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Last update - 22:05 16/04/2008 Like us, like him By Nadav Shragai Tags: Stern, Zionism, Lehi Yaela, a student at the Ulpana Kfar Pines girls' boarding school; Moshe, a student at the religious high school in Ramat Gan, and Hagit, at the Ulpana Petah Tikva girls' boarding school know exactly when, where, and how Inspector Geoffrey Morton shot Avraham "Yair" Stern, founder and leader of Lehi, the right-wing Jewish underground movement in Mandatory Palestine. Yair was killed in the attic of Tova and Moshe Savorai's apartment in Tel Aviv's Florentin neighborhood, 65 years ago. They have also memorized poems from Yair's book, "In My Blood Shall You Live Forever," and read "Letters to Roni," that the founder and first commander of Lehi, a Hebrew acronym for "Fighters for the Freedom of Israel," wrote to his wife. The three students demonstrate proficient knowledge of Yair's 18 National Revival Principles, and fluently recite the details of every daring, underground mission waged by Lehi before the establishment of the state. They all embody a phenomenon: Yair, who was persecuted by fellow Jews as much as by the British on the eve of his death; whose death the state avoided commemorating, and whose activities the state avoided documenting for years, has become an adored figure among many national-religious youth. Advertisement Dozens of them will participate, this year, in the final round of a national quiz that commemorates the 100th anniversary of his birth. Many of them attend the annual memorial of his death and fervently sing his "Anonymous Soldiers" battle hymn as if they were among their ranks. When they grow up, marry, and establish a family of their own, many name their children, "Avraham Yair," after him. Religious high-school students also devote many final research papers and compositions to Yair's biography and heritage. For many years, the history of Lehi and Yair's 18 National Revival Principles have inspired movements, like Kach and Brit Hashmonaim, at the ultra-right margin of Israel's political spectrum. Yair strove not only to free Israel from the British Mandate and create a national shelter for Jews, but to reestablish a Jewish kingship, and he even spoke of building a "Third Temple." That won the hearts of members of these organizations. The circle of his admirers has expanded in recent years. Yigal Amitai, a resident of the northern West Bank settlement of Yitzhar, has long been a fan of Yair. Amitai, a member of the Tekuma faction of the National Union party, notes that "Yair was not religious in the sense of observing Jewish law although he put on tefillin and studied the Bible [examples of his possession of both are displayed at the Beit Yair museum, meters away from where he was killed], but his poems are immersed in national and Jewish awareness, the spirit of the Prophets, and Hebrew history." Amitai believes that "what draws the hearts of [pro-Jewish settlement] 'Orange Youth' to Yair's image is their sense that they have something in common with him. They believe that he embodied a soldier who rose up to fight the enemy without political compromise, policy considerations, or personal interest - a soldier whose motive was not just to provide a 'safe haven' from anti-Semitism, or an obsessive desire for 'peace,' but the sovereignty of the Jewish people in their land. A man who was sensitive and gentle in his personal life, but determined and cruel in the face of the enemy." "Lehi's background enchants our youth," Amitai explains. "They consciously or unconsciously tell themselves, 'Here's Lehi, a small, determined band of believers, who were persecuted and vilified by most of the public, the press, the establishment - they were persecuted for the sake of all, fought for a public that condemned them and ostracized them. They were finally proven right, and their suffering was not in vain." Amitai predicts that identification with Lehi will increase and become more profound among some national-religious youth as long as the rift between the national-religious public and the government of Israel deepens. Inbar Kawanstock, director of the Lehi Museum, believes that national-religious youth are attracted to Yair and his ideology because Lehi was a minority group that fought the majority. "It captures them. Devoting your life to a cause, the conditions of a minority, that's something they know, that they identify with." Kawanstock notes that 15 of the 17 schools who are sending contestants to the Yair and Lehi quiz, slated to take place in the Aner Center in Tel Aviv in late May, are religious schools, and that most of the 100 students who independently registered to participate in the quiz are also religious. The popularity of the name "Yair" among parents in this sector is also emblematic of their identification with this figure. Avraham Yair, the son of Shai and Rina Yarad of Yitzhar, was born five years ago. His father hopes that a leader like Yair Stern will arise in this generation. Yossi and Ora Dagan, who were evacuated from Sa-Nur and founding members of the "Homesh First" group, named their son Yair, after the Lehi leader. They also gave him the middle name of Rehavam, in memory of assassinated general and right-wing politician Rehavam Ze'evi. Dagan says: "Religious parents usually avoid naming their children after someone who died young, but we received dispensation from Rabbi Dov Lior to give the name Yair. He calmed us by saying that 'No man can stand in the face of those who are killed by lashes' [i.e. die in the name of the Lord]." Even the settlement outpost Havat Yair, founded by Doron Nir Zvi, was named after two Yairs: the biblical Yair ben Menashe and Yair Stern of Lehi. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Breaking with the ZOA Is Harvard University's Progressive Jewish Alliance inciting against Israel? Rising in the polls New survey finds Nasrallah is the most admired leader in the Arab world.   1.   One mans terroristic is another ones freedom fighter 07:09  |  "What`s in a name" 17/04/08

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