Page 17 - Kol Bogrei Habonim - October 19

WE WERE SO FULL OF SHI***
ARYEH WOLFIN
O farm. At the end of the hard day's work, I returned
h no, it's not what you think I mean. I
meant that we were so full of shi - tuf
and shi-vayon. These were amongst the
lofty ideals, which the movement educated us to
believe in, and we behaved accordingly. I recall in
my movement career experiences, which illustrate
the fulfilment of these ideals, and just how
idealistic we were, in spite of the traumas they
caused.
Hachshara was the ideal outcome of a movement
"educational success", where the ideal chaver was
one who completed his movement education at the
age of 18 or 19 on the movement Hachshara
training farm. There, he or she lived in a strictly
communal framework, according to the socialist
ideal of: "from each according to his ability to
each according to his needs", in order to prepare
him for living in a kibbutz, which was the
realization of movement aspirations, namely - no
private property and no independent behaviour.
All his or her needs (if they were recognized)
were supplied by the chevrah.
The Hachshara farm that I attended was near
Reading, some 40 miles from London. It was
composed of 28 members who lived together in a
strict communal framework according to radical
socialist values. The idea was to prepare members
for living on a kibbutz in Israel. As such, it was
more kibbutz than kibbutz itself, whereby physical
labour ranked very high on the list of values, and
public opinion, which was often cruel, influenced
behaviour.
Every day at 5:00 in the morning, in all weather, I
rode on my bicycle some 5 miles on narrow
country roads, to work in the fields at an outside
17
at 4:00 in the afternoon back to the Hachshara
farm, only to fulfil the tasks and the toranuyot
awaiting us. Every evening, after supper we
would all congregate in the general communal
room in order to discuss kibbutz ideology and
clarify our pioneering future in Israel.
An example of the attitudes that crystalized, as a
result of our lifestyle, was that my parents, who
were about to celebrate their silver wedding at
home, 40 miles away in London, expected me to
join them at the celebration together with the rest
of the family. However, according to the accepted
norms on hachshara, I had to get permission from
the asephah (general meeting) by a majority vote,
to travel to London for the occasion. The decision
of the general meeting was against my going to
my parents silver wedding celebration, on the
grounds that “when Bert (as I was known then) is
in the kibbutz in Aretz, he won’t be able to come
to London to attend family occasions, so he
should get used to it now.”
We tend to be cynical about the reality of 50 or 60
years ago, when we view our historical movement
values through the prism of today's reality. We
cannot fail to be amused. In fact, those values
were indeed very serious, and the achievements of
the movement prove this. It is enough to assess
the extent of the crusade of chalutzim, who
graduated from Habonim, established kibbutzim
and strengthened others in the Galilee, and in so
doing, contributed to it being a more green and
pleasant land. If this is what movement values
and ideals brought about and cause us to smile
today, so be it. Amen.