Page 41 - Kol Bogrei Habonim - October 19

GROWING UP WITH HABONIM IN GLASGOW –
THEN AND NOW…
STEPHEN KLINER
I Ha’Anavim (simply because there was a bunch
am very much a product of Glasgow
Habonim. From growing up in Glasgow in
the 1960’s through the ranks of Amelim,
Chotrim, Bonim and Ma’apilim to the present
day with my involvement in Irgun Bogrei
Habonim, my life has, in one way or another,
been shaped and influenced by Habonim.
Formative years in the Movement were spent in
the halcyon days of the second half of the ‘60s.
Habonim met at the nearby Ken in Sinclair
Drive, Battlefield, and I was first attracted by the
blue movement shirt with red lace, yellow
neckerchief and woggle and the rigours of
mifkad, making cardboard bricks for the
Hakdashah ceremony and the fun and freedom
of Scottish Amelim Camp. The ideals of
Socialism and Zionism came much later.
In those days Glasgow still had a thriving Jewish
community, and it was not uncommon for
200/250 Chanichim to pass through the doors at
Sinclair Drive for regular Sunday meetings and
supper with midweek activities including
hadracha planning, drama, rikkudei-am, choir
and football, as well as regular Friday night
Kabbalot shabbat and kumsitzim on Saturday
nights. As the 60’s progressed life for me began
to revolve more and more around the Movement.
Rashei Kinim included such home grown
luminaries as Yigal (George) Levine and Frank
Donnell as well as Barry Coleman, imported
from Manchester; Scottish Amelim Camp (SAC)
regularly attracted 40+ Amelim; Drama Chug
productions of ‘Harvey’, ‘Arsenic and Old
Lace’, ‘The Bald Prima Donna’ and ‘The
Happiest Days of your Life’ all played to packed
houses, and were entered by our own Mr Dunne
in One and Three Act Drama Festivals to critical
acclaim; and an Israeli dance troupe known as
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of us) performed regularly. There were messibot
anniversaries, and of course the perennial annual
for the Chagim, Chagigot on landmark
Third Seder, the highlight of the year with its
eponymous Haggadah, fried fish and hard-boiled
eggs. National Camps were well supported, and I
recall eagerly heading south for annual camps
near Stafford and the Wye Valley.
The Ken was busy, vibrant and attracted most of
Glasgow youth through its doors at some time or
another. There was a constant supply of local
senior Madrichim, who were either working or
studying in Glasgow, as they prepared for
Aliyah. If success is measured in terms of
Aliyah, it was very successful.
As I entered my final school year in 1969, the
Bayit above the Ken, which housed the
Movement Worker or Shaliach - yes, Glasgow
merited a full time Movement Worker - became
second home. Neil and Carol Marcus held open
house with coffee on tap that saw me and many
of my chavura successfully through our final
exams.
In the late 60s the concept of Hachshara was
moving from the David Eder Farm (the Chava)
to Kibbutz in Israel. While there was a short
overlap period, I found myself, mainly due to the
exhortations of Neil Marcus, on the first Shnat
Hachshara 1970 -71 to Bet Ha’Emek where our
madrichim, Brenda Landes and Henry Near, and
my adopted Kibbutz parents - Zion and Brenda
(nee Burns) Habshush instilled a practical love
of Israel. I was honoured to be at the cutting
edge of that bold initiative and take pride in
considering myself one of the founders of the
Shnat programme, which while still intensively
agriculture based and promoting Aliyah to