Is There Such a Thing as a Jewish Hero?

 

Quick. Name a Jewish hero.

 

Could you do it? For many of us, it’s not a simple question. Judaism is not a hero-worshipping culture. We tend not to lionize, nor make too much of our heroes. In fact, after the Maccabees and maybe Sampson (of Sampson and Delilah fame), many of us would be hard-pressed to think of the name of a single Jewish hero. In an attempt to help us correct this shortcoming, Yossi Katz, an Israeli high school teacher who made aliyah from Philadelphia in 1978, wrote A Voice Called: Stories of Jewish Heroism.

 

There are some big names here, most notably Menachem Begin, Theodore Herzl, Hannah Senesh and Natan Sharansky. But there are also less well-known names whose stories are smaller, but whose deeds were no less heroic. What ties many of these heroes to one another is their willingness to sacrifice, often to take chances with their very lives, to serve the Jewish people. In fact, many gave their lives to help bring the State of Israel into existence and to protect and defend her people.

 

Katz is careful to include women heroes, many of whom are virtually unknown to the general Jewish public. He tells of the 19^th century Russian Jewish hero Manya Shochat who co-founded the first Jewish self-defense organization in pre-State Palestine. He portrays the life (and eventual suicide) of Sarah Aaronsohn who was one of the leaders of an underground spy ring that, in an attempt to dislodge the brutal rule of the Ottoman Turks, fed crucial intelligence to the British. He includes Zivia Lubetkin who was a commander of the Jewish fighters in the Warsaw ghetto during WWII, Naomi Shemer, the famous Israeli songwriter who composed Yerushalayim shel Zahav (Jerusalem of Gold) after the Six Day War in 1967 along with other women who left their mark on Israel and on the Jewish people.

 

Among the most book's touching stories is found in a postscript to the chapter on Dov Gruner. Gruner was a fighter in the Jewish underground Etzel movement, which fought against British rule in Palestine. He was hanged by the British just 13 months before the State of Israel was declared. In a letter addressed to Menachem Begin, Gruner’s commander in Etzel and later the Prime Minister of Israel, Gruner wrote, “I swear that if I had the choice of starting again I would chose the same road, regardless of the possible consequences to me.” In the postscript, Katz describes a surprise meeting with one of Gruner’s descendants, an American college student who was visiting the Akko prison where Gruner was hanged. Katz describes the emotional reaction of Gruner’s great nephew upon learning that the heroism of his great uncle was remembered and still being taught.

 

The book lacks pretense. An adult reader may notice that the writing is not particularly literary. It seems that Katz, the high school teacher, wanted his students to be readily able to access the book’s message. Even so, there is much greatness here. Read the book. It will swell your heart with a solid dose of Jewish pride.