Menachem Begin Heritage Center Bulletin 11, Vol. 5

Menachem Begin
Heritage Center, Jerusalem
Volume 5, Issue 11
January 1, 2009
Total Number of Visitors Since October 2004: 461,569

A Busy December in Pictures

Dr. Reuven Or (left) receives the prize from Moshe Nissim(center) and Yechiel Kadishai(right)
Harold "Smoky" Simon (center) receives a certificate of honor from Moshe Nissim and Yechiel Kadishai



Prof. Moshe Arens receives a certificate of honor from Moshe Nissim and Yechiel Kadishai


HE Valeria Stoica Ambassador of Romania (right) in Israel visited with Herzl Makov, Head of the MBHC



Prof. Jacek Perchla speaks at the opening of the special photo exhibition "A World Before Catastrophe" on Krakow between the World Wars


The Young Jerusalem Saxophone Group


A full audience in the Reuben Hecht Auditorium for the opening of the exhibition



Moshe Fuksman-Sha'al (left), Herzl Makov (center) and Freda Hurwitz (right) at the Scholarship Awards Ceremony




Avivit Mahatsri, recipient of the I.H. Asper Scholarship
speaks on behalf of all the recipients


Dr. Harel Doron gave a short presentation about his scholarship-winning work, "The New Rabbis in the National Religious Camp"


The eight days of Chanukah were a very busy time at the Begin Center with major events with hundreds of people attending and 1,468 people who entered the museum over the eight-day period (6.5 days of the Center and museum being open)—some of the days of Chanukah, every single tour of the day was full.
For more pictures, please visit our other blog: http://begincenterdiary.blogspot.com/

Building our Research Capabilities

Two new academic research articles have recently been published which were acquired for the Begin Center Library. The first is British Intelligence and the Mandate of Palestine: Threats to British National Security Immediately After the Second World War by Calder Walton and the second is British Intelligence and the Jewish Resistance Movement in the Palestine Mandate, 1945-46 by Steven Wagner. Both appeared in Intelligence and National Security, Volume 23, Issue 4 August 2008.
These articles have made use of recently released files previously unavailable to researchers and provide a wealth of information and we are sure visitors and students to the Hasten Family Library will be able to produce better studies of that period now that we possess these articles. We are aware that many similar papers are being published or presented at academic conferences and are making efforts to obtain them so that our information and resource units can provide the public all they need.

Junior Knesset in Spanish

The Education Department of the Begin Center has recently launched an abbreviated version of the Junior Knesset program as an hour and a half workshop for young people who are visiting the country on Birthright-type trips or participating in other MASA programs.
This week, a several groups from Argentina participated in the program. The original workshop format is in English and the suggested program allows participants to take on the major roles in the Knesset in order to pass a law.
We hope to see this program expand to other languages and to other groups.

Our Condolences

The Menachem Begin Heritage Center extends its condolences to former Likud MK Amal Nasr'aldin (1977-1988) of the Druze community on the loss of his grandson, Lutfi, who, as a reserve soldier, was the IDF's first casualty in the current Gaza "Cast Lead" Operation. Amal Nasr'aldin has visited the Center several times and initiated the publication, in Arabic with Hebrew translation, of a book on Menachem Begin as well as hosting a Begin Center event in Daliyat Al-Carmel. Lutfi was killed when his army camp was bombarded by Hamas rockets on December 29th.

Mazal Tov

To Dafna Shkedi of the Begin Center who was awarded this year's prize for Outstanding Employee. Dafna is in charge of the museum operations, in which she oversees the guides' training, deals with technical issues and adjustments in the museum and coordinates the activities to ensure our visitors have a good museum experience, from reservation to exit from the Jerusalem Elevator.

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Yisrael Medad, Director of the Begin Center Information & Educational Resources Unit, was invited to participate in a Political Science departmental seminar at the Hebrew University at which Dr. Chares Demetriou presented a paper on "Political Violence and Legitimation: The Episode of Colonial Cyprus". In the ensuing discussion, Demetriou expressed interest to further learn of the history of the Irgun within an academic comparative framework. It is Medad's intention to expand the Center's academic research connections in the field of study of National Liberation Movements.

Visitors

A few of our friends from Canada stopped by the Begin Center this week. Moe Levy from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, representing the Asper Foundation stopped by with Shai Abramson, the Asper Foundation representative in Israel. Lou and Dvora Silver of Toronto also stopped by.
From the US—though originally from South Africa—Abraham and Taubene Hoppenstein visited the Center as well.

Visit our other blog: http://begincenterdiary.blogspot.com/
The Menachem Begin Heritage Center
6 Nahon Street Jerusalem 94110 ISRAEL
972 (2) 565-2020; Fax: 972 (2) 565-2010
offices@begincenter.org.il http://www.begincenter.org.il/

Menachem Begin Heritage Center Bulletin 8, Vol. 5

Menachem Begin
Heritage Center, Jerusalem
Volume 5, Issue 8
Total Number of Visitors Since October 2004: 455,254

December 1948:
Menachem Begin's First US Visit (part 2)

This week we present Part 2 of the three-part series on Menachem Begin's first visit to the United States based on a recent donation of archival materials given to the Begin Center Archives by Mrs. Estelle Friedman.
In response to our previous article, we received emails from David Krakow and Estelle Friedman informing us of the name of the young man in the picture last week with Menachem Begin and Mrs. Jabotinsky. It was Seymour (Simcha) Rosenberg at the age of 24 who replaced Moshe Arens as Natsiv of American Betar in September 1948. The picture was taken at the Diplomat Hotel in New York. We also heard from Mr. Rosenberg's daughter, Meira, who confirmed the information. We thank them for taking the time to write and contributing details to the material in our archives.
We invite our readers to convey to us any additional information about this visit and, of course, our Archives awaits any historical records related to Menachem Begin (letters, documents, pictures and newspaper clippings) you possess which can be scanned and returned, if need be.

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In The Jewish Ledger dated December 8, 1948, Simon Bloom describes Menachem Begin, his speeches and his first visit to the US. He says:

I had no idea of the type of person I was expecting to see, but considering the exploits of the Irgun, and the fact that it was they who made it so uneasy for the British that they got out of Palestine, I wasn't prepared to see a 'melamed'.
That was my first impression of Begin. That's what he looked like and that's what he talked like. But don't get the wrong idea, because I use the word 'melamed'. I don't mean a man with a long beard. … It's the appearance of Begin that gives the feeling, hard to shake off, that the man is a dreamer, an idealist. And he must have as the core of his inner-drive the same burning convictions which shaped the life of another dreamer of another faith, Ignatius Loyola. …
During that span, from my first to my last attempts to pigeon-hole him, I find myself still of the conviction that here is a dreamer who will continue to make events and shape destiny. …
He gave his talk to his audience extemporaneously. He seemed to be reading a speech part of the time, but there was no reading. It was his manner of talking. At times he would lift his head and gaze aloft at the audience. On one such occasion he said softly, "Now you have seen what a 'terrorist' looks like," referring to himself. "I will tell you about another terrorist, but he is not here, only his picture and spirit are here." He turned reverently to the picture of Dov Bel Gruner which flanked the dais on one side with the pictures of Jabotinsky on the other. …
[In referring to the men who joined him on the tour of the US, Begin said,] "These heroic soldiers will be good citizens in the land of Israel tomorrow." … "Our war was a war for survival. What would have happened to us if we did not wage that war is no longer a secret. It is public knowledge now that the Jewish Agency had accepted the Morrison Plan on condition that it be given the right to distribute the monthly quota of four thousand immigration certificates. And this we know too, that the British would have been very happy to exterminate us completely in Palestine. Were it not for our war of liberation, we would have been left in a ghetto, without arms and helpless and on D-Day we would have met in the heart of Asia, the same fate which our brethren met in the heart of Europe. …
[In the words of another member of the delegation in regard to the time when the Haganah was turning in wanted Irgun members,] There was resentment in the Irgun about the wanted [men] to fight back against the Haganah. This would mean civil war. Begin said the decision was up to the eight [commanders]. They could fight back against the Haganah if they wanted. If they did that they might destroy the nation. Or if they didn't make that choice, then the Irgun might itself be destroyed. It was a dramatic scene as Benjamin described it. Here in their hands eight men held perhaps the destiny of a nation. Could they fight back against the Haganah or should they risk their own destruction and perhaps with that destruction the one factor that would drive the British out of Israel.
The thing that made their minds up for them were the other words that Begin said. Solemnly he told them if you decide to fight against the Haganah, you will fight without me. I will walk out now and you are free to choose from among yourselves a new commander. The choice is yours – civil war and disunity among all our people without me at your side, or my continuation as commander and the avoidance of bloodshed among our own people. We have but one enemy and that enemy is Britain.
Menachem Begin was asked at the Newark press conference a question "Of what significance is the proposed acceptance of the state of Israel in the UN to the Freedom party [the Herut Party] and to the future of the state of Israel?" He answered, "I don't think it will be accepted and if it will be it will not be to the advantage of Israel because it can only be on a compromise basis and it will necessitate the surrender of additional territory by the Israeli government. …
The UN has shelved the application for membership, but due to the difference in time, the shelving was not known then.

Hamshooshalayim

December is a very special time in Jerusalem. For the third year in a row, the Menachem Begin Heritage Center has participated in the initiative—Hamshooshalayim--of the Jerusalem Municipality to encourage tourism to Jerusalem in December. "Hamshoosh" refers to the Israeli slang term of a long weekend—Thursday, Friday, Saturday (i.e., Hamishi, Shishi, Shabbat). For three weekends in December, entrance to many museums, tourist sites and other entertainment options are free of charge or at a discount. On Fridays, many special walking tours of the city are provided, some of which are free of charge and some at a discount. Both English and Hebrew tours are available.
The Begin Center was fully booked last Thursday night from 9:00pm to 12:30am and is fully booked for the next two weeks. So many people requested reservations that due to limited space in the museum, some were unfortunately unable to get a reservation.
Not only tourists from abroad attend Hamshooshalayim events. Many people have come from all over Israel to participate. And many of those people have come especially to the Begin Center.

Visitor Comments

· "Menachem Begin was a very special Prime Minister. His life was lived with lofty goals and he accomplished so much for us. Thank you."
· "A wonderful experience to share Menachem Begin's life in a multi-media presentation. Very much appreciated."

Visit our other blog: http://begincenterdiary.blogspot.com/
The Menachem Begin Heritage Center
6 Nahon Street Jerusalem 94110 ISRAEL
972 (2) 565-2020; Fax: 972 (2) 565-2010 offices@begincenter.org.il http://www.begincenter.org.il/

Menachem Begin Heritage Center Bulletin 53, Vol. 4

Menachem Begin
Heritage Center, Jerusalem
Volume 4, Issue 53
October 7, 2008
Total Number of Visitors Since October 2004: 441,046

Goodbye, Harry

The funeral of the founder of the Menachem Begin Heritage Center and the President of the Menachem Begin Heritage Foundation, Harry Hurwitz, took place on Friday, Oct. 3 at the Har Tamir section of the Har Menuchot Cemetery in the area reserved for members of the Irgun Tzvai Leumi.
In the presence of his family, his wife, Freda, son, Hillel, daughter-in-law Jennifer, grandchildren Nirit, Ilan and Sharon and her husband, Jay, together with hundreds of friends, comrades, admirers and fellow workers, the traditional Jewish service was conducted with decorum and respect.
The ceremony was introduced by Yosef Wittelson, a fomer Irgun fighter imprisoned at British detainee camps in Africa. He recalled Harry’s aid with others of the Revisionist Movement in South Africa on their behalf.
Former Defense Minister and Foreign Minister Moshe Arens, former Speaker of the Knesset MK Reuven Rivlin, Dr. Beny Begin, son of Menachem Begin and MK Benjamin Netanyahu, Likud Chairman and Herzl Makov, Chairman of the Menachem Begin Heritage Center eulogized Harry at the service. In addition, Dr. Hillel Hurwitz and Nirit Hurwitz spoke on behalf of the family. Moshe Arens said that in his work with Harry at the Israel Embassy in Washington DC, Harry was a tremendous help in public diplomacy efforts because of his broad knowledge and excellent speaking skills. MK Binyamin Netanyahu praised Harry's efforts in building the Begin Center and marveled at his fundraising ability. MK Reuven Rivlin said that Harry's life effort was Zionism and the Begin Center was the crowning achievement. He mentioned a conversation they had regarding the fact that he came from a family that immigrated to Israel 200 years ago, but he felt that Harry had an advantage over him, because Harry had to make the decision to leave the land he grew up in—in essence living the dream of Zionism—whereas he was born here, never having had the experience of having to choose Zionist ideals. Dr. Beny Begin said that only a person who had a complete belief in the justice of his cause could speak so convincingly of his cause and that describes Harry's devotion to Zionism and the land of Israel. Herzl Makov talked about his partnership of 10 years with Harry. He quoted the late Shmuel Katz, who wrote in a premature obituary, that "we lost a noble spirit." The Jerusalem Post published an obituary for Harry in 2001 by mistake and asked Shmuel Katz to write a few words. Makov said that the excellent tribute while premature at the time was true then, and is even more true today.
Dr. Hillel Hurwitz and Nirit Hurwitz spoke as representatives of the family. Dr. Hillel Hurwitz outlined Harry's life as a man and spoke of the loss of not only his father, but really of his best friend. Nirit Hurwitz said that as Harry's granddaughter, she knew very little about his work because when Harry was with the family, the family was the only thing that mattered and that today, she had lost the best grandfather.
All the speakers reminded everyone present that Harry lived a full life and gave himself totally to every endeavor. He was an active Zionist leader, a loyal supporter of Menachem Begin, a dynamic public speaker, a tireless fundraiser, a good friend, a devoted husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. Each person that knew him had a special relationship with him feeling that Harry gave him or her the entirety of his attention. Each person counted himself or herself blessed to have known him.
After the traditional graveside ceremony, the members of Betar who were present sang the Betar Anthem.

Thank You to All who Sent Condolences

Thank you very much to all who sent condolences this week. They have been collected and will be presented to the family. Your kind wishes and thoughts are a tribute to Harry Hurwitz and his impact on many people around the world. May his memory be a blessing to us all.
Tributes and condolences can be sent to the Begin Center at 6 Nahon Street, Jerusalem, 94110, ISRAEL, or via email to ilanab@begincenter.org.il. Condolences can be sent to the family at HaNachal 4/2, Givat Tzarfatit, Jerusalem.

Shana Tova and G'mar Hatima Tova

We wish all our readers a Shana Tova, a G'mar Hatima Tova and a meaningful fast over Yom Kippur—a year of success, health and happiness for all of us and for Israel.
We also remind our readers that due to the holiday season the Bulletin may not be published every week.

Events Continue at the Begin Center

Reverend Robert Stearns celebrated his birthday at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center. He was received by Herzl Makov, Chairman of the Begin Center. Rev. Stearns expressed his commitment to the heritage of Menachem Begin and the Menachem Begin Heritage Center and promised to send his Israel Experience students, as well as missions from the US to the Begin Center.

In Memoriam

The Begin Center extends its condolences to Dov Shilansky on the passing of his wife Rachel. Mr. Shilansky was a former speaker of the Knesset, an Irgun commander in Italy and Germany, and came to Israel on the Altalena.

Visit our blog: http://begincenterdiary.blogspot.com/