ALL TOGETHER, RIGHT NOW!
McCartney & Hashomer Hatzair bring generations together
Last month Paul McCartney appeared before 50,000 Israelis in Tel Aviv.
A rare occasion for Israeli longhaired or head shaven youth of the new millennium to rub shoulders with gray haired once upon a time hippies of the sixties - and dance a night away together singing about love, Sgt. Pepper and rock ‘n roll.
However, less than a week before that memorable trip down music’s memory and Penny Lane, thousands of Israeli ‘Third Age’ folk not only rubbed shoulders, sang and danced with second and third generation Israelis – some of whom New Age – but also shared in deep discussions about commitment to an ideology and set of life values they found (and are still finding it would seem) in the Hashomer Hatzair movement, founded 95 years ago in Poland.
The festive gathering of the movement masses was held at Givat Haviva, the natural home of Hashomer Hatzair being the guardian of a huge amount of historical memorabilia encompassing a myriad of the movement’s worldwide activities over almost a century.
The successful, emotional and not to be forgotten 95th anniversary event brought eighty year-olds and eighteen year- olds to areas of commonality few could imagine … that is if they had not been part of the extended Hashomer Hatzair family at some point in their lives.
Eitan Ben-Or was born in British Mandate Palestine a decade before the founding of Hashomer Hatzair in Europe. Eitan’s 18 year-old sabra grandson Noy Lev-Or is spending his gap year between high school and army working in the Jerusalem branch of the Hashomer Hatzair movement, the very same ken (nest in Hebrew) where his grandfather had worked as a movement youth leader almost 70 years before. Eitan’s daughter Dafna (the mother of Noy) did likewise in her youth in the Holon ken.
Eitan was born to founding parents of Kibbutz Mishmar HaEmek, grew up with Hashomer Hatzair as much a part of his life as bread and butter. Well, bread anyway, butter was a rarity.
Both Eitan who celebrates his 85th birthday shortly and Noy were part of the crowd of 7,000 former and present day ‘Shomrim’ – members of Hashomer Hatzair – who came together on the expansive lawns of Givat Haviva to catch up with the past, enjoy the present and together look toward to the future with Hashomer Hatzair.
The anniversary gala at Givat Haviva was also the launching pad for SHOMER TAMID, a recently founded organization set up for movement bogrim (alumni) to be able to maintain the momentum of their reconnection with Hashomer Hatzair as well as a welcoming mat for continued support from today’s youth when they eventually hang up their blue shirts and work boot activities with Israeli youth in the ‘kenim’ and at camps throughout Israel, and in the Diaspora where movement activities are still going strong.
The open necked blue-shirts with the white cord of Hashomer Hatzair were not only worn by youth at the Givat Haviva gathering. Some of the over 50s to under 90s brought their long since worn blue shirts out of the closet for an afternoon airing to show off amongst those who appreciate not only the shirt but also the badges and emblems representing important moments in their movement lives way back when.
Dan Dekel from Kibbutz Ein Hashofet sported a shirt proudly bearing badges garnered in 1925 and 1960 much to the awe of young movement contemporaries, some of who had been busy all week on campus erecting massive structures one normally sees as part of summer camp activities. The youngsters used no less than 6000 wooden staves to build their impressive mini-empire in a small forest in the corner of Givat Haviva.
Two-meter high banners depicting Hashomer Hatzair’s ‘Ten Commandments,’ posters from long gone times and images of blue shirted, khaki shorts, kova tembel and sandal wearing industrious Shomrim created avenues of yesteryear all over the campus.
There were many emotional reunions of people who had not seen one another for many years, even decades in some instances. Israeli celebrities who were ‘Shomrim’ in their youth such as Gila Almagor, Yankele Agmon, Danny Karavan, Yair Tzaban and Professor Zeev Sachor to name but a few mingled with the rest of the extended Shomer family celebrating history that was made and still in the making.
President Shimon Peres also attended the event and praised the movement in a speech from the podium, flanked by huge banners of blue shirted youth whilst hundreds of the same, circa 2008 seated at his feet received him in a warm and boisterous fashion.
The charismatic politician and statesman opened up by saying that what had drawn him to the Shomer Tamid event was that he had “heard there were many young people coming here today and that’s why I decided to come!”
He also said that Hashomer Hatzair had been outstanding in their belief and determination to uphold their ideology, didn’t just talk but went out and did.
“If the leaders of the former Soviet Union believed what they were saying in the same measure as the leaders of Hashomer Hatzair, then the Soviet Union would still exist,” he quipped.
A number of past Shomrim traveled from overseas, including Shimon Linderman from Sweden.
Shimon spent the mid-1950s in the Kfar Suva ken and later joined a group (garin) that went to Kibbutz Magen. Some 45 years ago he left Israel to study economics at the Sorbonne after which he became involved in tourism and the electronics industries in France and later on in Sweden. He eventually married a Jewish Swede, fathered two children and although settled permanently in Sweden kept in close contact with family and events in Israel.
Whilst surfing the Internet a week before the anniversary gala Shimon read of the up and coming event, booked a ticket and arrived in the country just a few hours before things got underway proving that the saying ‘once a Shomer, always a Shomer’ really carries weight and in Shimon’s case definitely a suitcase full of warm memories.
With outdoor and indoor exhibitions – including the Givat Haviva Art Center’s present exhibition of well-known and much appreciated artist and former Hashomer Hatzair member Ruth Schloss – open house of the museums, archives and libraries of Givat Haviva, the campus was alive with activity.
Appearances by Aviv Gefen, Keren Pelis, Danny Sanderson, Tal Friedman, the Sarid Trio and other artists, singing remakes of old favorites movement songs, proved to be one of the many highlights of the Shomer Tamid anniversary.
“We had absolutely no idea how many people would be attracted to this occasion and we are delighted with the amazing success it turned out to be,” said Yad Ya’ari director and member of the Shomer Tamid team, Dudu Amitai who is also the spokesperson of Givat Haviva.
Amitai, who was born and brought up at Kibbutz Ein HaHoresh, worked in the Hashomer Hatzair movement and now directing the department guarding the archival jewels of the movement, was one of the founder members of the Negev kibbutz of Samar where he lived for 18 years.
“This was certainly a memorable event and of course now we have to put our heads together to plan the 100th anniversary of Hashomer Hatzair in 2013 – people already want to book a front row seat for that,” joked Amitai seriously!
Lydia Aisenberg
