Page 8 - Kol Bogrei Habonim - June 13

A MINOR MASTER BUILDER
COLIN PRIMOST, KFAR HANASSI
M It wasn’t hard for me to take his advice for by
y lifelong dream to become a
Habonim master builder – was sadly
not to be. I joined Habonim too late
to master that all important stepping stone –
building my own Levenah.
At 18, I decided to come out of the closet. So
one night at supper I confronted my parents and
disclosed that whilst during the day, I was a
serious and dutiful apprentice in an accountant's
office, in the evenings I turned into a very active
member of Habonim. So much so, that I now
intend to chuck in my studies, move to the
Hachsharah and join Garin "Hey." We hoped to
set up a new kibbutz in the Negev, preferably
not too far from Sde Boker and a certain Mr Ben
Gurion.
The door of my closet must have been made of
glass! My parents showed no surprise at all. My
father had already prepared a long list of reasons
why my plan was ill considered, extremely
selfish "and a complete waste of your talents" –
and what's more, even Ben Gurion was now
pissed off with the kibbutzim! Eventually he
realized that his son was as stubborn as his
father, so he played his last card, and it was a
good one.
"Listen Colin, I suppose in the end it is probably
best that you do go and try kibbutz, for by far the
best way to learn in life is by one's own
mistakes. But as least first finish your studies,
for you never know when they may come in
useful. Believe me there aren't many chartered
accountants trained in the city of London in the
whole of Israel, and certainly none at all in the
kibbutzim."
8
then things were really going my way. I was
receiving a weekly wage package as an
apprentice, playing a lot of tennis (hard to
believe now but we actually had a full size hard
tennis court in our back garden) and was very
involved in all my Habonim activities. And had
just met a lively chaverah with astonishingly
deep black eyes (and if you looked too deeply
into them you were in danger of drowning).
So only after my final exams and even before the
results, I made my way to the hachsharah and
was assigned to avodat chutz at the neighbouring
Locke farm. I worked there with Bill the
permanent farm hand, tending a herd of
Hereford beef cows. What beautiful animals,
with patches of brown and white, and very
docile. Every evening I would channel the
gigantic bull into his pen, and then place both of
my arms around his massive neck to attach his
chain, lest he wander off on his own into the
dark night. I'm not at all a brave person but as
long as a bull has his harem of females around
him he turns out to be a very peaceful and co-
operative individual. I guess this is probably true
of all species, including our own!
During our lunch break I would read my latest
book on philosophy, "what do we know about
knowing." One day Bill asked me about the
book, but I note that his interest in modern
philosophy is not very deep! But then his eyes
suddenly brighten up.
"Tell me Colin, in your big Jewish farm house
up the road, is it true that you all sleep in one
dormitory, that's to say all the boys and girls
together in one room?"