Yitzhak Heimowitz z"l

From Dani Heimowitz

Dear Betarim,

It is with great sadness that I need to inform you of the passing of my father Yitzhak Heimowitz this morning, Aug. 7, in Sheba Tel Hashomer hospital at age 88.

Yitzhak (formerly Netziv Betar in the US in the 1950s), his wife Phyllis and I (a 5 month old infant) made Aliyah from New York in Oct. 1968.

Yitzhak and Phyllis met in Camp Betar in 1954 and were married for 64 happy years.

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Yitz's autobiography:

Aaron Bashani wrote:

It is with great sadness that I learn of Yitzchak Heimowitz’s passing. I met him for the first time at an outreach gathering outside the old Madison Sq Garden in 1953, joined Betar, attended the historic Beit Sefer of 1954 and rose to be his Sgan Natziv and Betar Office Manager, 1957/58 on 44^th Street, before my Aliyah Alef.  He was an inspiration to all of us with his calm and dedicated leadership --  and especially his championing of a national response to Jewry’s plight that was able to unite both secular and orthodox (and everything in between) with true Hadar Betari, so needed today.

 

During the years thereafter, we had many occasions to meet and to talk on the phone. Most notable of our meetings were (1) his arrival on a visit to Israel in the early 60s when he brought me my US Army Draft Notice (I was to be exempt due to a benign hernia), (2) at Orly Airport outside Paris in 1962 (1964) when he accompanied Rosh Betar z’l on a stop-over on the way to reburial in Israel, (3) at a 1965 meeting in New York for Soviet Jewry, etc, etc

 

Among other means, he will be memorialized through the proposed International Freedom Museum on the two-front Soviet Jewry Struggle.

Let his memory be a blessing for all Yisrael

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Chuck Waxman sent this photo of Yitz with Shlomo Ariav, Sol Taubenfeld, Reuven Genn and I think a young Jonathan Friedman

The Yitz Heimowitz File, Jabotinsky Institute Archives

Here.

289 pages.

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Camp Betar 1950s

From Yitz Heimovitz's archives:

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Steve Adler adds:

I recognize some in the pictures.

Pix 2 2 girls Phyllis Heimowitz (nee Goodman) in white Evelyn (nee Goodman) in blue

Pix 3 Izzy Herman standing

Pix 4 standing in extreme right Dov Hertz ,standing in extreme left Mischa Abramov kneeling in middle Steve Adler and next to him on left Nira Rubin

Pix 5 on Left Steve Adler in back Nira Rubin

pix 6 Standing right to left  Yitz Heimowitz, Gery Ferman Sitting: Steve Adler, Gad Padhatzur, ?, Phyllis Goodman, Evelyn Goodman, David Niv

Pix 7 Yaacov Leiberman, Caption should be Camp Yarden

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In picture 6, the question mark happens to be me, yours truly, Roz Rubin, probably called Rachel (Hebrew) or Rozzie Rubin.in those wonderful days. I am the person (i.e. question mark) sitting between Gad Pedhazur and the Goodman girls.  Clearly much younger than now and also thinner with shortish brown hair.  

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From Seymour Rosneberg's memoir:

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Our First Lawyer

For those of us in 1960's New York Betar, there was one name we all thought of when "lawyer" was mentioned. That was Yitz Heimowitz.

Yitz's legal skills were legendary to those who had protested at the Syrian UN Mission in the fall of 1966, simply because he got them out of jail, even though US Ambassador to the UN, Arthur Goldberg was ready to have them executed, without even knowing any details of the case. I was then, just getting acquainted with Betar and was totally awed by the daring of all involved.

Yitz, his wife Phyllis and their baby son, made aliyah just before we did. Over the years, we've kept in touch. Even though they are a bit older than we are, our daughters are about the same age. Their elder daughter was even in Bar Ilan Law School with our second one, and their younger one and our third received "Rector Prizes," as top students at the same Bar Ilan University ceremony.

A few years ago, Yitz celebrated his Seventieth Birthday at a joyous party and we heard some amazing stories. I'm glad to say that he has written his memoirs, "Memories of a Lawyer's Life," and it's a great book. Yitz was extremely involved in legal issues concerning dual citizenship, Israeli-American and was one of the leaders of AACI, Americans and Canadians in Israel.

Following is a story we remember, which isn't in the book:

When we were about to buy our first home in Israel, we called Yitz to check out the contract. We had found a nice new apartment under construction in Bayit V'Gan, Jerusalem. We sent him a copy of the purchase contract and made an appointment with the contractor. The three of us arrived together, and Yitz explained some problems he saw with the contract. We trusted him completely.

The contractor looked at us strangely and asked:

"Who is that man?"

"He's our lawyer."

"Why do you need a lawyer? I have a lawyer."

"But your lawyer is your lawyer and ours is ours."

"I don't understand. My lawyer is good enough for all of us."

The conversation continued rather fruitlessly on the same track until we looked at each other and realized that it was time to leave. As soon as the three of us left the building, we all bust into hysterical laughter. Later on we bought a different apartment.

You can see that humanity in the stories Yitz included in his book. It's privately published.