Page 28 - Kol Bogrei Habonim - January 19

SOMETHING ON MY MIND
STEVE ISRAEL
I My suggestion to those assembled that night was
left my home in Jerusalem and made my
way to Tel Aviv to talk with a group of
fellow ex Habonim-Dror members about a
subject that I have thought a lot about over the
years. There were about thirty of us. None of us
were young; most of us were near the end of, or
following, our respective careers. But it didn’t
feel like a group of “oldsters”. It felt more like a
group of ex-youth movement activists, which is
exactly what defines the setting. My subject was
activism.
I suggested that when I personally think of my
own Habonim (pre-Dror) time, I think that most
important of all (more important, by far than the
social and cultural experience which was stellar
in itself) was the general perspective on the
world that I – and I think almost all of us –
received. It was a perspective that taught us to
think in terms of we, of ourselves and others, as
part of a group that had work to do in the world
in general and in Israel and the Jewish world
specifically. We were taught to think in terms of
our responsibilities and of our need to step up
when things were needed. Without trying to
sound pretentious I think that we were taught to
think of our lives as service – serving a wider set
of goals and priorities.
That, for me, was step one. And then there was
step two. Over the years, here in Israel, I became
both personally and professionally involved in
understanding what Judaism meant to me (I
became a Jewish educator). And after a number
of years of learning and thinking I realized that
almost exactly those same messages that I
received from the movement, stood at the centre
of my understanding of what being a Jew meant
and what Judaism demanded from me, namely
care, responsibility and some kind of service,
working in the world.
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that we needed to examine whether we were still
focusing on those things in our lives? I
suggested that we should, each of us, be
involved, and seek increasing involvement,
within whatever time framework we could spare,
in social justice activities, in involvement to
improve the lives of those around us. The needs
are so great but unlike the political arena where
it is so easy to feel impotent and helpless, in
social justice activities we can choose the people
we feel really deserve help and actually affect
the lives of individuals. I suggested to those
assembled that many of us were after the years
of worrying about raising families and making a
career; many of us are reasonably or even very
comfortable in our material lives. If we aren’t
already involved in helping the lives of those
less fortunate than ourselves, this, I think, is the
time.
I suggested moreover that for me, personally,
membership in Irgun Bogrei Habonim would
have an enhanced meaning if, among other
things it could provide a network whereby we
could ask others for support in the different
social and volunteering frameworks that we are
trying to influence. We are, after all, youth
movement bogrim. If I am right in suggesting
that part of the DNA of a meaningful movement
experience is learning to respond to a call to
contribute to others, then this one should be a
natural.
The response was good. People were interested.
Most people present, were already involved in
volunteering. That was great to hear. Now, we
have to work out how to extend it. Thousands of
volunteers can indeed make a different reality
and create, in a small way, a far better world!