Page 89 - Kol Bogrei Habonim - Winter 20
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strong Habonim group: 15-20 of us, intensely with a rucksack and sharing the proceeds
ideological, and quite sure of ourselves: with the whole machzor.
“We’re right and everyone else is wrong.”
I had the dubious honour of proving this last
point by starting the first riot of the machzor.
HaMachon l’Madrichim. Left to right:
Jonathan Kalisch, Janet Linden, Judy
Fihlebon, myself, Simon Caplan Beit HaEmek, after mucking-out the lul.
Photo: Shlomo Bendahan Left to right: myself, Simon Abrams, Jonny Pugh
(Ariel), Zvi, Harley Goldstone, Benjy Lesser,
Subtlety never having been in my Simon Wicks, Simon Caplan; (seated) Peter
vocabulary, I visited the Beitar boys’ room, Cooper; (front right) Lionel Taylor. Si Abrams was
covered their Jabotinsky picture with sun in the year below us and was on the kibbutz that
summer.
cream, and fled. They only tried to break Photo: Harley Goldstone
down the door to our room, and our madrich,
Leib, was obliged to intervene. The Mishmar Ezrahi, when we genuinely
Hashomer guys were more diplomatic; they believed that we were serving our homeland
had a ‘Jabo’ dart board on a wall in the safety by sitting in the back of a police car in the
of their own room. We were all about 18 middle of the night armed with the oldest
years old and convinced that we’d grown up. rifles in the country, and munching those hot,
Those memories of the Machon not delicious, large O-shaped Arab breads that
connected to the classroom seem to come we called beigeleh, and disregarding the strict
back most clearly. The legendary bad food, rule that Mishmar Ezrahi was not an excuse
and the challenge to nick as many goodies as
possible from the firmly locked hadar ochel
at night-time. The one way in was via a Michael Horesh
window accessible only by shinning down a Photo: Shlomo
light well from one or two floors above. Most Bendahan
robberies resulted in a few tubs of Pri-Li, but
one chaver from the USA would embody the
spirit of kupa by scaling down the light well
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