Page 79 - Kol Bogrei Habonim - Autumn 21

Who was there? I, Alec, Shosh and
Joe Rifkind, Mansura, 1949
Archive Kfar Hanassi
Simon: I'm glad I'm here. I came following
a Belgian Shaliach who taught me about
kibbutz life. I wasn't a Zionist – I came here
because I wanted to be a kibbutznik. I became
a Zionist only years later when I heard on the
news that Mosh Dayan warned the Egyptian
authorities about an Israeli bomb on Egyptian
soil that had not detonated. He wanted to
avoid loss of life and so he published a
warning. I felt so proud suddenly and became
a Zionist.
Interview by Shoshana Sharki.
Simcha Arnold
Alec will tell you that it was me who
suggested we set up a new Garin. We
gathered at a convention in winter 1955 and
spoke of our future. I was pretty upset that we
had to join members we hardly knew in
Amiad and so we suggested we start a new
Garin. Everyone was very enthusiastic about
the idea, and we started talking about a name.
Since Garin Gimmel was in Amiad, we
should have been Garin Daled. We didn't
want to be Daled and we all agreed we
wanted to be Hey (Hey! Hey!) It sounded
better – I have no idea why.
79
Raymond, Edna, Reggie, Jason, Herbie,
Estelle, Alan Barzel, Monica, Bimbo,
Dennis and his wife, Ronnie Kotzen and
others that you don't know. We were about
40.
In 1956, 12 set out on Hachshara in Maayan
Zvi. They did not know where they would
settle. I joined the Garin in Maayan Zvi, 4
days before we came to Kfar Hanassi.
When we arrived, Michael Doari welcomed
us in the dining room and told us about the
kibbutz. It must have been winter because I
remember the sawdust on the floor due to the
mud. Michael asked us where we wanted to
work. Some of us said we wanted to have a
look at the different aspects of the kibbutz.
He said OK but they had heard that I was a
cook and that I had cooked at summer camp
for 200 people and that I was the "landlady"
of Habonim House and as part of my duties
my job was to look after the house and
members of the Garin in the movement as
well as cook for them.
I was told that they needed someone in the
kitchen. There were two in the kitchen, the
main cook and another. The other had given
birth or was on leave so would I be willing to
start in the kitchen? I think I worked with
Neta that first day. I started working there
and continued. Then, for some reason the
main cook stopped, and I was told to replace
her – temporarily – it took two and a half
years. That was my tour of duty there.
The veterans were nice to us, but I remember
(while I was working in the kitchen as the
cook) that one of the veterans said something
about it being better not to give the Garin
girls that job since they were not so clean…