Treasure Trove: Jabotinsky’s 1964 Return Home

Ze’ev Jabotinsky (1880-1940) was the founder of the Revisionist Zionist movement, the Betar youth movement and the Jewish legion of soldiers who fought for the British in World War I (See https://thecjn.ca/arts-culture/on-the-anniversary-of-his-death-treasure-trove-recalls-the-life-and-achievements-of-zeev-jabotinsky/).  In 1940 he visited the United States to stimulate interest in forming a Jewish army to fight alongside the Allies in World War II and to plea for mass emigration of the endangered Jews of Europe to Palestine. His ship docked in Halifax where he took time to meet with members of the Jewish community. It was the fourth time Jabotinsky visited Canada.

While on his tour of America, he visited Camp Betar in the Catskills near Hunter, New York for the weekend. Several hours after reviewing a parade of campers from the Brith Trumpeldor youth movement, just before midnight on Saturday night (August 3, 1940),  he died of a heart attack. Jabotinsky’s will provided that he was “to be buried outside Palestine, [and] NOT be transferred to Palestine unless by order of that country’s eventual Jewish government.” He was buried on Long Island.

After Israel’s independence, Jabotinsky’s supporters sought to fulfill his last wish and reinter his remains in the Jewish state. Prime Minister David Ben Gurion, who was Jabotinsky’s arch rival, refused claiming “the country needs living Jews not bones.”

After Ben Gurion left office, his successor, Levi Eshkol, corrected this injustice and authorized the reburial of Jabotinsky and his wife Yohana on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. The process was overseen by Israel Posnansky, an American Revisionist Zionist leader who oversaw Jabotinsky’s funeral arrangements 24 years before.

On July 6, 1964 the two coffins were exhumed and brought to Young Israel Synagogue in Manhattan for a memorial service. Times Square was renamed “Jabotinsky Square” for the day in tribute. Following the service, the remains were taken to Kennedy Airport accompanied by busloads of supporters who held a ticket such as this one.

The El Al plane stopped in Paris for a ceremony that was attended by Prime Minister Eshkol and other French and Israeli dignitaries. On arrival in Israel, the caskets lay in state in Tel Aviv before the funeral procession proceeded to Jerusalem. You can watch newsreel footage of Jabotinsky’s reburial here: https://jfc.org.il/en/news_journal/59801-2/102041-2/

Several days before Jabotinsky died he gave a number of speeches in New York City which advocated for a united Jewish front through the establishment of a world Jewish headquarters. The State of Israel was proclaimed eight years later.  Jabotinsky dedicated his life to its creation.  Is Israel the world Jewish headquarters he envisioned? Likely yes. Has the united Jewish front he advocated for been created?  Definitely not…yet.

Added Treasure: 

The bus ticket for the ride to Kennedy Airport has a quote in the top right corner from Genesis 50:25: “you shall carry up my bones from here”.  This was Joseph’s request of his sons.  Joseph died in Egypt and his request was fulfilled at the time of the Exodus. The same quote is included on this pin worn by the honor guard who accompanied the remains of Theodor Herzl when he was reburied on Mount Herzl in 1949.  

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Treasure Trove is a program of The Herzl Project. Another program is The #Herzl100. 100 Herzl artifacts will be posted over 100 days on Instagram, FaceBook and TikTok. Search #Herzl100 on any of these platforms to see the first 31 artifacts, with 69 still to go! A new one drops every day.

For more treasures from the Herzl and Zionism Collection of David Matlow, which has appeared weekly in the Treasure Trove column in the Canadian Jewish News (www.thecjn.ca) since February 2021, see https://herzlcollection.com/treasure-trove