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There are cars on our road that look identical to our car, same shape, same size, looks identical its
only when you get close to the car and you look inside do you see the structural differences that
make our car quite unique. Although you have to ask if the car seems practically the same, how
different can the cars outlook on the road actually be?

There is a little Hashi car that is small and has white dice hanging around the review mirror.

There is a Hanoar ha oved car that looks a lot like ours although when you get behind the wheel
there is a spanner instead of the wheel and the radio doesn't work too well.

Habonim Dror is a structure in living your life, always conscious of what is going on around you,
standing up for what is right and putting human beings in the centre of Your meaning.

Although in terms of the journey on our road it is not about the car at the end of the day but
rather about the people in side the car. The Habonim Dror drivers.

The drivers interpret the values and signs, and direct the car, in essence creating their own road
and not walking down one that was laid down in front of them but rather as a collective, pioneering
new alternatives, new pathways or side streets, with the self-given ability to create a society based
on the values of Habonim Dror.

Habonim Dror has a wonderful history of accomplishments and it is nowhere nearly over, Habonim
Dror today is as relevant as it was during our accomplished history. But we are fighting a new fight,
one of a society affected by apathy and materialism and discrimination.

A society who have not learnt from our previous mistakes and chooses to turn a blind eye in the
face of evil, in the face of injustice. A Jewish nation disengaged with Judaism and a people feeling
ashamed or indifferent when they hear the word Zionism or Israel.

It's as if, on our road, there is an oil spill of drastic proportions and its Habonim Dror's move next.

A question that still plagues our habo car is what happens if the car runs out of petrol when you hit
your mid 20's, do you lose your license, or do you have a license but decide not to drive any further,
do you run out of gas or is your tank full but yet you still feel you have outgrown your car.

In the end when all is said and done and my non-Jewish friend is still sitting there with a blank look
on his face, not having the faintest idea of what habo is, I would explain that maybe its impossible
to truly explain what habo is in words, As words limit us, going to a machane, understanding a new
concept, running a successful peulah, building and creating an environment that you can call your
own, debating for the sake of understanding something better, being a part of a tsevet, not feeling
alone and being able to live an alternative ,of making a difference not just being a part of one. And
most of all being allowed to be yourself.

My underlying message is take any habo opportunities that might come your way, you never know
what's around the next corner, but you all have felt the power that is Habonim Dror, don't ever
turn your back on something because it is challenging.

Aleh ve hagshem

Daniel Samowitz