Once again the battlefront has claimed the life of one of our haverim. The knowledge that Danny Ginsburg has been killed in action on Iwo Jima has brought sorrow to Habonim from one end of the country to the other. He had become widely known and loved-he was no longer Danny Ginsburg of Detroit; he was Danny Ginsburg of Habonim. His role in Habonim for more than eight years is invaluable; his future was inextricably bound up with the highest hopes of the movement. The knowledge of his irrevocable loss to us is difficult to comprehend, impossible to console.
"To understand Danny," wrote one of his friends from the Midwest, where he made his most specific contributions to the life of Habonim, "one must see his life in terms of a personality that was unfolding, developing, and ever expanding ... At first he saw one important objective ahead -that was the establishment of a real Jewish institution in the heart of the American scene. This goal was the establishment of a summer Kvutza, Kinneret, near Detroit, that would be built by and for Habonim.
"Those who saw Danny at work in Kinneret, find it difficult to separate the two. There was always a glow about him as he worked. All who came in contact with him were imbued with his spirit of idealism, sincerity, strong determination, and above all, of hard work. "
The many members of Habonim throughout the country who remember him at conventions as chairman at sessions, as a leader in discussions, who have known him at seminars and other movement gatherings, well remember that it was not only physically that he worked hard. He was one of those exceptional individuals who throws himself into every activity with the completeness of a passionate spirit. When Danny danced, nothing could stop him; when he participated in a discussion, it was with the determination born of his intense sincerity, a determination that held out until he convinced or was convinced.
Yes, Danny's was truly a constantly developing personality, and his place and importance within Habonim grew as he did. After his initiation of the work for a summer Kvutza near Detroit, he became rosh of the Detroit Habonim, and under his energetic leadership, the movement there flourished remarkably. His influence was felt as well among the haverim in the neighboring cities. Some time later, lie arrived at the personal decision to join Kibbutz Aliya and prepare himself for a true realization of his burning idealism, through going to Eretz Yisrael. His personal influence over others was so strong that many who might not have taken the same road followed it upon his leadership.
When he went into active service more than twenty months ago, Danny continued to participate in Habonim life. He continued, through the mails, to contribute to Kibbutz Aliya discussions, to take part in the solution of problems of the local groups he had led as well as those of national Habonim. He continued to be, in the minds of all of us, one of the leading members of Habonim, perhaps the leading member of the future.
When Danny learned that he and his men were to take part in the invasion of Iwo Jima, he wrote to his Detroit haverim in these words:
"Naturally, I hope that I'll be able to come back safely and put into practice those things in which I believe and about which I've written to you and the others so much. But in case I don't, it's all right too. After all, we're all only little coos in a machine and if some of us have to fall by the wayside in order that the machine should continue to run smoothly, it's the machine that counts, not the little cogs.
" I guess I haven't done much in my short life so far. I haven't learned very much-just enough to realize that I still have a great deal to learn. But if I've served as a stimulus to even a few kids to try to reach higher, to bring some good into the world, then I think my life so far has been worthwhile. I only hope I'll get a chance to make it more so in the future."
He has not been granted the chance he hoped for, but we who are carrying on, through embodying his spirit in our work in Habonim, can prove the true worth of his short life.
Furrows, May, 1945