Page 22 - Kol Bogrei Habonim - October 19
P. 22
KENWOOD KEN
STEVE ANDRESIER (ANDY)
T age, Neal!) in a place called the Moadon in
he other year, someone said to me that
Finchley Road.
they thought all the people who went to
Habonim were a bit weird – walking
round in sandals, the boys with long hair and the And they welcomed us into the fold, whatever we
looked like, wherever we came from.
girls with flowers in theirs and even, apparently,
smoking dope (well, I certainly never saw any). Some of them lived in large houses or what to us
were almost mansions, in Hampstead Garden
A bit way-out for the community even in the 60’s. Suburb and elsewhere in Northwest London,
Yes, he’d rather go to discos and pubs – and, I while we lived in Hackney, Stamford Hill or
guess, do what the majority of people did – and be Ilford – some of us in what were then called
safe.
‘council flats’.
Well, where do I start? The facile response hoped None of them, however, seemingly took exception
for was perhaps an acknowledgement that I too when we routinely marched into their toilets as we
was a little weird.
arrived at a kumsitz and gave them marks out of
The correct response, as only we know, was, 10… and as for the amazement we all felt at one
‘You’ve no idea what you missed!’ residence, where the basement contained a
bowling alley and a giant American fridge
Habonim was made up of people who simply
wanted more out of life (and who got little out of overflowing with Coca-Cola! This was 1969,
what was expected). remember.
Romances, relationships and rejections followed –
Be it aliyah, friendship, socialism, fun,
kumsitzes/im, a connection with Israel, an be it in stairwells, over falafels, on sofas or under
opportunity to meet like-minded people from canvas. Some were (very!) fleeting or eventually
around the country, week-ends away (some of the went nowhere, and some led to marriages and,
places we ended up in still give me nightmares!), now, grandchildren – all I know is that my closest
leadership opportunities and national/international friends today are those whom I met in the
camps. And that’s just for starters. movement.
And all the while, this took place to a background
Habonim changed and totally affected my life.
of solid, healthy education and learning – not
A guy at college once said to me, ‘you’re SO indoctrination – about just how important Israel
******* confident’ – and he was right. was and should be to us. Arguments and
But we all were. It was automatically assumed disagreements were welcomed and cultivated. It
that we could and would discuss, argue, lead, was, after all, the ‘Age of Aquarius’.
build, negotiate and DO. And we DID. (Health The Garin Chet 50 reunion last year was a
th
and Safety. What’s that!?) revelation. Superbly organised, you suddenly
We, at Norf’ London were the renegades. The understood that everybody there had undergone
boys who initially, primarily joined because there the same, incredibly unique experience that
was a football team. The boys who discovered that needed to be recognised, appreciated and
there was a group of very nice people (of a similar announced. In me, it had been bottled up.
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