Page 17 - Kol Bogrei Habonim - June 13
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FROM THE MOVEMENT ARCHIVES
PART III
DAVID CHESTER, PETACH TIKVA
Early Development of Habonim (contd.) confirmed by Chaim Lipshitz in an article in
T July 1929.
he year that Habonim started is given in
the publication “Habonim in Britain
Wellesley added: “by 1930 barely a year after
1929–1955,” on the cover and
elsewhere. It adds that some publicity was given the first Habonim Gedud had opened in
Christian Street, there were (established) a dozen
in the J.C. (Jewish Chronicle) late in 1929, Gedudim.” It says something for Wellesley’s
(without noting Wellesley’s earlier memoranda leadership that almost all of the participants of
or the fictitious date of this J.C. interview in his two hadracha courses subsequently ran their
1928). On page 20 of that history, is shown part own gedudim. However, Chaim Lipshitz trained
of a page from the J.C. supplement for “spring all four of Trumpeldor’s Roshé Kvutzot on his
1929,” with a own.
group
photograph During this
having the period the
name various
‘Habonim.’ symbolic
The subscript badges,
mentions the names,
handbook sayings,
that Wellesley songs,
was to re- uniforms etc.,
publish, after came into use
obtaining in the
financial help. gedudim. The “levenah” or cardboard brick,
which every Boneh or Bonah was expected to
The first Madrichim of the new Gedudim did not construct for presentation at his/her initiation
wait for this formal document and they ceremony, was designed by committee member
improvised in various ways. Wellesley wrote on Arthur Blok, an engineer employed in the Patent
22nd. April 1929 that: “We have a Gedud at Office. In its original decorated form it carried
present at work in the East End of London.” “By the Gedud name and date of the Hakdasha
March 1929 I personally organized and ran the Ceremony. This design was clearly illustrated in
first course for Roshé Gedudim at the St. John’s Volume 4 issue 1 of KVH. It has the name
Wood synagogue in Abbey Road.” This course Trumpeldor and the date 23rd October 1929,
lasted until June 1929 and he ran a second one (which was a Wednesday in the middle of
from November. He added that: “These courses Succot), so Gedud Trumpeldor must have
in Hadracha soon resulted in three additional ‘officially’ begun no later and probably in spring
Gedudim in London.” They were Notting Hill of that year.
(Gedud Bar Kochba), Brondesbury (Gedud
Hebron) and Hackney (Gedud Herzl). This was
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