Page 14 - Issue 3
P. 14

movement in Israel. This also clearly impacts on diaspora Jewry at large, by transforming so many into
       pioneering  new  Jews.  On  the  other  hand,  if  all  the  current  members  of  Kvutsat  Yovel  and  Kvutsat
       Hadera were to go our separate ways in our daily activities (rather than doing movement work), even for
       the most legitimate and admirable reasons, then this movement revolution would never get past stage
       one.

       There  are  neither  rules  nor  regulations  about  this  matter  in  the
       tnuat  bogrim  today  -  each  individual  and  their  kvutsa  currently
       decide  about  such  priorities.  There  is  no rule  that  we  all  have  to
       work in the youth movement, nor in the tnuat bogrim. There is no
       rule that we must not study at university. There is no rule that we
       can not work in external messimot, nor even that we can not work in
       a plain old, alienated, capitalist job / career. There are also no rules
       about  not  having  partners  and  children,  nor  about  playing  sports,
       nor  about  watching  television,  nor  playing  video  games,  although
       these are all potentially distractions from our revolutionary movement work. Indeed, there are in fact
       today  kvutsa  members  who  are  studying,  and  who  are  doing  non-movement  messimot,  and  who  are
       working in plain old capitalist jobs. There are movement members having partners and children, playing
       sports,  watching  TV,  playing  video  games,  and  generally  allowing  ourselves  to  be  distracted  from  our
       movement revolution.


       Whilst the revolution would no doubt come quicker without such 'distractions', the current reality is
       that  we  are  still  enjoying  the  personal  freedom  to  choose  how  we  live  our  lives,  including  sometimes
       clinging on to some of the flawed bourgeois aspects of our lives, as well as building the movement and
       our new society. This can be a very frustrating situation. We each still have plenty more tikkun atzmi to
       achieve,  and  not  only  is  the  wider  movement  vision  still  far  away,  but  our  own  personal  revolutions  -
       transforming ourselves from middle class diaspora Jews into socialist Zionist chalutzim - are still far
       from complete. However, we will not further our personal processes of tikkun, nor will we further the
                                                        wider  movement  revolution,  by  legislating  rules  and
                                                        regulations about how we should or should not live our
                                                        lives. Rather, we will progress by constantly challenging
                                                        ourselves and each other, by learning, by continuing to
                                                        be  chanichim  in  some  parts  of  our  lives,  and  by
                                                        continuing to be madrichim in other parts of our lives.
                                                        By  looking  honestly  and  open-mindedly  into  the  mirror
                                                        of dugma ishit, and through the feedback we give and
                                                        take in our intimate kvutsot and tzvatim, we can improve
                                                        ourselves and thus the wider revolution.

                                                        The frustrations which we feel with ourselves and with
                                                        each  other,  for  falling  short  of  our  revolutionary
       socialist Zionist aspirations, sometimes get expressed as a call for definition and even legislation. Within
       the movement kvutsot in Israel, we are demanding more commitment from ourselves all the time. But we
       do  not  have  clear  answers  to  commit  ourselves  to  yet.  As  more  and  more  kvutsot  arrive,  norms  of
       movement life will probably start forming. Questions will increasingly be replaced by answers, as the
       initial  years  of  creation  will  be replaced  by  stabilisation  and  even  institutionalisation.  But we  are  not
       there yet - we are still in the formative questioning period. I hope that movement bogrim around the
       world will understand our challenges and frustrations, and appreciate the pioneering opportunities which
       this exciting and dynamic time presents for all movement members. The first fledgling kvutsot of the
       HDTB should not be perceived (by ourselves or others) as prescribing answers before we have
       even finished asking ourselves the questions.
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