Page 85 - Kol Bogrei Habonim - Winter 20

th
Zionist studies. They lived in a genuine 15
century cottage (the original farmhouse),
with wooden beams and low ceilings. The
Hachsharat Noar was supervised by a
permanent shlicha, Shlomit Aviassaf from
Kibbutz Mishmar Hasharon.

In addition, there was the Seminar Centre, a
large modern building that was rented out for
seminars and study weekends, to Jewish and
Zionist groups such as FZY, Leo Baeck
College, WUPJY, Young Sephardim and also
groups from overseas. It was run by Bill
Stewart's wife, Ann, and staffed by a couple
of us, Hachsharaniks.
Haim (then Howard Rimmer) with
There were over 20 of us on the Hachshara Harvey Rifkind
itself, some arriving earlier or later in the
years 1967/68, but the average was around 15 chicken houses) and forgot to close the pen.

of us. We were never alone, and there were It was an open day for visitors, and the result
always other members of the Movement was the chickens escaped and ran around the
coming to us to stay over or for meetings, and farmyard, with the lulan and others running
this as well as the Hachsharat Noar group around frantically trying to catch them. Some
and visiting groups to the Seminar Centre, things we learnt the hard way. I also spent
made the Eder Farm a very lively place. some time in the Seminar Centre, which was
like running a small guest house. Under Ann
The Meshek (farm) included a dairy herd, a Stewart's supervision, we learned not just to
small beef herd, chicken house, field crops of clean and run the place, but also to cook and
all kinds, a mill, barns and tractors, and a bake for the multitudes, and even how to bake
training workshop. There were also around challot for Shabbat.
20 acres of woodlands.
There was also fencing to be done, ditching,
We all worked in a number of branches in hedging, and pruning, and work in the mill.
rotation, apart from the Refet, which had a For many of us it was our first real
fairly permanent team – cows, it seems, don't introduction to hard, physical work and we
like changes, and my only professional generally took to it very well. The really
involvement in the Refet was to shovel out the tough work came in the summer with the
slurry. You had to be very careful to keep harvest, working in the fields and on the
your balance with the wheelbarrow when you combine harvester and pitchforking bales of
reached the slurry pit, as one of the boys straw. The highest bales on the cart were
found out. I spent some time in the lulim usually pitchforked by Bill Stewart, who
(chicken runs). I recall, on one occasion, one seemed to do so with the greatest of ease. It
of the chaverim worked in the lul basar (meat

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