Page 34 - Kol Bogrei Habonim - January 19
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everyone. So close to the end of the war, we truly duty every night. The ‘chaverim’ were equipped
felt the reality of the struggle for Independence. with old Czech rifles, while the ‘chaverot’ were
Death was still very much present. I will always equipped with whistles!
remember, during our stay at Kibbutz Tzora, the The moshav next to us was Tzofit, from which we
line of mourners wending their way through the were visited by a number of enthusiastic males,
vineyard down to the cemetery in total silence, who came to ‘inspect’ the new Anglo-recruits.
where they were burying one of their members Among them was Shaul Arlozerov, the son of
who had died of his wounds a short time before.
Arlozerov who became a family friend. An
The experiences and stories we heard about the additional attraction was the nearby orange
heroic war, so recently concluded, bonded us to groves. We would fall upon these luscious,
the Jewish-Israeli reality and to our future succulent, thick-skinned oranges, ready for the
commitment, through Habonim, to the Zionist picking, which we had never seen before in
cause. Later when I was on Hachshara at Hurst England, and after greedily eating our fill, would
Grange in 1950, I commemorated this experience suffer the consequences!
by writing a dedication, which was read out by We made a trip up north and stayed at Kfar Blum,
members of the Hachshara such as ‘Frank’ and during that very rainy Pesach season were
‘Lyonal’ ‘Rosei’ and others no longer with us .
taken on a trip in an open lorry up to Safed! The
Our course took place at the Beit Berl College in only gallery open was that of Alweil, a veteran
Kfar Saba that was just being established. It artist who worked with metal, on Jewish themes.
entailed lectures on ‘Socialist Zionism’ and At the entrance, there was a little cup, requesting
‘Zionist Socialism’ i.e. referring to the ideological ‘entrance fees’. My first impressions of Safed
history and ongoing debates of the ‘Yeshuv’, and were that it was wet, damp and empty and
introducing us to the political and cultural life of reminiscent of an East-European Shtetl. This was
Israeli society. Of the well-known lecturers there, reinforced yet again when I settled in Safed in
I remember best the composer/musician/pianist, 1968; my studio was just one alleyway over from
Zamburski, who introduced us to contemporary where I had visited in 1949-1950.
Israeli music and songs. The main building had a These months had a tremendous impact on us. To
lecture room, kitchen, and dining room and there hear the stories of the suffering and incredible
were dorm rooms; the library was just being built.
heroism arising from the dire need of a nation to
It was a very memorable year, because during survive was the first indelible memory of that
that winter snow fell in Tel Aviv. It was extremely time. At the age of around 18, we were witnesses
cold at Beit Berl and there was only one small to the aftermath of the war, of young people still
electric stove in the lecture hall. When walking dying of their wounds and a country slowly
outside, I slipped on the ice and cut open my recovering its spiritual breath.
thumb, an old injury that to this day, seasonally There were other happier memories of hard
alerts me to any change in the weather! Due to the physical work done on young kibbutzim, of
heavy rains and snow melting, the passages clearing stone strewn areas in Mansura (now Kfar
leading from the main building to the dormitories Hanassi), which was one of the first kibbutzim
flooded with water, and we had to wade through established by Habonim in 1949, under the
ankle deep water. The building grounds and sewer burning sun. This would become crop-bearing
system were not yet complete and simply could fields. We lived in primitive conditions, cooking
not cope with the deluge! It was cold, wet and in enormous pots for the ‘chevreh’ on a small
miserable!
primus stove, the smell of which is still fresh in
At the time, Kfar Saba was situated right at the my nostrils, endless ‘asefot’ (member meetings)
border, and it was necessary for us to do guard and decorating the simple wood wall of the
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