Nik John’s Final Words to Habonim Dror

What I've been waiting to say for ages...

In the modern world the concept of 'choice' has taken on dimensions that were inconceivable even fifty years ago. More and more women, for instance, are choosing between bearing children and pursuing careers (and choosing to pursue careers, as it happens); with the recent Divorce Act, choosing to leave a marriage has never been so easy; as the travel industry has grown and the world has shrunk, we are coming into contact with many more ways of life than our parents, which presents many more choices to us. There are more choices more freely available in just about every aspect of life (from careers to philosophies) than at any time in human existence, and this has created some confusions.

In the past, even thirty or forty years ago, people thought that what was right and what was wrong was fairly clear. We abhor the Nazi's ideology, but we cannot say that they were not clear about it. Nowadays, though, you cannot get into a discussion without hearing "but it's just my opinion", or "look, it's a very personal thing" or a number of similar catchphrases. It's my opinion (and note, please, the lack of ‘just’) that to use any one of these stock disclaimers is to remove from what is said any real moral clout. By saying “but it’s just my opinion” you end an argument. If someone asks you why it's your opinion, you might start to get touchy. “lt’s a personal thing", you might say, Or “we're entitled to our views”, and so on ad nauseam. Have your personal opinion, but don't preclude argument about it, because that looks very much like you don't have reasons for it. The flip side of the coin is that the less demanding you are of other people's reasons for their ‘personal opinions', the easier it becomes for them to disagree with you. This is why people talk of the ‘supermarket of ideas’. Choose Ariel or choose Fairy. You don't really have to justify your choice, and anyway they are all much of a muchness.

Relevance? More than you could imagine. Habonim Dror is facing difficult ideological times. With more choices available, and with less call for people to defend their choices, we face ideological oblivion, and the concept of dugma ishit, personal example, not just as a hadracha tool but as a way of life, grows redundant. If the most that we can say about our example is that it is our "personal choice”, then there is no moral obligation on anyone to do as we do or say - our example is meaningless.

In January, unless my plans change drastically, I am making Aliya (of course hereby reserve the right to return to England if I hate life in Israel: you can never tell what life will bring, and all that). This is a decision I have made about my life – it’s not an arbitrary choice I have plucked off the shelf, lumping for Aliya over becoming a rich stockbroker. Of course, part of my wanting to go to Israel is based on an emotional connection with the country, but equally I can defend my decision through discussion without resorting to “but it’s just my personal choice”. That way, my decision retains meaning. It has less of the arbitrary about it.

It also means that, potentially, I can serve as a dugma in the way that a "personal choice” or “personal opinion” never can. But here we start to reach really tricky terrain. Who am I to hold myself up as an example to anyone? What arrogance do I possess that I am so sure of my thought processes that I want them to serve as guides for chaverim of Habonim Dror? To be perfectly honest, those are very difficult questions for me to answer, but I think the answers lie in the fundamentals of Habonim Dror, and in some of our fundamental Habonim Dror-ness, if you like.

The fundamentals of Habonim Dror still proclaim Aliya to be the aim of the movement (but no, I am not making Aliya because the fundamentals tell me to). Who am I to hold myself up as an example to anyone? Someone who is about to fulfill the ideological aims of Habonim Dror. If that means nothing to you, then you should set about changing our ideological aims.

The word ‘madrich’ comes from the verb lehadrich, to guide. To be a madrich means more than playing ball-through-legs with some nine-year-olds (though no-one could doubt that that’s part of the meaning). It also, and more importantly, means leading people from one place to another, not brainwashing them, but opening doors and helping them explore what’s before them. And essential to being a madrich is understanding dugma ishit. Who am I to hold myself up as an example to anyone? Someone who, believing that our collective future, as Jews, is best lived out in Israel, wants you to come with me.

And what arrogance do I possess that I am so sure of my thought processes that I want them to serve as guides far chaverim of Habonim Dror? Look, whatever you do, don't just trust my thinking on this, but think about it yourself. And then stand up for you conclusions. Don't avoid discussion and debate by passing them off as your 'personal opinions’. To do so violates the spirit of Habonim Dror. Unfortunately I can see it happening, and you (yes, you I’m out of the movement in a very short while) have got to decide whether you care.