisrael who was trying to raise a Jewish army in Poland, in order to wage war on the British usurpers of Zion. In Hebrew, his code name, “Yair,” meant, “He will illumine.” In Yiddish, the name Stern meant “star.” Yair was also the name of the fearless Jewish commander who led the rebellion against the legions of Rome on the heights of Masada.
Eldad replied that, in his humble opinion, the organization deserved one more chance. If its leadership could be swayed toward genuine activism, why splinter it into factions?
“I will tell you why,” Stern answered. “Your leader, the ‘old man,’ is tired. For years, he has battled all alone against windmills, and the great wind machines have exhausted his strength. Unable to topple them, he has been swayed by their illusions. Speeches and politics won’t save us. The instruments of war are not newspaper articles and hollow declarations. What ultimately convinces are bayonets and bombs.”
Eldad stood captivated by what he was hearing. There was no uncertainty in Stern’s words. No doubts, nor fears.
“Last year, I met with Jabotinsky in Alexandria. When I demanded that we end the spineless havlaga policy of restraint, and commence a new policy of hagava – ‘response’ in Eretz Yisrael – your leader balked, tormented by twisted moral arguments and convoluted considerations, saying he would have to contemplate further on the matter, and that no acts of revenge were to be taken unless we received a telegram signed ‘Mendelson.’”
Stern stared at Eldad with blue-grey eyes as deep and cold as the Black Sea in the heart of winter.
“Your leader stirs hearts when he speaks, but there is no clear direction in what he says. One moment he praises reprisal, then he condemns the killing of innocents. Perhaps, as Raziel has joked, we should notify the Arabs in advance regarding the exact time and location of our attacks. That way we will only blow up tables and chairs.”
Eldad sensed that Stern was spreading his cards on the table, eager to hear his opinions before inviting him to be a comrade in arms. Probing eyes stared at him, waiting for a response.
“May I sit,” Eldad asked.
“Of course. Please, have some biscuits. You must be hungry.”
He pushed a plate of biscuits toward Eldad. “I was told that they are kosher. I myself try to keep kosher and observe Shabbat, and I join a prayer minyan when I can, though in our line of work, it is not always possible.”
Eldad noted the words, “our line of work,” as if he had already accepted him as part of the team.
“Do you speak Hebrew?” Yair asked.
“Yes.”
“Yiddish?”
“Of course.”
“Make a blessing if you like,” Stern said in Yiddish with a smile. “I myself am lax in the matter, believing that the essence of belief itself is the main thing and not the ritual, but I respect those who have the strength to fulfill the letter of the Law, and I understand how doing so can be a fence against transgression.”
“I tend to agree,” the former Rabbinic student replied.
Once again, Stern referred to Rosh Betar as “your leader,” implying that he himself did not place Jabotinsky on an exalted pedestal like his ordinary disciples.
“Your leader is still entrenched in the mud of politics. His love of literature and world philosophy has blurred his thinking. He mistakes British culture and civility for truth. Is he a genius? Yes. A righteous man? Indeed. His personal traits are impeccable, and his dedication to the Nation is unsurpassed. A lover of art and music as well. The true Renaissance man. But, like the Samson he wrote about so heroically, painting his noble character with such drama and pathos, Jabo’s enamor for the seductive beauty of foreign cultures has blinded him to a higher ideal of, ‘It is a Nation that shall dwell alone, and not be reckoned amongst the peoples.’”
Eldad felt like a mountain climber, who, after reaching the summit, discovered there was still a higher peak ahead. Inspired in the past by Jabotinsky and Uri Zvi Greenberg, he felt his soul stirred anew by the warrior poet before him. But he wasn’t sure he could scale the towering mountain before him.
“In Alexandria, I pressed upon the ‘old man’ the need to abandon his love affair with restraint. As you know, he has made the concept of ‘Hadar’ into the Betar banner. In my opinion, he exaggerates the meaning of the term, turning it into a distorted, watered-down version of chivalry from the days of King Arthur and The Knights of the Round Table. I reminded him that David is our role model of a king, and not the mythological figure from Camelot. Regarding Hadar, King David says in his Psalms: ‘Let the faithful exult in glory; let them sing upon their beds. Let the praises of G-d be in their mouth, and a double-edged sword in their hand to execute vengeance upon the nations, punishment upon peoples; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute upon them the written judgment. This is the hadar – the splendor – of all His faithful. Halleluya.’ Executing judgment on the enemies of Israel, this is the true splendor of a Jew!”
https://www.amazon.com/Lions-Roar-Tevye-Promised-Land/dp/1726116107
A poem by "Yair" (a Hebrew pocket-sized edition of his poetry was published in Israel.)
Homeland, You are betrothed unto me
[Hebrew word is mekudeshet, meaning 'you are sanctified to be only mine']
.according to the customs of Moses and Israel
A bending handmaiden, collapsing and lost
I am your Husband and Redeemer
And those who devoured and swallowed you up will be far away
in my life, and in my death
I will lodge my head among your mountains
You will forever live in my blood
My heart is anxious for you now – a queen
My mouth speaks your glory
Homeland, You are Mekudeshet unto me
according to the customs of Moses and Israel
Avraham Stern (alias Yair, 1907–1942)
Tzvi Fishman was awarded the Israel Ministry of Education Prize for Jewish Culture and Creativity. Before making Aliyah to Israel in 1984, he was a successful Hollywood screenwriter. He has co-authored 4 books with Rabbi David Samson, based on the teachings of Rabbis A. Y. Kook and T. Y. Kook. His other books include: "The Kuzari For Young Readers" and "Tuvia in the Promised Land". His books are available on Amazon. Recently, he directed the movie, "Stories of Rebbe Nachman."