We want to create a steadfast, strong generation without illusions. Our youth must prepare for a life of toil, must face its responsibilities in the diaspora and in the homeland. The task of redeeming waste-land, rocky soil, sand-dunes, and desert areas can be achieved only by the mighty hands of the courageous...
Yes, to develop the mind and the heart, the will power and the character, let there be joy and faith. But the ultimate goal of our activities is not here. Here is only the preparation for a Shomer-halutz life. Here is the potential energy to be converted to a life of labor.
The Shomer in the Jewish homeland is not a day-dreamer. Our forefathers have dreamt for tens of centuries. We must raise a generation of activists, we must return to the tradition of Jewish fighters.
What we need are not pen and ink, not odes and hymns, not confessions and lyrics. What we need are saws and hoes, first and foremost - hands! Give us your hands! You still live in a world of ideas and books. We must live six days in the world of reality and toil and celebrate Shabbat on only one day of the week. Only through work and activity shall we consecrate the name of the Shomer. We must be guided by realism and not romanticism...
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
The Hehalutz Movement - Berl Katznelson
Pioneering, halutziut, is not merely an idea and a theory; it is a way of life, essentially a personal act. We believe this to be the true harbinger of history. We hope it will be the foundation on which our future will be built. It is an act whose roots lie deep within the community, yet it remains essentially personal and individual. In this lies the true strength of the entire aliya movement, the main source of our hope for the future. And this is what makes every single individual so very important for the movement that knows no conquest other than the conquest of one's self, the individual struggling with his own world and gaining mastery over it.
This is the one characteristic which distinguishes our movement from all others - the striving to build the nation's future by rebuilding the individual's life. This is the reason our movement really know no leaders and no led - only people, living and working people, individuals whose life and work go to make up the national wealth. This is perhaps the only movement in our time that has at its core no leadership, no fixed platform, only the life and the work of its individual components. The individual is its central aim - his life, his experiences, his failures and his successes, his weaknesses and his strengths.
If the Hehalutz movement is to remain true to its essential character, it will retain the personal striving toward pioneering work as its central aim. To unveil the hidden forces that live within the individual, to bring them into the open by education and training, to focus them on deeds of purity, friendship and mutual trust - this is what the work of our movement is really about.
This is the one characteristic which distinguishes our movement from all others - the striving to build the nation's future by rebuilding the individual's life. This is the reason our movement really know no leaders and no led - only people, living and working people, individuals whose life and work go to make up the national wealth. This is perhaps the only movement in our time that has at its core no leadership, no fixed platform, only the life and the work of its individual components. The individual is its central aim - his life, his experiences, his failures and his successes, his weaknesses and his strengths.
If the Hehalutz movement is to remain true to its essential character, it will retain the personal striving toward pioneering work as its central aim. To unveil the hidden forces that live within the individual, to bring them into the open by education and training, to focus them on deeds of purity, friendship and mutual trust - this is what the work of our movement is really about.
The New Man - Martin Buber
The Halutz is the new type of man born of the movement of Jewish renaissance. In him that movement finds its complete expression. The test of every national movement is its ability to produce this type of man, and his ability to control the forces of history and fulfill his historical task. Through his very personality he helps to effect a decisive change in the life of his people. His is a two-fold task: external liberation from the yoke of strangers, and inner liberation and recovery of spiritual independence, refusing to live on foreign cultures.
Socialism, My Temple - Yosef Chaim Brenner
I am a socialist. To me Socialism is the holy of holies. The ideal of ideals. All other ideals have no warrant except when bound up with Socialism. What value is there in beauty and art at a time when all humanity is sinking in a swamp of ugliness and degradation? What sense is there to science and moral preaching, to deep emotion and exalted concepts at a time when there are tens of thousands of human beings who live on moldy bread, without a ray of light or hope, at a time when human dignity is being crushed by the iron heel, when a man's thoughts can be bought for money, when human tears flow like flood waters, and the slaughter of human beings is like the dying of the flies in the fall. In the light of all this what values is there to man's conquest of nature, to advancement of culture, to poetry, philosophy and the like? And what meaning can there be to all human existence, to all of man's spiritual striving and ideals? It is only my faith in Socialism, my hope in a free and bright future that gives value and meaning to human existence, social progress, and cultural development.
Socialism is my temple, my comforter in everyday experience, that creates harmony out of the chaos of the world and protects all that is dear to me and close to my heart. Only in the field of Socialism do I find a basis to my cultural activities and life, aware that through my work, together with thousands and tens of thousands of others do I bring nearer the day of redemption.
However, in addition to all this I am also a Jew, connected through thousands of fibers to my people. I am part of it, flesh of its flesh. Strong and solid are the bonds that tie my life to it. Dear to me are the Jewish masses to whom I would want to devote all my life, my work, all of my energy and talent. I would like to pour into them all the warmth of my heart, all the blaze of my soul, for the social ideals that I have. The Jewish community serves as the land upon which I can labor, the framework within which I can work. I am an integral part of this community; I grew up in its bosom; within it I live. It is within Jewish life that I want to work for my socialist ideals. I cannot fight for Socialism within the non-Jewish society, for within it I cannot find satisfaction. Only within a Jewish environment can I rise to heights of fruitful creation, only there can I reach self-fulfillment. All my inner satisfaction is derived from working for the Jewish masses and through them for a Socialist world.
Socialism is my temple, my comforter in everyday experience, that creates harmony out of the chaos of the world and protects all that is dear to me and close to my heart. Only in the field of Socialism do I find a basis to my cultural activities and life, aware that through my work, together with thousands and tens of thousands of others do I bring nearer the day of redemption.
However, in addition to all this I am also a Jew, connected through thousands of fibers to my people. I am part of it, flesh of its flesh. Strong and solid are the bonds that tie my life to it. Dear to me are the Jewish masses to whom I would want to devote all my life, my work, all of my energy and talent. I would like to pour into them all the warmth of my heart, all the blaze of my soul, for the social ideals that I have. The Jewish community serves as the land upon which I can labor, the framework within which I can work. I am an integral part of this community; I grew up in its bosom; within it I live. It is within Jewish life that I want to work for my socialist ideals. I cannot fight for Socialism within the non-Jewish society, for within it I cannot find satisfaction. Only within a Jewish environment can I rise to heights of fruitful creation, only there can I reach self-fulfillment. All my inner satisfaction is derived from working for the Jewish masses and through them for a Socialist world.
Essence of Halutziut - Haim Arlosoroff
The very character of a movement like Hehalutz means action, not formula. Ideas, convictions, programs, - whatever may be their character - are here not to be preached, but to be lived up to. Nothing more, nothing less. Zionism is neither a political platform to which one subscribes, nor a social club which one joins, nor a fundraising machinery, nor even a party organization for its own sake. Zionism is primarily the movement of those whose belief in the future of the Jewish Nation in Palestine is strong and sincere enough to make them throw their own lives into the scale, wherever they are called upon to do so.
Zionism is not the result of needs that change constantly nor of casual circumstances. It is the outcome of deeply rooted, historical forces affecting Jewish life. It has outlived tyrannies and regimes; it has overcome many temporary setbacks and critical periods. Turning Zionism into reality cannot be achieved by mechanical devices within a specific period of time. There will be a fifth, a ninth, a tenth Aliyah. There will be a fiftieth anniversary of Hehalutz. And the movement will live on. Once it has risen, it cannot come to a standstill until its aim is achieved and a free, laboring Jewish People is rooted in Palestinian soil. Is not the rise of a movement like this in itself proof of the amazing vigor and vitality, a sign and promise that we shall live and not die?
Zionism is not the result of needs that change constantly nor of casual circumstances. It is the outcome of deeply rooted, historical forces affecting Jewish life. It has outlived tyrannies and regimes; it has overcome many temporary setbacks and critical periods. Turning Zionism into reality cannot be achieved by mechanical devices within a specific period of time. There will be a fifth, a ninth, a tenth Aliyah. There will be a fiftieth anniversary of Hehalutz. And the movement will live on. Once it has risen, it cannot come to a standstill until its aim is achieved and a free, laboring Jewish People is rooted in Palestinian soil. Is not the rise of a movement like this in itself proof of the amazing vigor and vitality, a sign and promise that we shall live and not die?
Thursday, February 13, 2014
The Dismantling of the Israeli Welfare State: A Timeline
1965-1966: The Israeli market is in a planned recession after a decade of prosperity and growing economical gaps. The Israeli market is very centralized. There are high columns, strict regulation of consumer goods, and high restriction on foreign currency trade.
1967: After the Six Day War, American consumer goods (Coca-Cola, etc...) start entering the market. The occupied Palestinians become a market for its Israeli goods, as well as a poor, unorganized labor force. The war and the French embargo that followed created new Army/Security industries which grew out of the Israeli army's need for new technologies and bases in the occupied territories. This is considered the beginning of wealth accumulation in Israel.
1971-1972: Mizrachi activists create The Black Panthers to protest against growing poverty and its correlation between ethnical background. The government "social" budget grows - mainly in education and child support.
1973: As a result of the Yom Kippur War, the government military budget rises dramatically to 30% of spending. Money flows toward the parts of the Israeli market involved in the defense industries. The World enters an economic crisis as a result of the OPEC oil embargo.
1974: Golda Meir's government collapses after mass demonstration about the Yom Kippur scandal, Rabin takes the office as Prime Minister. This will be the last social democratic government in Israel.
1977: Hamahapch. After years of the left controlling the government, Begin's Likud win and take power by promising social reform and on anti-left propaganda
1977-1983: The Social Change. Taking after Milton Friedman's (who spoke to the Knesset shortly after Begin began his term) writing, and the Reagan and Thatcher example, the Likud initiates a new neo-liberal economic policy characterized by:
-Reducing limitations on foreign currency trade.
-Reducing import taxes and customs - "the merry days of Aridor" - imports expand and becomes cheaper, spurring a massive wave of consumption.
-Social projects like the "Poor Neighborhoods Rehabilitation Project" increase governmental stipends for the poor while allowing unemployment and poverty to rise.
-Liberalization of the market and refusal to increase taxes to pay for the growing budget.
-Mint more money to make up for deficits. Yearly inflation rises from around 40% in 1970, to around 200% in 1983.
The Histadrut cancels Hevrat Ovedim (The Workers Company) monetary plan - the self-financing system where Histadrut pension funds were used to finance new Histadrut factories without the need of financing from the banks.
1983: Banks' stocks, which had been promoted by banks and the government, and were heavily invested in by the public, crash. Many people's savings are ruined. To stop other sectors from crashing (and the loss of more savings) the government freezes the stock market for about 20 days. As a result, the banks are nationalized.
1984: The establishment of the "National Consensus Government" which continues until 1990. Shimon Peres (Labor) and Yitzchak Shamir (Likud) replace each other as Prime Minister every two years. Israel's inflation level rises to 400% per year.
1985: Prime Minister Peres, Financial Minister Moda'i, and the National Bank Treasurer Bruno, initiate the "Market Stabilizing Plan" under recommendations from the IMF. The plan's main points are:
-Downsizing the national budget, which mainly hurts the poor and limits the redistribution of wealth.
-Tying the shekel to the dollar (1200 shekel = 1 dollar)
-The "No-Printing" amendment to the Israeli National Bank Law.
-Inflation stops, but the banks did decrease the interest on money owed accordingly. So, in actuality, the interest paid on debts jumped to hundreds of percent rather than stabilizing at tens of percent. And accordingly, the debts of the manufacturing sector grow enormously, further hurting the working class.
From here on, every government in Israel (left or right) continues basically the same neo-liberal policies, although the right with much greater zeal.
The National Economic Arrangement Law is first used, and used every year since then. It's a law with hundreds of clauses that is attached to the budget bill every year. It is voted on as a whole, and usually the Knesset members don't really know what is really written in it.
1987-1991: The First Intifada. As a result, Israeli companies begin bringing foreign workers to replace Palestinian workers who now have a hard time entering Israel.
1989: The beginning of privatization. Bezeq (the Israeli telecommunication company) starts to be privatized. The process continues until 2005 when the government sells it's remaining stock in Bezeq for less than it's worth.
1991: The First Gulf War
1992: Rabin is re-elected into office. His time as Prime Minister is characterized with the continuation of privatization, a lot of investment in infrastructure, education, and wage raises in the public sector. Israel Chemical Co. one of Israel's biggest corporations starts it's privatization process. The process ends when the government sells it to Isenberg group fro half of it's value.
1994: The National Health Bill - separates The General Health Service (Kupat Cholim Klalit) from the Histadrut, causing a financial crisis for the Histadrut. The Health Service becomes supported by the government , which has cut it's budget ever since.
Chaim Ramon (close associate of Peres) is elected as chairman of the Histadrut and starts selling off it's assets, with the end goal of making the Histadrut only a union. The Hitadrut diminishes in power and membership, mainly because of the separation from it's health services, which had great appeal.
1995: Rabin is assassinated.
1996: Netanyahu is elected as Prime Minister. The first election done by the new election law, which separates voting for Prime Minister and voting for the Knesset. The law is soon after revoked.
1997: Bank Hapoalim is sold for less than it's worth, by a loan from another bank. The loan is paid back from the bank's profit right after.
The liberalization process that deregulates foreign currency trade is finished. There are no more rules regarding investment in foreign currency. This makes Israel very vulnerable to money speculation - a process which caused the East-Asian market collapse a few years back.
1999: Barak is elected as Prime Minister. The last government that is elected by the new election law.
2000: Israeli forces leave Lebanon.
Tzim, the national shipping company is privatized (finishes in 2004).
2001: The first Sharon government comes into office. It is characterized by harsh neo-liberal policies including cuts in the social budget, senior citizens, child support, and income support, bringing many people below the poverty line. The policies are created by Finance Ministers Netanyahu and Silvan Shalom.
The Wisconsin Welfare to Work plan starts.
The Israeli labor market moves towards unorganized labor and man power companies that exploit workers.
The unemployed are accused of cheating and laziness and social security is cut more as an incentive for them to work.
High level income taxes are cut, further helping those who are well off.
2003: El-Al is privatized. The postal service starts it's privatization process.
2004: The privatization of prisons start - first private prison starts being built.
2005: Disengagement from the Gaza Strip.
Dovrat report is issued to the government, an attempt (that failed for now) to start privatizing education.
Histadrut pension plan is nationalized.
The Decrease National Debt Law is initiated, which obligates the government to decrease the national debt.
Amendment to the budget law says that the national budget can grow a maximum of 1% a year - which is less than Israel's natural growth - and means a decrease in the budget in reality.
2006: Bazan - Israeli refinery is privatized.
18% of the employees in Israel are poor.
2007: The nationalized pension plans are sold off. A new pension system is established linking pensions to the stock market.
2008: Israel privatizes remaining oil refineries and Agrexco, Israel's largest exporter of agricultural products.
In 2011, Agrexco goes bankrupt.
2010: Israel's government, under Benjamin Netanyahu, makes plans to sell land that is held by the Israel Land Authority in trust for the people of Israel. Israel continues with it's plans to privatize the national ports of Eilat, Ashdod, and Haifa.
2011: Hundreds of thousands of citizens go out to the streets protesting against inequalities in class, shouting "who is that coming? It's the Welfare State!" and "the people demand social justice!"
2012: Israel Aerospace moves more towards privatization.
1967: After the Six Day War, American consumer goods (Coca-Cola, etc...) start entering the market. The occupied Palestinians become a market for its Israeli goods, as well as a poor, unorganized labor force. The war and the French embargo that followed created new Army/Security industries which grew out of the Israeli army's need for new technologies and bases in the occupied territories. This is considered the beginning of wealth accumulation in Israel.
1971-1972: Mizrachi activists create The Black Panthers to protest against growing poverty and its correlation between ethnical background. The government "social" budget grows - mainly in education and child support.
1973: As a result of the Yom Kippur War, the government military budget rises dramatically to 30% of spending. Money flows toward the parts of the Israeli market involved in the defense industries. The World enters an economic crisis as a result of the OPEC oil embargo.
1974: Golda Meir's government collapses after mass demonstration about the Yom Kippur scandal, Rabin takes the office as Prime Minister. This will be the last social democratic government in Israel.
1977: Hamahapch. After years of the left controlling the government, Begin's Likud win and take power by promising social reform and on anti-left propaganda
1977-1983: The Social Change. Taking after Milton Friedman's (who spoke to the Knesset shortly after Begin began his term) writing, and the Reagan and Thatcher example, the Likud initiates a new neo-liberal economic policy characterized by:
-Reducing limitations on foreign currency trade.
-Reducing import taxes and customs - "the merry days of Aridor" - imports expand and becomes cheaper, spurring a massive wave of consumption.
-Social projects like the "Poor Neighborhoods Rehabilitation Project" increase governmental stipends for the poor while allowing unemployment and poverty to rise.
-Liberalization of the market and refusal to increase taxes to pay for the growing budget.
-Mint more money to make up for deficits. Yearly inflation rises from around 40% in 1970, to around 200% in 1983.
The Histadrut cancels Hevrat Ovedim (The Workers Company) monetary plan - the self-financing system where Histadrut pension funds were used to finance new Histadrut factories without the need of financing from the banks.
1983: Banks' stocks, which had been promoted by banks and the government, and were heavily invested in by the public, crash. Many people's savings are ruined. To stop other sectors from crashing (and the loss of more savings) the government freezes the stock market for about 20 days. As a result, the banks are nationalized.
1984: The establishment of the "National Consensus Government" which continues until 1990. Shimon Peres (Labor) and Yitzchak Shamir (Likud) replace each other as Prime Minister every two years. Israel's inflation level rises to 400% per year.
1985: Prime Minister Peres, Financial Minister Moda'i, and the National Bank Treasurer Bruno, initiate the "Market Stabilizing Plan" under recommendations from the IMF. The plan's main points are:
-Downsizing the national budget, which mainly hurts the poor and limits the redistribution of wealth.
-Tying the shekel to the dollar (1200 shekel = 1 dollar)
-The "No-Printing" amendment to the Israeli National Bank Law.
-Inflation stops, but the banks did decrease the interest on money owed accordingly. So, in actuality, the interest paid on debts jumped to hundreds of percent rather than stabilizing at tens of percent. And accordingly, the debts of the manufacturing sector grow enormously, further hurting the working class.
From here on, every government in Israel (left or right) continues basically the same neo-liberal policies, although the right with much greater zeal.
The National Economic Arrangement Law is first used, and used every year since then. It's a law with hundreds of clauses that is attached to the budget bill every year. It is voted on as a whole, and usually the Knesset members don't really know what is really written in it.
1987-1991: The First Intifada. As a result, Israeli companies begin bringing foreign workers to replace Palestinian workers who now have a hard time entering Israel.
1989: The beginning of privatization. Bezeq (the Israeli telecommunication company) starts to be privatized. The process continues until 2005 when the government sells it's remaining stock in Bezeq for less than it's worth.
1991: The First Gulf War
1992: Rabin is re-elected into office. His time as Prime Minister is characterized with the continuation of privatization, a lot of investment in infrastructure, education, and wage raises in the public sector. Israel Chemical Co. one of Israel's biggest corporations starts it's privatization process. The process ends when the government sells it to Isenberg group fro half of it's value.
1994: The National Health Bill - separates The General Health Service (Kupat Cholim Klalit) from the Histadrut, causing a financial crisis for the Histadrut. The Health Service becomes supported by the government , which has cut it's budget ever since.
Chaim Ramon (close associate of Peres) is elected as chairman of the Histadrut and starts selling off it's assets, with the end goal of making the Histadrut only a union. The Hitadrut diminishes in power and membership, mainly because of the separation from it's health services, which had great appeal.
1995: Rabin is assassinated.
1996: Netanyahu is elected as Prime Minister. The first election done by the new election law, which separates voting for Prime Minister and voting for the Knesset. The law is soon after revoked.
1997: Bank Hapoalim is sold for less than it's worth, by a loan from another bank. The loan is paid back from the bank's profit right after.
The liberalization process that deregulates foreign currency trade is finished. There are no more rules regarding investment in foreign currency. This makes Israel very vulnerable to money speculation - a process which caused the East-Asian market collapse a few years back.
1999: Barak is elected as Prime Minister. The last government that is elected by the new election law.
2000: Israeli forces leave Lebanon.
Tzim, the national shipping company is privatized (finishes in 2004).
2001: The first Sharon government comes into office. It is characterized by harsh neo-liberal policies including cuts in the social budget, senior citizens, child support, and income support, bringing many people below the poverty line. The policies are created by Finance Ministers Netanyahu and Silvan Shalom.
The Wisconsin Welfare to Work plan starts.
The Israeli labor market moves towards unorganized labor and man power companies that exploit workers.
The unemployed are accused of cheating and laziness and social security is cut more as an incentive for them to work.
High level income taxes are cut, further helping those who are well off.
2003: El-Al is privatized. The postal service starts it's privatization process.
2004: The privatization of prisons start - first private prison starts being built.
2005: Disengagement from the Gaza Strip.
Dovrat report is issued to the government, an attempt (that failed for now) to start privatizing education.
Histadrut pension plan is nationalized.
The Decrease National Debt Law is initiated, which obligates the government to decrease the national debt.
Amendment to the budget law says that the national budget can grow a maximum of 1% a year - which is less than Israel's natural growth - and means a decrease in the budget in reality.
2006: Bazan - Israeli refinery is privatized.
18% of the employees in Israel are poor.
2007: The nationalized pension plans are sold off. A new pension system is established linking pensions to the stock market.
2008: Israel privatizes remaining oil refineries and Agrexco, Israel's largest exporter of agricultural products.
In 2011, Agrexco goes bankrupt.
2010: Israel's government, under Benjamin Netanyahu, makes plans to sell land that is held by the Israel Land Authority in trust for the people of Israel. Israel continues with it's plans to privatize the national ports of Eilat, Ashdod, and Haifa.
2011: Hundreds of thousands of citizens go out to the streets protesting against inequalities in class, shouting "who is that coming? It's the Welfare State!" and "the people demand social justice!"
2012: Israel Aerospace moves more towards privatization.
Youth Movement Principles - Chaim Schatzker
An attempt will now be made to define the phenomenon of the youth movement according to seven characteristics, exercising a clear, explicit reservation that we are talking here about an ideal, Max Weber-type entity. In actuality, these characteristics are not always so fully noticeable, and their appearance in the various movements is variable. These seven characteristics were not determined arbitrarily. The determination was preceded by many years of research, in the course of which the texts of various movements were examined for their motivations and characteristics. An analysis of these elements may then explain the essential character or essence of the different youth movements and their behavior in various historical situation, including the Holocaust, in which the reaction of youth belonging to a youth movement differed from that of unorganized youth.
Discontent with "Society"and the Striving for "Community"
In its critique of society, the youth movement deplores the atomization of men in the age of technology; the dissolution of organic relationships and bonds; loneliness and heartlessness; the ugliness and constriction of the large cities; modern technology and the rational industrial society which, through its one-sided emphasis on the development of the intellect, leads to the spiritual and emotional impoverishment of mankind. Dissatisfaction with this state of affairs prompts the striving for a new life style, for a community, a collectivity in which all those frustrated and withered vital shoots can thrive and blossom out in a new and satisfying life.
Inner Truth as an Ontological Criterion
The endeavor to "fashion life in the spirit of inner truth," proclaimed in the Meissner Formula, indicates the crucial importance of this theme within the total concept of the youth movement. In the youth movement's critique of society, the one feature most frequently pilloried was the lies and falsehood behind the facade of social norms and conventions. They were confronted with "inner truth" or "the spirit of truth" as a criterion of a fulfilled and righteous life conducive to strengthening community bonds. The movement sought the key to the discovery and recognition of this truth in the intuition, the subjective inner stirrings of the individual and the community, while rejecting rational, objective criteria as inadequate and misleading. It was art rather than science, sentiment rather than reason, intuitively grasped rather than externally established norms that were considered the effective instruments in a genuine search for truth.
The Bund
This organizational cell of the youth movement also owes its origin to a collective emotional experience. "For the constitution of the 'Bund' emotional experiences are vital, they form its 'foundation.'" "The flame of the 'Bund' only leaps up when those stirred to their depths as individuals meet, mutually recognize the common direction of their 'feeling' and on that basis kindle one another's enthusiasm."
The collective will (volente generale) is forged at the Bund rally, mostly through strong emotional attachments focused on the personality of an inspiring leader. Born as a flash of intuition, the collective will is subsequently spelled out in statutes and resolution. Any deviation from that collective will must end either in separation from the Bund or in a recantations. Discussions may well take place within the Bund, but decisions are arrived at by the rising into consciousness of an "inner truth," not by the mechanistic method of democratic vote-counting. Sparked by the emotional ambiance of the Bund rally, this "liberating" idea illuminates the road ahead.
Totality of Commitment
Although activities accounted for only a small proportion of the time of its members, the youth movement was not content with the role of an additional and subsidiary instrument of eduction, but endeavored, on the whole with success, to totally dominate the lives of its members. Actually, the striving for "wholeness" and total commitment follows from the characteristics of the youth movement already described here. In its critique of society the youth movement deplored the fragmented, mechanistic relations between men, and its search for communion was expressed in a yearning for a pattern of organic, harmonious and all-embracing relations between the members of the community. Thus, there is a straight line leading from the principle of "inner truth" and the attempt to translate it into real life to the principle of the "totality" of the youth movement. "Inner truth," as it was truth in its purest form - in contrast to all externally imposed norms - demanded unconditional compliance, irrespective of society and social circumstances. It was bound to be regarded as indivisible and exempt from the need to enter into compromises with other "truths," exempt from the need to iron out differences and find a middle way. The more that "inner truth" was felt to be an elementary phenomenon of nature, the more complete was its demand for total submission. The educational approach chosen by the youth movement to translate its postulate into reality and to harness the total identities of its members consisted in the endeavor to mold their "conviction" and their "bearing."
Molding "Conviction" and "Bearing"
The youth movement based its approach on the assumptions that in education the relationship between cause and effect, challenge and response, is never a straightforward and direct one, but that human reactions and modes of behavior in real situations are determined by psychological predispositions, classified as Gesinnung and Haltung, conviction and bearing. These predispositions in turn are derived from certain value judgments.
Having adopted this concept, which is diametrically opposed to that of modern behaviorism, the youth movement proceeded with faultless logic to draw a conclusion that is vital for an understanding of the movement. Once it is accepted that an individual's mode of behavior is governed entirely by convictions and bearing, there is little point in attempting to influence behavior directly in the course of the educational process. What matters instead is to dominate convictions and bearing. This would then spontaneously and without any further outside intervention - perhaps with redoubled efficacy as a result of refraining from exerting any external pressure - direct behavior into the desired channels. An unshakable faith in the inner logic and inevitability of this process confirmed the youth movements in its tendency to concentrate almost exclusively on the molding of the convictions of its followers, while the customary "schoolmasterly" methods of behavioral drill were spurned with ridicule and contempt, as they appeared to be based on a confusion of cause with effect in the sphere of education.
The same interpretation was applied to social processes. All the sections of the youth movement, representing a broad spectrum of different hues and divergent tendencies, were united in the belief that a transformation of the social order could only be effected by human beings who themselves had been transformed beforehand, and that only a "different" type of man would be able to ensure the survival of a new order. On the other hand, a genuine transformation could never be brought about by the use of violence to enforce changes in external circumstances, unless such changes were preceded by a spiritual transformation of the human beings concerned,
"Indirect" Education
The youth movement looked upon "indirect" education as the most effective means of influencing the conviction and bearing of its followers. In place of the "direct" education practiced in the schools, which endeavored to transmit to the pupil information, opinions, skills and modes of behavior, the youth movement sought to affect the conviction and bearing of its followers indirectly, not by preaching the word, but through the mysterious workings of symbols and allusions, and above all through the participation in experiences charged with emotion; not through the impact of outside influence, but though the inward force of moved hearts and souls.
Contrary to the educational principle of rationality, which took it for granted that rational thinking will of necessity engender rational, and thus "positive" action, the youth movement believed that if only the youngster was exposed to the "right" type of experience, if he became "moved," his convictions and bearing would be molded the "right" way and appropriate action was bound to follow in due course.
The Movement and the "Moved"
The features listed here suggest a new and unconventional definition of the youth movement, summing it up primarily not as an organization of young people but rather as Jugendbewegtheit, youth's state of being moved, of being emotionally gripped by the sense of being young. This interpretation in terms of a movement of the human spirit appears to be supported by the general usage of the youth movement, which in referring to its followers never spoke of "members," bur of Jugendbewegte, the "youth-moved" or "moved youth."
Yet, such movements of the human spirit, peaks of spiritual agitation, are by their very nature transient and fugitive, whereas social structures, even if generated in the first place by a movement of the human spirit, tend to outlast the inspiration and take on the character of movements in the sense of organizations, and then moods are superseded by statutes, feelings by actions, formative experience by tasks, and the free, unshackled gathering of the young by a lifelong association tied to limited objectives.
In this way the youth movement fell victim to an inexorable dialectic: for a perpetuation of the state of being spiritually moved and in the grip of emotion without ever reaching the stage of bringing the ideals down to earth and proving them viable in real life was bound to reduce the youth movement to absurdity, whereas the translation of the ideals into reality spelled the dissolution of the movement. The span between the two poles of this dialectical process constitutes the history of the various youth movements.
Summing up, the youth movement can be regarded as a manifestation of a profoundly pessimistic view of modern culture, aiming at a radical transformation of man as a prerequisite for the transformation of the real world.
Discontent with "Society"and the Striving for "Community"
In its critique of society, the youth movement deplores the atomization of men in the age of technology; the dissolution of organic relationships and bonds; loneliness and heartlessness; the ugliness and constriction of the large cities; modern technology and the rational industrial society which, through its one-sided emphasis on the development of the intellect, leads to the spiritual and emotional impoverishment of mankind. Dissatisfaction with this state of affairs prompts the striving for a new life style, for a community, a collectivity in which all those frustrated and withered vital shoots can thrive and blossom out in a new and satisfying life.
Inner Truth as an Ontological Criterion
The endeavor to "fashion life in the spirit of inner truth," proclaimed in the Meissner Formula, indicates the crucial importance of this theme within the total concept of the youth movement. In the youth movement's critique of society, the one feature most frequently pilloried was the lies and falsehood behind the facade of social norms and conventions. They were confronted with "inner truth" or "the spirit of truth" as a criterion of a fulfilled and righteous life conducive to strengthening community bonds. The movement sought the key to the discovery and recognition of this truth in the intuition, the subjective inner stirrings of the individual and the community, while rejecting rational, objective criteria as inadequate and misleading. It was art rather than science, sentiment rather than reason, intuitively grasped rather than externally established norms that were considered the effective instruments in a genuine search for truth.
The Bund
This organizational cell of the youth movement also owes its origin to a collective emotional experience. "For the constitution of the 'Bund' emotional experiences are vital, they form its 'foundation.'" "The flame of the 'Bund' only leaps up when those stirred to their depths as individuals meet, mutually recognize the common direction of their 'feeling' and on that basis kindle one another's enthusiasm."
The collective will (volente generale) is forged at the Bund rally, mostly through strong emotional attachments focused on the personality of an inspiring leader. Born as a flash of intuition, the collective will is subsequently spelled out in statutes and resolution. Any deviation from that collective will must end either in separation from the Bund or in a recantations. Discussions may well take place within the Bund, but decisions are arrived at by the rising into consciousness of an "inner truth," not by the mechanistic method of democratic vote-counting. Sparked by the emotional ambiance of the Bund rally, this "liberating" idea illuminates the road ahead.
Totality of Commitment
Although activities accounted for only a small proportion of the time of its members, the youth movement was not content with the role of an additional and subsidiary instrument of eduction, but endeavored, on the whole with success, to totally dominate the lives of its members. Actually, the striving for "wholeness" and total commitment follows from the characteristics of the youth movement already described here. In its critique of society the youth movement deplored the fragmented, mechanistic relations between men, and its search for communion was expressed in a yearning for a pattern of organic, harmonious and all-embracing relations between the members of the community. Thus, there is a straight line leading from the principle of "inner truth" and the attempt to translate it into real life to the principle of the "totality" of the youth movement. "Inner truth," as it was truth in its purest form - in contrast to all externally imposed norms - demanded unconditional compliance, irrespective of society and social circumstances. It was bound to be regarded as indivisible and exempt from the need to enter into compromises with other "truths," exempt from the need to iron out differences and find a middle way. The more that "inner truth" was felt to be an elementary phenomenon of nature, the more complete was its demand for total submission. The educational approach chosen by the youth movement to translate its postulate into reality and to harness the total identities of its members consisted in the endeavor to mold their "conviction" and their "bearing."
Molding "Conviction" and "Bearing"
The youth movement based its approach on the assumptions that in education the relationship between cause and effect, challenge and response, is never a straightforward and direct one, but that human reactions and modes of behavior in real situations are determined by psychological predispositions, classified as Gesinnung and Haltung, conviction and bearing. These predispositions in turn are derived from certain value judgments.
Having adopted this concept, which is diametrically opposed to that of modern behaviorism, the youth movement proceeded with faultless logic to draw a conclusion that is vital for an understanding of the movement. Once it is accepted that an individual's mode of behavior is governed entirely by convictions and bearing, there is little point in attempting to influence behavior directly in the course of the educational process. What matters instead is to dominate convictions and bearing. This would then spontaneously and without any further outside intervention - perhaps with redoubled efficacy as a result of refraining from exerting any external pressure - direct behavior into the desired channels. An unshakable faith in the inner logic and inevitability of this process confirmed the youth movements in its tendency to concentrate almost exclusively on the molding of the convictions of its followers, while the customary "schoolmasterly" methods of behavioral drill were spurned with ridicule and contempt, as they appeared to be based on a confusion of cause with effect in the sphere of education.
The same interpretation was applied to social processes. All the sections of the youth movement, representing a broad spectrum of different hues and divergent tendencies, were united in the belief that a transformation of the social order could only be effected by human beings who themselves had been transformed beforehand, and that only a "different" type of man would be able to ensure the survival of a new order. On the other hand, a genuine transformation could never be brought about by the use of violence to enforce changes in external circumstances, unless such changes were preceded by a spiritual transformation of the human beings concerned,
"Indirect" Education
The youth movement looked upon "indirect" education as the most effective means of influencing the conviction and bearing of its followers. In place of the "direct" education practiced in the schools, which endeavored to transmit to the pupil information, opinions, skills and modes of behavior, the youth movement sought to affect the conviction and bearing of its followers indirectly, not by preaching the word, but through the mysterious workings of symbols and allusions, and above all through the participation in experiences charged with emotion; not through the impact of outside influence, but though the inward force of moved hearts and souls.
Contrary to the educational principle of rationality, which took it for granted that rational thinking will of necessity engender rational, and thus "positive" action, the youth movement believed that if only the youngster was exposed to the "right" type of experience, if he became "moved," his convictions and bearing would be molded the "right" way and appropriate action was bound to follow in due course.
The Movement and the "Moved"
The features listed here suggest a new and unconventional definition of the youth movement, summing it up primarily not as an organization of young people but rather as Jugendbewegtheit, youth's state of being moved, of being emotionally gripped by the sense of being young. This interpretation in terms of a movement of the human spirit appears to be supported by the general usage of the youth movement, which in referring to its followers never spoke of "members," bur of Jugendbewegte, the "youth-moved" or "moved youth."
Yet, such movements of the human spirit, peaks of spiritual agitation, are by their very nature transient and fugitive, whereas social structures, even if generated in the first place by a movement of the human spirit, tend to outlast the inspiration and take on the character of movements in the sense of organizations, and then moods are superseded by statutes, feelings by actions, formative experience by tasks, and the free, unshackled gathering of the young by a lifelong association tied to limited objectives.
In this way the youth movement fell victim to an inexorable dialectic: for a perpetuation of the state of being spiritually moved and in the grip of emotion without ever reaching the stage of bringing the ideals down to earth and proving them viable in real life was bound to reduce the youth movement to absurdity, whereas the translation of the ideals into reality spelled the dissolution of the movement. The span between the two poles of this dialectical process constitutes the history of the various youth movements.
Summing up, the youth movement can be regarded as a manifestation of a profoundly pessimistic view of modern culture, aiming at a radical transformation of man as a prerequisite for the transformation of the real world.
Shivyon Erech Ha'Adam - Avraham Aderet
In the uniqueness of every person, there is undoubtedly hidden a special "intention" that is essential and that guides one's life. The uniqueness of each person serves to show us each person's individual value; that uniqueness rises up as a one-time event in one's life. Each person has a unique value that does not stem from socio-economic standing or talents and abilities; rather, from being a human being that bears from birth a divine spark that is unique, a spark which was thrust upon on by the authority of the rule of consequence, and which one is responsible for expressing and actualizing in one's short life.
Therefore, all human life is precious, in that it is a new and unique discovery in the world of the living. One must relate to this with respect and awe, and protect it as a precious gift and expose it completely to the best of one's ability. Therefore, one must demand of others to treat the individual's life and human uniqueness with honor and holiness, and provide the other with the conditions and opportunities to reveal this uniqueness in its full force, and to coalesce one's life with the lives of others. The sanctity of each person's life is therefore the primary foundation of the values of human civilization. It is an absolute value that is not open to argument or compromise, and that is not dependent on a person's standing, abilities, or power. Rather, it stems from the fact of one's human essence that exists from the day one is born until the day one dies.
Other values are drawn from this value, which come from it and compliment it. If the life of each person is sacred, then we must honor life and give life the right and the circumstances to become full. This is not given to one by any external force, but rather from the nature of one's humanity.
How do you make life full? According to the present, it is by the ability to discover the self, which contains the unique nucleus that nature bestowed upon it and only upon it, in order to add to human life what only it can add - its unique musical note of life.
Shivyon erech ha'adam is therefore a primary value that stems not from political, economic, or social considerations, but rather from the fact of one's human essence. From the difference that one's uniqueness provides. Violating this equality is an attack on the foundational rules of life, preventing people from the conditions of discovering their own uniqueness and strength, and limiting their ability to discover their life possibilities.
There is no superior and no inferior in a system of human uniqueness. "He who kills a single Jewish soul is as if he demolishes the entire world" - every human is an entire world, a precious being that must be nurtured and be protected from injury and despair. One's existence and development are important not only for oneself, but for all of humanity. For all life. Shivyon erech ha'adam binds the existence of one's freedom to live without external boundaries within the framework of accepted social norms. This definition of freedom is the primary human value, which allows the natural growth and completion of the unique nucleus hidden in every human being.
This growth cannot be created only by shedding the heavy external restrictions, it requires encouragement and nurturing.
Therefore, one should not be satisfied by granting only formal freedoms; rather, one must allow another to grow that which is hidden in the depths of each human life patiently and lovingly.
Therefore, all human life is precious, in that it is a new and unique discovery in the world of the living. One must relate to this with respect and awe, and protect it as a precious gift and expose it completely to the best of one's ability. Therefore, one must demand of others to treat the individual's life and human uniqueness with honor and holiness, and provide the other with the conditions and opportunities to reveal this uniqueness in its full force, and to coalesce one's life with the lives of others. The sanctity of each person's life is therefore the primary foundation of the values of human civilization. It is an absolute value that is not open to argument or compromise, and that is not dependent on a person's standing, abilities, or power. Rather, it stems from the fact of one's human essence that exists from the day one is born until the day one dies.
Other values are drawn from this value, which come from it and compliment it. If the life of each person is sacred, then we must honor life and give life the right and the circumstances to become full. This is not given to one by any external force, but rather from the nature of one's humanity.
How do you make life full? According to the present, it is by the ability to discover the self, which contains the unique nucleus that nature bestowed upon it and only upon it, in order to add to human life what only it can add - its unique musical note of life.
Shivyon erech ha'adam is therefore a primary value that stems not from political, economic, or social considerations, but rather from the fact of one's human essence. From the difference that one's uniqueness provides. Violating this equality is an attack on the foundational rules of life, preventing people from the conditions of discovering their own uniqueness and strength, and limiting their ability to discover their life possibilities.
There is no superior and no inferior in a system of human uniqueness. "He who kills a single Jewish soul is as if he demolishes the entire world" - every human is an entire world, a precious being that must be nurtured and be protected from injury and despair. One's existence and development are important not only for oneself, but for all of humanity. For all life. Shivyon erech ha'adam binds the existence of one's freedom to live without external boundaries within the framework of accepted social norms. This definition of freedom is the primary human value, which allows the natural growth and completion of the unique nucleus hidden in every human being.
This growth cannot be created only by shedding the heavy external restrictions, it requires encouragement and nurturing.
Therefore, one should not be satisfied by granting only formal freedoms; rather, one must allow another to grow that which is hidden in the depths of each human life patiently and lovingly.
A Moral Medusa
For Better or for worse, all members of the movement - if not all members of Western society - grow up with at least some awareness of the shortcomings of capitalism. The most often discussed critique is that it creates large gaps between rich and poor, which in the end creates extreme poverty both in the midst of massive economic growth (China, Israel, Brazil) and in the midst of unparalleled wealth (the United States). Moreover, the poverty is largely self-perpetuating: the overwhelming majority of those who start out in poverty will always remain in poverty, though a few escape to testify to the fairness and flexibility of the system. The existence of poverty, however, remains inflexible.
The next most accepted critique is environmental: we relentlessly pursue economic growth, which means that each person has more and more stuff. Economic growth means using more and more resources. We can’t build more cars without more steel, and we can’t manufacture more plastics without more oil. But the earth’s resources (metal, oil, water, etc.) are limited, so an economy can’t grow towards infinity. Our current system is thus unsustainable. And that is without even acknowledging the risks to the ecosystem posed by global warming, the result of our fossil fuel addiction.
Then there are the nuanced critiques, which involve analyzing our lives, our culture, our values. Critics of the system point out that the world is moving toward an ultra-competitive school system based on testing and career placement, and that any notion of raising thoughtful, moral citizens is at best a secondary consideration. The ultimate conclusion of this is Singapore, a highly efficient society which has perhaps the highest math and science scores of any country in the world and a rapidly growing economy. Coincidentally, Singapore has no political freedom and no elections, and produces no great works of art, literature, or music (though it does produce great engineers and businessmen). There is also a growing awareness of our consumerist tendencies, that we are all obsessed with things and products and labels to the point of extreme cultural shallowness. We cringe when we think of the people who can’t afford proper food or healthcare or education for their family, but will spend their savings for a new iPhone (or just steal one). Yet we’re all still hopelessly in love with that same iPhone.
And as the best thinkers among us have pointed out, this obsession with owning things and making money and using brand-names to improve our image deeply affects our relationships with one another. We are so use to relating to products that we turn people and relationships into items: human beings, after all, can also be treated like mere tools for our own pursuit of happiness. In pre-modern society, human beings had strong communities, each one had a strong code of ethics and responsibility that is placed on each of its members. But today, it is perfectly acceptable - perhaps encouraged - to care about no one besides yourself, or at least no one besides your family. You certainly have no great moral or financial responsibility to anyone else, and society has no right to “impose” some sort of moral codes on your behavior.
What is the point of all this? As members of the movement, we often see one or two of these particular effects quite strikingly: whether it’s the crippling conditions of the poor, or the alienation of wealthy suburbanites, or the vacuous consumerist culture of the twenty-first century, or the impending environmental crisis. But rarely do we see the whole picture. Rarely do we see that all of these are merely the symptoms of a larger problem.
According to Investopedia.com, capitalism is “an economic system based on a free market, open competition, profit motive, and private ownership of the means of production.” According to the capitalists themselves, the essence of capitalism is profit, competition, private ownership. In other words: every man is for himself, and life is a game of getting as much stuff as possible.
How do you justify what is explicit in this definition, that it is better for human beings to compete rather than to cooperate? And how do you justify what is implicit in this definition, that neither the government nor individuals have a responsibility to help anyone else out? The answer was invented by Adam Smith, the father of capitalism. In his masterpiece, The Wealth of Nations, He declared that for each man, “[b]y pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it.” In other words: by following your own self-interest you’ll do more to help others than if you actually care about promoting their interests. Thus capitalism alleviates us of the burden of caring about others and validates our every selfish inclination.
The result is the world you see today: alienated and lacking intimacy at the top, exploited and dehumanized at the bottom, obsessively consumerist at every level. This world has also created lots of wealth and many technological wonders; it’s undeniable. Medicine has improved, Google works very well, we all have nifty gadgets in our pockets. So we must ask: is it all worth it?
The next most accepted critique is environmental: we relentlessly pursue economic growth, which means that each person has more and more stuff. Economic growth means using more and more resources. We can’t build more cars without more steel, and we can’t manufacture more plastics without more oil. But the earth’s resources (metal, oil, water, etc.) are limited, so an economy can’t grow towards infinity. Our current system is thus unsustainable. And that is without even acknowledging the risks to the ecosystem posed by global warming, the result of our fossil fuel addiction.
Then there are the nuanced critiques, which involve analyzing our lives, our culture, our values. Critics of the system point out that the world is moving toward an ultra-competitive school system based on testing and career placement, and that any notion of raising thoughtful, moral citizens is at best a secondary consideration. The ultimate conclusion of this is Singapore, a highly efficient society which has perhaps the highest math and science scores of any country in the world and a rapidly growing economy. Coincidentally, Singapore has no political freedom and no elections, and produces no great works of art, literature, or music (though it does produce great engineers and businessmen). There is also a growing awareness of our consumerist tendencies, that we are all obsessed with things and products and labels to the point of extreme cultural shallowness. We cringe when we think of the people who can’t afford proper food or healthcare or education for their family, but will spend their savings for a new iPhone (or just steal one). Yet we’re all still hopelessly in love with that same iPhone.
And as the best thinkers among us have pointed out, this obsession with owning things and making money and using brand-names to improve our image deeply affects our relationships with one another. We are so use to relating to products that we turn people and relationships into items: human beings, after all, can also be treated like mere tools for our own pursuit of happiness. In pre-modern society, human beings had strong communities, each one had a strong code of ethics and responsibility that is placed on each of its members. But today, it is perfectly acceptable - perhaps encouraged - to care about no one besides yourself, or at least no one besides your family. You certainly have no great moral or financial responsibility to anyone else, and society has no right to “impose” some sort of moral codes on your behavior.
What is the point of all this? As members of the movement, we often see one or two of these particular effects quite strikingly: whether it’s the crippling conditions of the poor, or the alienation of wealthy suburbanites, or the vacuous consumerist culture of the twenty-first century, or the impending environmental crisis. But rarely do we see the whole picture. Rarely do we see that all of these are merely the symptoms of a larger problem.
According to Investopedia.com, capitalism is “an economic system based on a free market, open competition, profit motive, and private ownership of the means of production.” According to the capitalists themselves, the essence of capitalism is profit, competition, private ownership. In other words: every man is for himself, and life is a game of getting as much stuff as possible.
How do you justify what is explicit in this definition, that it is better for human beings to compete rather than to cooperate? And how do you justify what is implicit in this definition, that neither the government nor individuals have a responsibility to help anyone else out? The answer was invented by Adam Smith, the father of capitalism. In his masterpiece, The Wealth of Nations, He declared that for each man, “[b]y pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it.” In other words: by following your own self-interest you’ll do more to help others than if you actually care about promoting their interests. Thus capitalism alleviates us of the burden of caring about others and validates our every selfish inclination.
The result is the world you see today: alienated and lacking intimacy at the top, exploited and dehumanized at the bottom, obsessively consumerist at every level. This world has also created lots of wealth and many technological wonders; it’s undeniable. Medicine has improved, Google works very well, we all have nifty gadgets in our pockets. So we must ask: is it all worth it?
Getting the History Right - 'Socialist-Zionism' NOT 'Socialism' and 'Zionism'
Borochov, Syrkin, Pinsker, Brenner and the other thinkers who developed our movement's ideology were all clearly writing about 'Socialist-Zionism' as the best way forwards for the Jewish People in exile, before the State of Israel existed. They were writing in direct contradiction to the 'Socialists' at the time, who saw the way forwards for the Jews as uniting with all the lower-classes internationally and joining the workers' revolution. They also wrote critically about the (non-Socialist) Territorialists and (non-Socialist) Zionists, because they were certain that the new Jewish State must be created on a basis fundamentally linked to Socialist values of equality. Before people such as Borochov and Syrkin, there were separate 'Socialist' and 'Zionist' ideologies, separate 'Socialist' and 'Zionist' movements and separate 'Socialist' and 'Zionist' youth movements. Only afterwards was there a distinct and separate 'Socialist-Zionist' movement, which attempted to unify the Jewish people behind this combined ideology of making a new egalitarian Jewish State in Israel.
The people who first put these new ideological theories into practice were the pioneers (chalutzim) of the 2nd and 3rd Aliyah, before either Habonim or Dror existed. Many of them were from Hashomer Hatzair. They developed the 'intimate kvutzot' like Degania, which became the first kibbutzim, and the beginning of the kibbutz movement. Each kvutza or kibbutz was an example of a community that combined freedom and equality - no centralized government with a nationalized economy forced people to share, but instead a group of idealistic individuals used their own free choice in order yo 'give acording to their abilities and get according to their needs'. Whilst this utopian lifestyle choice succeeded for a small group of people, it relied upon maximum trust, honesty and collective responsibility, and so was not easily maintained as kibbutzim grew, and certainly would break down on the level of the whole nation. Therefore, rather than building one huge kibbutz in Israel, the first kvutzot had a vision of a network made up of many smaller kvutzot and kibbutzim. Here we start to see the wider ideological implications - that very slowly over a long period of time, through great determination, vision, hard work, and 'dugma ishit', more and more Jewish people would use their freedom in order to choose equality - i.e. join a kibbutz. As more and more kibbutzim were built, and the network got bigger, gradually an entire sub-society of socialist communities evolved in Israel. The utopian, idealistic plan of 'Socialist-Zionism' was that evolutionarily, with many thousands of kibbutzim all over the country, linked together by the network of the Kibbutz Movement, the State of Israel would develop as a new exemplary society, valuing both freedom and equality.
Both Dror and Habonim were youth movements that developed after the unification of 'Socialist-Zionism', and after the creation of the first kvutzot and kibbutzim. We were inspired by the 'Socialist-Zionist' ideology, and we put it into practice (i.e. realized it - 'Hagshama') by following the example of our leaders ('Dugma Ishit'), who made aliyah to build the first kvutzot and kibbutzim. Habonim-Dror's 'Socialist Zionism' was expressed through freely choosing to join the Kibbutz Movement, as an attempt to pioneer a new, free, egalitarian society in Israel. This is obviously a very idealist vision, which takes a very long time, perhaps even forever, to achieve. From the 1930's until the 1980's it was clear in Habonim and Dror around the world that our ultimate hagshama was 'Chalutzik Kibbutz Aliyah' - i.e. furthering the goals of 'Socialist Zionism' by building a new kibbutz or by joining a developing kibbutz, in order to get closer to that utopian vision.
The debate about the future of Habonim Dror's ideology must begin to take place in the correct historical context of this unified ideology. The mistake of separating our ideology into 3-5 'pillars' or 'platforms' has led to huge misunderstanding of our own movement identity in recent years. We are not 'socialists' and 'Zionists', and we never were. We were 'socialist Zionists', and sadly it is no longer clear what we are, partially because the debate has been taking place in the wrong context, due to a lack of knowledge about our own history.
The people who first put these new ideological theories into practice were the pioneers (chalutzim) of the 2nd and 3rd Aliyah, before either Habonim or Dror existed. Many of them were from Hashomer Hatzair. They developed the 'intimate kvutzot' like Degania, which became the first kibbutzim, and the beginning of the kibbutz movement. Each kvutza or kibbutz was an example of a community that combined freedom and equality - no centralized government with a nationalized economy forced people to share, but instead a group of idealistic individuals used their own free choice in order yo 'give acording to their abilities and get according to their needs'. Whilst this utopian lifestyle choice succeeded for a small group of people, it relied upon maximum trust, honesty and collective responsibility, and so was not easily maintained as kibbutzim grew, and certainly would break down on the level of the whole nation. Therefore, rather than building one huge kibbutz in Israel, the first kvutzot had a vision of a network made up of many smaller kvutzot and kibbutzim. Here we start to see the wider ideological implications - that very slowly over a long period of time, through great determination, vision, hard work, and 'dugma ishit', more and more Jewish people would use their freedom in order to choose equality - i.e. join a kibbutz. As more and more kibbutzim were built, and the network got bigger, gradually an entire sub-society of socialist communities evolved in Israel. The utopian, idealistic plan of 'Socialist-Zionism' was that evolutionarily, with many thousands of kibbutzim all over the country, linked together by the network of the Kibbutz Movement, the State of Israel would develop as a new exemplary society, valuing both freedom and equality.
Both Dror and Habonim were youth movements that developed after the unification of 'Socialist-Zionism', and after the creation of the first kvutzot and kibbutzim. We were inspired by the 'Socialist-Zionist' ideology, and we put it into practice (i.e. realized it - 'Hagshama') by following the example of our leaders ('Dugma Ishit'), who made aliyah to build the first kvutzot and kibbutzim. Habonim-Dror's 'Socialist Zionism' was expressed through freely choosing to join the Kibbutz Movement, as an attempt to pioneer a new, free, egalitarian society in Israel. This is obviously a very idealist vision, which takes a very long time, perhaps even forever, to achieve. From the 1930's until the 1980's it was clear in Habonim and Dror around the world that our ultimate hagshama was 'Chalutzik Kibbutz Aliyah' - i.e. furthering the goals of 'Socialist Zionism' by building a new kibbutz or by joining a developing kibbutz, in order to get closer to that utopian vision.
The debate about the future of Habonim Dror's ideology must begin to take place in the correct historical context of this unified ideology. The mistake of separating our ideology into 3-5 'pillars' or 'platforms' has led to huge misunderstanding of our own movement identity in recent years. We are not 'socialists' and 'Zionists', and we never were. We were 'socialist Zionists', and sadly it is no longer clear what we are, partially because the debate has been taking place in the wrong context, due to a lack of knowledge about our own history.
Letter to a Menahel - Miriam Falk Biderman
If you are ready to come in off "the sidelines," if you understand
that your local movement depends on your assuming leadership, if you are
willing to apply yourself to the task of being a
menahel— then you have started in the proper direction.
But there is no recipe for becoming a good menahel. I can give you an outline to show you how to lead a discussion. I can give you a book with many ideas for clever arts and crafts projects. I can tell you about a hundred games. I can explain how our holidays should be celebrated. All that I can give you with a great degree of objectivity. But to tell you how to be a menahel, well, that is not so easy; for it involves you.
What are you? That is the first question you must answer for I yourself in the process of being a menahel. You have to become better acquainted with yourself, with your own beliefs, with your likes and dislikes, with your understanding of life and of our people and of our future. Know yourself and know where you are going. Be honest with yourself in your self-investigations.
Perhaps you are wondering what place the above paragraph has in an answer to your problem of how to be a good menahel. Well, I shall tell you. When you become a menahel, you have placed in your hands the power to influence all the young chaverim in your kvutza. They will imitate everything you do and say; they will copy your mannerisms in dress, in speech, and in thought. You must never disillusion them by being one thing yourself and simultaneously telling them to be another. You will not be able to know them and to judge them unless you first know and understand yourself. You will not be able to convey ideas and action to them unless you first have clear in your mind the ideas in which you believe and the action that you, yourself, are willing to take.
So, if you would be a good menahel, first know yourself. This would not imply for you that you must "know all the answers." I hope that you have a questioning mind, that you will go through many periods of pondering and self-searching and re-evaluation in your life. But it should be clear to you that you must have a definite outlook on life, a desire to be an active participant in that part of society that will remake the Jewish nation.
Do you like people? That may sound like a silly question, but you had better be able to answer it affirmatively, or give up the idea of being a menahel. And by liking people, I mean—do you like them enough to study them, to want to know all you can about them, their hopes, their troubles, and their way of thinking? When you become a menahel) you will learn the names and faces of your young chaverim. Will you learn more? Will you call them on the phone occasionally? Will you know the hundred and one things about each of your youngsters that will make you understand their personalities and their actions?
Will you be willing to listen, listen, listen to them? And will you try to listen, too, to the things that they leave unsaid? That is a difficult thing to do—to hear the words that are not spoken. But if you really like your chaverim, you will soon be able to do even this.
Just as you know you must be a menahel, so you must know that being a menahel spells work for you. First, you have to be an example for your young chaverim. You have to participate in every machaneh affair and be outstanding in your work. Nothing will make your youngsters more proud of you than if you collect the most money for JNF, or if you sell the most Furrows subscriptions. If you take a leading part in the concert, if you arrange an oneg Shabbat, your young chaverim will begin to picture the time when they will be like you.
Then you have to work on the kvutza itself. You have to prepare every meeting activity with utmost care. You must always know what you want to do with "the kids." Never come to a meeting without knowing what your aim and program will be. For this you have to read, read, read; be awake to everything that is happening to our people throughout the world, to your city, and this country. When I was at school, a very good teacher once told me, "Try to know a little bit about everything and everything about one thing."
You have to find ways of presenting what you know to your chaverim. You may not succeed at first, but keep trying. If you are primarily a "good guy," you will find the affection of your "kids"; and they will be patient with you as you learn to educate them. Just see that they have fun in the process; give them lots of activity.
Remember that as an educator, as well as a good chaver, you must consider the importance of experimenting. Every single activity and discussion you have is an experiment. Prepare for it. When it is over, look back on what you did and how you did it, and evaluate your work. Repeat methods that you find successful and discard your mistakes. Don't be afraid to try something new. The oneg Shabbat, our Camp Kvutzot, everything we have—even our form of organization—is the result of the experiments of menahalim who started as you start today, a bit unsure of yourself but well aware of the need of your effort.
More important than anything else is your attitude to our movement. But to proper attitude, we must add knowledge. And that is what you must acquire. Do you know your holidays, their meaning, and their historical background? Do you know about the history of Zionism? Do you know the work of the chalutzim and what they have created in Eretz Israel? Are you keeping yourself informed about what is happening to world Jewry? These are the questions you should answer before becoming a menahel. Work to educate yourself.
And now, I wonder what else I should tell you? Need I tell you to dress simply and neatly, always be punctual, always to set high standards in your own "way of being" . . .? There is one thing more:
Do all your work with chalutz devotion. Leading your kvutza is your most important duty in Habonim.
But there is no recipe for becoming a good menahel. I can give you an outline to show you how to lead a discussion. I can give you a book with many ideas for clever arts and crafts projects. I can tell you about a hundred games. I can explain how our holidays should be celebrated. All that I can give you with a great degree of objectivity. But to tell you how to be a menahel, well, that is not so easy; for it involves you.
What are you? That is the first question you must answer for I yourself in the process of being a menahel. You have to become better acquainted with yourself, with your own beliefs, with your likes and dislikes, with your understanding of life and of our people and of our future. Know yourself and know where you are going. Be honest with yourself in your self-investigations.
Perhaps you are wondering what place the above paragraph has in an answer to your problem of how to be a good menahel. Well, I shall tell you. When you become a menahel, you have placed in your hands the power to influence all the young chaverim in your kvutza. They will imitate everything you do and say; they will copy your mannerisms in dress, in speech, and in thought. You must never disillusion them by being one thing yourself and simultaneously telling them to be another. You will not be able to know them and to judge them unless you first know and understand yourself. You will not be able to convey ideas and action to them unless you first have clear in your mind the ideas in which you believe and the action that you, yourself, are willing to take.
So, if you would be a good menahel, first know yourself. This would not imply for you that you must "know all the answers." I hope that you have a questioning mind, that you will go through many periods of pondering and self-searching and re-evaluation in your life. But it should be clear to you that you must have a definite outlook on life, a desire to be an active participant in that part of society that will remake the Jewish nation.
Do you like people? That may sound like a silly question, but you had better be able to answer it affirmatively, or give up the idea of being a menahel. And by liking people, I mean—do you like them enough to study them, to want to know all you can about them, their hopes, their troubles, and their way of thinking? When you become a menahel) you will learn the names and faces of your young chaverim. Will you learn more? Will you call them on the phone occasionally? Will you know the hundred and one things about each of your youngsters that will make you understand their personalities and their actions?
Will you be willing to listen, listen, listen to them? And will you try to listen, too, to the things that they leave unsaid? That is a difficult thing to do—to hear the words that are not spoken. But if you really like your chaverim, you will soon be able to do even this.
Just as you know you must be a menahel, so you must know that being a menahel spells work for you. First, you have to be an example for your young chaverim. You have to participate in every machaneh affair and be outstanding in your work. Nothing will make your youngsters more proud of you than if you collect the most money for JNF, or if you sell the most Furrows subscriptions. If you take a leading part in the concert, if you arrange an oneg Shabbat, your young chaverim will begin to picture the time when they will be like you.
Then you have to work on the kvutza itself. You have to prepare every meeting activity with utmost care. You must always know what you want to do with "the kids." Never come to a meeting without knowing what your aim and program will be. For this you have to read, read, read; be awake to everything that is happening to our people throughout the world, to your city, and this country. When I was at school, a very good teacher once told me, "Try to know a little bit about everything and everything about one thing."
You have to find ways of presenting what you know to your chaverim. You may not succeed at first, but keep trying. If you are primarily a "good guy," you will find the affection of your "kids"; and they will be patient with you as you learn to educate them. Just see that they have fun in the process; give them lots of activity.
Remember that as an educator, as well as a good chaver, you must consider the importance of experimenting. Every single activity and discussion you have is an experiment. Prepare for it. When it is over, look back on what you did and how you did it, and evaluate your work. Repeat methods that you find successful and discard your mistakes. Don't be afraid to try something new. The oneg Shabbat, our Camp Kvutzot, everything we have—even our form of organization—is the result of the experiments of menahalim who started as you start today, a bit unsure of yourself but well aware of the need of your effort.
More important than anything else is your attitude to our movement. But to proper attitude, we must add knowledge. And that is what you must acquire. Do you know your holidays, their meaning, and their historical background? Do you know about the history of Zionism? Do you know the work of the chalutzim and what they have created in Eretz Israel? Are you keeping yourself informed about what is happening to world Jewry? These are the questions you should answer before becoming a menahel. Work to educate yourself.
And now, I wonder what else I should tell you? Need I tell you to dress simply and neatly, always be punctual, always to set high standards in your own "way of being" . . .? There is one thing more:
Do all your work with chalutz devotion. Leading your kvutza is your most important duty in Habonim.
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