the nature of habonim memory and challenge by william goldfarb

7/28/2019 The Nature of Habonim Memory and Challenge by William Goldfarb

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The Nature of Habonim-

Memory and Challenge By W I L L I A M G O L D FA R B

E ACH WORD in the name, "Habonim Labor Zionist Youth

Movement," always had a real anddefinite meaning. "Zionist" implieda deep involvement in the idea ofth e Jewish Renaissance and in theidea of establishing an d creating aJewish state and a continuing deepinvolvement, in a personal sense,in th e state of Israel after its emergence in 1948. "Labor" meant thatthe movement was dedicated to theproposition that this Israel shouldnot be an ordinary state, bu t shouldbe one erected on the most pro

gressive of social ideas and institutions, and should, moreover, bebuilt by the labor of its citizens."'Youth" meant that it was a movement of youth, to be led - sometimes badly, sometimes misled, bu tinevitably led-by the youth themselves. Th e word "movement" is

today used in the field of CivilRights; until a few years ago it wasused by labor. But long before itwas used by Civil Rights activists,it was used by Zionist youth. Andit implied that this was not a meresocial organization with superficialties and clubbiness, bu t a body of

people with serious ideals and witha very serious commitment to thoseideals.

Putting the matter in a rathersimple way, there are, in general,three possible approaches to thestructure of a movement. A movement can be bland, "pareve," witha credo which is easy to accept; it

asks merely for annual dues. Or i tcan be an elitist group- ideological,dogmatic, doctrinaire, highly-disciplined, perhaps collectivist. Or itcan be neither th e one nor th eother. Th e first type represents anattempt to attract a large following,to oHer little bu t pleasant fun andto demand little. Th e second, theelitist, dogmatic, disciplined groupcannot attract many people. But it

commands intense loyalty, strictdiscipline, and sometimes, fanaticaldevotion and dedication from itsadherents.

The third course, that of beingneither bland and minimalist on th eone hand, nor strict and doctrinaireon the other, is the most difficultcourse. I t is the course of beingneither a radical nor a conservative,bu t a liberal. I t is the course ofbeing neither a capitalist nor acommunist, bu t a socialist. And, his-

torically, these middle-of-the-roadpositions have always been suspect

from both sides and have alwaysha d difficulty sustaining themselves.A movement which seeks to rejectboth the bland and the doctrinaire(the bland because it is purposeless and valueless, and th e doctrinaire because it is undemocraticand self-limiting), seeks instead toattain freedom of action within aframework of discipline, an d freedom of thought within a framework of ideology. This was th ecourse which Habonim took, andtakes, and this is its strength an dits weakness.

A movement such as Habonim,educating toward this course of action and philosophy must take aposition, define that position andassert it with vigor, but, constantly,in th e very act of asserting its position, the movement must recognizethat there are other positions an dthat not everyone in the movementneed follow the party line. Indeed,

there is no party line. For example,Habonim from th e beginningstressed the centrality of aliya, ofpersonal settlement in Israel, thusaligning itself with Zionist activism,and did so long before it becamefashionable or came into vogue. I tstressed aliya both as the bighestnational need of the Jewish peopleand as the highest aspiration of theindividual. I t denominated aliya as

"self-realization." This is a seriousan d demanding ideal. One fulfills itnot by speeches, not by m e e ~ g s ,

not by resolutions, but by mOvingto Israel an d living a Labor Zion.ist life.

But Habonim, from its inception,refused to say that aliya, while itwas th e highest and th e best, wasthe only way. The movement re-fused to reject those who did notachieve aliya, or to accord themsome kind of second-class status ashuman beings or as Jews. And thesame was true with regard to those

who did attain aliya an d for onereason or another returned from Is-rael. Habonim really believescliched and truistic as it may sound- i n th e Jewish people, in all of itsmanifestations, in all of its vocations, an d in all of its locations.

In the time of the struggle for

the State of Israel, th e struggleagainst the British and against Arabterror, Habonim identified itselfwith those political forces in Zion-ism which stressed th e need forphysical resistance as a form of defense, the need for arms, training,attack when necessary, the use of

force when necessary. But it quiteprofoundly and bitterly rejected theconcept that only the use of force,only the use of terror, could be"the way." I t said, "this way also;but i t would not say, ..this wayalone." And therefore it was alliedwith th e Hagana, and it rejectedthe Irgun.

In Israel, from the very beginning, Habonim accorded th e highest priority to th e agricultural settlements (because it believed thatonly i f th e land were worked byJews would this be a Jewish land)and within th e Jewish settlements,to the Hityashvut Haovedet; and,within labor settlement, Habonimsaid: "the Kibbutz is th e highestform." But i t never said "only the



MAY, 1972

llityashvut Haovedet," and it neversaid "only th e Kibbutz." And theJIabonim person who went on aliyaand did no t go to a Kibbutz or toa Moshav, or having gone, did notstay, was not a failure, was not atraitor, was no t a betrayer of thedoctrine - because there was nodoctrine. He had sought anotherway.

In short, this Habonim ha d aprofile, a personality, which couldbe seen as a weakness because i t

was flexible, because it was no trigid, because it was multi-faceted,because it di d not always sound thesame or beat the same, because itdid not have a catechism in whichthere was always an answer toevery question, and always thesame answer. But in this free an d

permissive framework, Habonimalso found its strength, because i t

was able to attract an d mold pe0

ple who cou ld think independently,and who could react to situationson th e basis of their individuality.

I t was an d is a movement whichasks many questions, bu t whichrecognizes no givens, no axioms,no postulates, no dogmas, an dwhich gives few precise or glib answers. Even with little children, it

insists on th e right tothink

an d onthe obligation to think. We used tostress, in a somewhat distorted English rendering, th e effective phraseof Katznelson, one of the ideologists an d thinkers of the LaborZionist Movement in Europe an din Israel, that we believe in "theright to be confused."

And yet, th e Movement madedemands. I t did no t advocate orpractice th e bland, superficial typeof social action which characterizedmany of the organizations to whichJewish youth belonged in the dayswhen -Habonim was being formed.Nor did it accept a way of lifebased on polemiCS or lOgic-chopping. I t said, an d says, to its members: "I f you believe, act-becausethe belief and the action are inseparable. Without some measureof action, th e belief itself is no tmeaningful."

Now, this is th e hardest course

for any movement to take. I t is

harder to educate people to go onaliyah, it is harder to educate atall-if you say in advance "this is away; there are others." But there isalso a great dividend to be derivedfrom this type of education - adividend in intellectual honesty, inbreadth of character, and inbreadth of outlook. And if, in suchan atmosphere, Habonim produced,as i t did, people of stature an d ofthought and of action, it is to itsundying credit. In that kind of aneducational environment, Habonimproduced people, who, having theright to be confused, were not confused, and who, having the rightto choose, chose. And, in so choosing, members of Habonim werevery active in the middle an d late40's in th e activities surrounding

so-called illegal immigration (aliyabet) to Israel, which preceeded theestablishment of th e State; in themanning of ships, the organizationof American crews to transport th esurvivors of Hitler to Israel, sometimes via Cyprus.

And its people did go on aliya.And many of them did go to Kibbutzim an d Moshavim, an d theydid provide an important element,in some cases the nuclear element,

in three successful Kibbutzim -Kfar Blum in Upper Galilee, Ca-

sher Haziv in th e Western Galilee,an d Urim in the northern Negev.And its people ar e visible in theMoshavim and in th e cities. Butthose who did not go, an d thosewho, having gone, came back, wereno t in a position (a s they were insome movements) of having tosay, "We have failed the dogma,we have converted out, we havesinned, we have no t been saved."Instead, they asked, ''What doesHabonim teach about the way oflife of a Jew in America?" Andmany members of Habonim, including some who were not deeply involved in the Movement bu t wererather on its periphery, bu t whowere, nevertheless, somehow af-

fected by it, have become amongth e finest specimens of AmericanJewish manhood and womanhood-people of understanding an d de

votion and belief an d action, on

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various fronts of constructive activity in American Jewish life.

Habonim was, and is, first andlast, a youth movement. Childrenleading children, and frequentlyacting like children, organizing, inth e small cities an d in th e largecities of America and Canada

where Habonim flourished an d existed, an activity to raise money,a program, a "neshef," an evening,and ad-book, a play, a choir, allamateurishly directed, all improvised, all technically poor, yet,somehow, by dint of enormousdedication an d almost measurelessenergy, successful-artistically andeconomically, even by adult standards. They lacked savoir-faire. Haboneh, the magazine for th eyounger people, traditionally cameout with its Purim issue just beforePesach, and its Pesach issue justbefore Shavuot An d they lackedmoney sense, an d their organization inVariably botched administrative details. .

But they dared to do things.They fought with the JewishAgency, despite its ties so closewith Israel, whenever it felt thatthe Agency or th e Jewish establishment generally were being inade

quately responsive to the trueneeds of th e Jewish people. Theywrote open letters to th e membersof the Histadrut Executive in Israel saying, "You ma y be Chaverso-and-so; with such an d such posi.tion an d authority, bu t you dontknow what th e needs of th e Jewishpeople are here; we will tell you.·But it was done, not with cheek,and not with bravado, bu t withhumility and with sensitivity an dwith intelligence an d with guts an d

with an informing sense of responsibility that is difficult to conjurewith.

Habonim knew how to go againstthe stream, no t because i t felt itwas desirable to go against th estream, bu t because its objectivelay upstream, an d it did so constructively. Almost forty years ago,these young people, with no professional background and with agreat deal of nerve, organized a

camp, and then another camp and



22

another camp and a network ofcamps, with a new idea in theircamping. Camping which would befun and pleasure and out-of-doorsand r e c ~ e a t i o n a land healthy, bu twith an earnest sense of purpose,physical labor, a kupa (the poolingof money), an d without the heavyhanded spoiling mamas with theirshopping bags full of sweets onvisiting day, the hal4nark of Jewish camps in America, an d withself-government, an d learning; inshort, with meaningful purpose.And they called it "Camp Kvutza."

And nearly 20 years ago they decided that the time ha d come totr y to take some of their leadership cadres, when they finishedhigh school, an d have them spenta year in Israel, in th e most meaningful kind of experience they

could find for them, in a "workshop" which would combine avariety of purposes. The workshophas continued now for almost 20years and has been a net success.I t is after all, a success just to continue that long and each year tobring people - one group better,one group less exciting - bu t everygroup with some outstanding individuals, and in th e aggregate, tohave a signillcant impact on a substantial number of people.

This is not even to speak of th elarge number of people in th e United States and Canada who, by vir-tu e of their exposure to this Habonim movement, were motivatedto embark upon Jewish studies, insome cases to learn their first Hebrew words, and frequently tolearn more than they learned inany of their formal Jewish educational experiences. I t introduced toJewish tradition many childrenwho came from homes in whichJewish tradition was not observed.There were children in Habonim towhom the Oneg Shabbat was theirfirst contact with Shabbat an d towhom th e observances of TishaB'Av in a Habonim camp was th efirst contact with th e full tragicforce of Jewish history.

Th e movement gave many youngpeople a sense of identification withJudaism, and with th e Jewish pea

pIe, an d with Israel-that no otherforce or combination of forcescould hope to do. In short, Habonim prOvided young people whocame into its orbit with meaningful activity and direction, with adeep commitment, with a sense ofpurpose an d a sense of excitement.And all this was in striking contrast with th e vast majority of theircontemporaries.

I do not forget for one momentthat I am talking about a tiny percentage of a tiny percentage of theAmerican Jewish youth community.But when you talk about theAthens of Pericles, or th e Englandof Elizabeth, or the Italy of th eRenaissance, you are not talkingabout th e masses; you are talkingabout a small group of creative andinforming people. The generality

of Jewish youth always stood incontrast to the dedication andmeaningful direction of Habonim.Th e generality of these youth inthe 50's was silent and sullen, andin the 60's (and perhaps today)full of protest and discontent an ddrugs-turned off by society, boredand aimless. But Habonim members never cut themselves off fromcontact with their contemporaries.For this reason, Habonim itselfunderwent changes as it was ex-

posed to, an d came into contactwith, th e forces of th e times.

Habonim has always been asmall movement, an d some of th eadjectives I have used may sounda bi t Howery for a small movement.And I suppose that it will never bea large one. But its importance hasbeen ou t of all proportion to itssize. After all, every important revolution in history was catalyzedand led by a small group. Sometimes, in some cities, Habonim disappeared entirely, and yet it seemspossessed of some kind of mysticpower and rises from its own asheslike th e Phoenix. A kid appears ina city to go to college. He belongedto Habonim in another city. And,10 and behold, a group exists. Andin an American society, and in anAmerican Jewish society, whichstresses quantity and size and numbers an d amounts an d weights, Ha-

JEWISH FROXfIER

bonim has always stressed quality.I t does not seek to be small, as anideal, bu t neither does it seek massappeal. I t is concerned not mainlywith "how many?" (though it rec-ognizes that sometimes quantityhas qualitative implications), but itis concerned with "how deep, howmeaningful, how true an d how last·ing th e impact?" I t never pursuedsmallness as a virtue, but itreckoned with it as a reality.

One thing has not changed inHabonim. I t has always been, andprobably forever will be, hamperedby lack of money. This has giventhe Movement two things: "moxie"an d frustration. This Movementneeds material support, not tinymaterial support, bu t signilicantmaterial support. Like Jewish edu-cation, with which Zionist youth

activities should be seen in tandem,we always ru n the risk of nickeland diming the youth movement todeath while we are showering oursubstance on the kind of institutions which compete with institu·tions in the Gentile community.They've got a family service, wevegot a family service. And if so andso can be on the board of that in-stitution, I can be on the board ofmine, and if he can endow his, Ican endow mine."

But it is the institutions whichwe do not share in common withChristian America which will de-termine the future of AmericanJewish life, and its quality. I amreferring to ou r schools, and to in-stitutions such as the HabonimYouth Movement. Welfare fundswill not subvene the Zionist youthmovements. I am not an expert o n ,

investments" or on expenditureeither, bu t I believe that there arevery few securities which representat one and th e same time "bluechip investments" and "'growthsituations." I believe a movementsuch as Habonim is such asecurity.

Now, what is needed is supportwithout intervention. The very na-ture of a youth movement reCJuiresit to be independent. I t mnst befree to blunder. it must be free torebel its prurenlts.



23.-, MAY, 1972

the very hand which feeds it. As amatter of fact, i f it does not rebelof its own initiative, perhaps weneed to help it to rebel, because

whenit

loses its rebelliousness,i t

loses an important attribute of itsvitality. While it accepts the sympathetic help of wise adults, theyouth movement must retain th eright to criticize them, to angerthem, to reject some of their ways.Under such circumstances, it mustreally challenge our vision and ourintelligence to be able to recognizethe validity of giving the Movement our help.

This Habonim has had, and con

tinues to have a profound impact,a deeper impact perhaps than someof us realize, both here and in Israel. Now, lest I misspeak, I wouldnot want to give th e impressionthat everybody whoever belongedto Habonim, or even every leaderof the Movement, was a giant of

the spirit or of the intellect, or aparagon of virtue. Nothing couldbe further from the truth. We hadour share of foolishness and medi

ocrity and wrong-headed activity,just as do all human institutions.But I do not think that I have overidealized the essence, or that I haveallowed middle-aged nostalgia todistort the truth. I f anything, Ihave understated the depth of th eemotional impact· that the Movement had (and continues to have)on the people involved in it.

The Movement fosters creativeties to Judaism; it teaches, and itmotivates learning; it fought the

establishment before the term ha dbeen invented and continues to doso, bu t not mindlessly and not destructively and not irresponsibly.It is a self-motivating movementwith positive ideals and a sense of

striving to fulfill them. I t neverquite fu16lls them, but, then, thatis the nature of ideals. Almostmiraculously, it is still alive and

reasonably well,an d

it needs andmerits our serious support. We, too,should be in revolt, and to the ex-tent we compel ourselves to be inrevolt, we are reacting intelligentlyto the nature of our times. I speakof revolt against all that is sterileand over-materialistic and illiterateand sham in Jewish llife, andagainst the engagement by ourcommunity in a welter of activities, almost a frenzy of activities,designed not so much to enrich

Jewish life as, at best, to hold backthe Hood of assimilation.

William Goldfarb is an attorney an dformer chairman of the Bureau of Jewish Education of Cleveland, Ohio. He isnow residing in Israel.

the nature of habonim memory and challenge by william goldfarb

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