Page 22 - Issue 19

irrespective of their country of birth and with this
mishlachat it feels like we’ve come full circle.

So much for history, but what are we doing here today?
The State of Israel is over seventy years old, the Labour-
Zionist movement is over a century old and its founders
are long gone. In some countries, Habonim Dror itself is
approaching its 100th birthday. By any measure, this is
an old youth movement, and the thought occurs, that
perhaps it has completed its historic mission. Moreover,
since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, almost the
entire Jewish people has been free to choose their
connection to Zionism - the national liberation
movement of the Jewish people. They can raise funds for
it, educate about it, criticize it, boycott it
- but no matter what, their choice is
one freely made. And if this is the case,
what need then is there for Zionist
youth movements, and in particular,
what possible reason could there be for
Shlichut?
I can sketch out my thoughts, but it will involve a detour
into Buber and Yigal Wagner, and for that I apologise,
though I promise to keep it bearable. In one of his
famous speeches, Buber declared that the Spirit of Israel
is the Spirit of Hagshama, of ‘realization’. As I
understand it, hagshama is a verb of continuous action,
it conjures up an image of sustained activity, like when
you say “it’s raining” or “she’s running”. Hagshama is
also a term we use in the youth movement: Youth