a history of dror

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A HISTORY

OF DROR



C 0 N T E N T S

Chapter I : A Background of Youth Movements

What i s a Movement ...........•..........

Th e Jewish Youth Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter I I :The Or ig ins of Our Movement

Dror-Hamachanot Ha 'Olim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Dror Olamit ............................

Chapter I I I : Fundamentals of Our Ideology

Jewish Nat iona l i sm ........•.............

Cha lu t z i u t

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jewish Se l f Defense ....................

Equa l i t y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Open to A ll .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .The Movement and the Kibbutz ........... .

"Our Movement'' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bibl iography ...........................



(1 )

Chapter I

A Background to Youth Movements

What i s a Youth Movement?

It i s impossible to give a t rue

pic tu re of our movement wi thout ment -

t ion ingit

with in the g en e ra l f rame-work of youth movements.

A youth movement must first be d ef in ed .

A youth movement i s no t merely a

banding t o g e th e r · of youth . This i s

merely a youth c lu b , which i s comp-

a r i t i v e l y widespread , bu t cannot beca l l ed a "movement." The term move-

ment l i t e r a l l y connotes motion . The

numerous c lubs fo r youngs te r s in

ex i s t en ce cannot cla im to move t o ~wards any s p e c i f i c g o a l . They haveonly one common fac to r wi th us , t h e i r

membership being r e s t r i c t e d to youthunder the age of 25. The youth move-ment , however , i s based on s t r i v in g

fo r the change of an ex i s t ing con-d i t i o n . Thus , th e youth movement

must con ta in wi th in it a c e r t a i n

r ev o lu t io n a ry e lement .

*"Youth movements r ep re s en t a con-sc ious r e v o l t of the younger gener -

a t ion and provide a means whereby

youth may procla im its i d e a l s , _v a l u es ,and s tandards which a re d i f f e r e n t

f rom, and f r eq u en t ly opposed to ,

those of the p receed ing g en e ra t io n .

*H.Kohn - "Youth Movements"; Ency-c loped ia of the So c ia l Sc iences .

New York, 1954, Vol .XV.,Page 516



(2 )

They c o n t r a d i c t the not ion t h a t the

exper ience of e l d e r s can be s t guaran tee

the c o n t i n u i t y of c i v i l i s a t i o n by

a u t h o r i t a r i a n guidance of the youngerg e n e r a t i o n . "

Why should youth be organized i n to

youth movements? F i r s t , being of ad i f f e r e n t age than a d u l t s , youth a re

i n t e r e s t e d in d i f f e r e n t t h in g s . Butperhaps more impor tan t , however , i s

t h a t the ou t look of youth i s g en e ra l ly

more f l e x i b l e , quicker to accep t changes ;

and ready to widen its hor i z ons ; more

than t h a t of a d u l t s whose d a i ly pr o

blems r e s t r i c t it to narrower viewof life.

It i s a l so because in the youth -

movement, youth has a chance, to

ge t he r wi th o t he r s of s i m i l a r ways

of t h i nk i ng , to share a common s p i r i t

and ach ieve the same goa l .

The Jewish Youth Movement

The Jewish youth movements , d esp i t e

being no o l de r than any o t he r n a t i o n ,

have however , a t t a i n e d g r e a t e r s t a t u s

wi t h i n the Jewish na t i on than any o t he r

s i mi l a r movements e l sewhere . The i r

as s o c i a t i o n wi th Zionism, from i t s

e a r l i e s t d a y s , i s by no means a

c o inc ide nc e . The a d u l t s were enc losedwi t h i n g h e t t o s , whether forced upon

them or se l f - i m pose d , and l i v ed more

on t h e i r mora l r a t h e r than t h e i r

p h y s i c a l s t r e n g t h . A f ee l in g of r e v o l t

soon grew up wi th in the youth a g a i n s t



(3 )

t h i s s i t u a t io n . There cou ld be no

fu tu re fo r them, surrounded by the

ge ne r a l f e e l i n g of depress ion amongst

t h e i r p a r e n t s . So it was q u i t e n a t

u r a l fo r them to t u rn to ne w hor i z ons

and the hope of a new way of life

f a r away in t h e i r own c oun t r y . The

Jewish youth movements thus a r r iv ed

its p ione e r ing spirit th rough the

d i f f i c u l t i e s of the t i me .

Jewish youth of th e youth movements

f e e l more r e s p o n s i b i l i t y towardst h e i r na t i on than do the average

Jewish you th . They know t h a t they

must r i s e above the f a t i g u e and

decadence t h a t has deve loped th rough

the many hundreds of year s t h a t our

na t i on has ex i s t ed in the Golah , and

t r ans form it in to a hea l thy n a t i o n ,

a na t i on l i v i n g a produc t ive life onits own s o i l . This i s an immense

t a s k , and one which only the youth

can hope to t ack l e and w i l l have

to l e a d .

Chap te r I I

Dror-Hamachanot Ha'o l im

Hamachanot Ha '

ol im was founded

by a group ofHigh s c h o o l s t u

de n t s looking fo r

an i d e a l and r e b

e l l i n g a g a i n s t th e

m i dd l e - c l a s s c a r

e e r i s t out looks

of t h e i r e l d e r s .

In those days I s r a e l i - b o rn youth were

s ma l l in numbers and of little impor t -



ance . The coun t r y was fu ll of n ewcomers , br ing ing with them th es tormy s p i r i t s of r e vo l u t i ona r y

Europe . they b r ough t wi th them to

I s r a e l t h e i r i de a s and t h e i r h a b i t s ,

t h i e r n a t i v e songs and t h e i r s p e e c h .

Local born youth watched with c u r

i o s i t y th e cha lu tz im paving r oa ds ,

l i v i n g in h u t s and t e n t s in th e n ews e t t l e m e n t s of the Emek and G a l i l ,

and f o r g e t t i n g t h e i r t r o u b l e s in th e

wild rythm of th e h o r a , which they

danced u n t i l th e e a r l y hour s of th e

morning . b u t no c o n t a c t was

made between them. Dif f e r e nc e s of

u p b r i n g i n g , h a b i t and language s tood

in th e way.

I n s t e a d t he r e was a de tachmen t ,

s u s p i c i o n and even d e r i s i o n . There

e x i s t e d a c u r i o u s s i t u a t i o n where in

cha lu tz im left t h e i r s t u d i e s andrenounced t h e i r p a r e n t s ' homes in

o r d e r to be p ione e r s in P a e l e s t i n e ,

w h i l e I s r a e l i - b o r n you th though t

on ly of f u r t h e r i n g t h e i r s t u d i e s

abroad and l i v i n g in town c o m p l e t e l y

i s o l a t e d from what was happening

around them. The o n l y hope fo r them

was t h a t th e i n f r e que n t e n c o u n t e r

w i t h t h e c h a l u t z , the "Tzaba r "

would be encouraged to pu t h is

s h o u l d e r s to th e common p ione e r ing

e f f o r t , thus br ing ing him c l o s e r

to th e emerging Ere tz I s r a e l , and to

he lp s t r e ng t he n th e l a b o u r movement

in d i f f i c u l t days ... "*

* The I s r a e l Youth Movement; A,

Adere t (Niv Hakvu tza , Dec . 1962)

( 4)



(5 )

Studen t and Chalutz were f i na l l y

brough t t o g e th e r by the fo l lowing

even ts : t he foundat ion of t he Hi s

t a d r u t in 1921, t he s topp ing of

Aliyah in 1923, and th e j o i n i n g of a

group of l o c a l youngs ter s wi th the

ch a lu t z - fo u n d e r s of th e first k ibbu tz

of the Russ ian Hashomer Hatza i r

movments ( today Kibbutz Afik im) .

The f i r s t groups among s tuden t s ,

were formed in th e 30 ' s by members

of the Herza leya High School ofTel -Aviv and by a group of Jerusalem

scou t s . They ca l l ed themselves"Hamachanot H a ' O l i m " - l i t e r a l l y

"The Camps of Ascenders" o r "Immi

g ran t s " (each sn i f i s ca l l ed by them

a machaneh or "new immigran t camp";

and so every ch av e r , even from the

movement in I s r a e l i s cons idered an

"o leh" when he a r r i v e s a t t he Kibbu tz) .

These f i r s t members met fo r s o c i a l

a c t i v i t i e s a f t e r school hours and

spen t t he i r v aca t i o n s working on

s e t t l e m e n t s . Th e government soondeveloped the unique cha rac te r ofa s tu d en t movment. It dec la red

i t s e l f a t the d i s p o s a l of the

Yishuv and t h i r s t e d fo r a thoroughknowledge of the coun t ry . The t iyu l im

of Hamachanot Ha'ol im a re u n t i l th i s

day known fo r t h e i r s t igma and dar ing :

they have reached p laces never befo re

v i s i t e d - they were the f i r s t towalk the whole way around the Dead

Sea, and the f i r s t to cl imb Massada.Upon gradua t ion , these f i r s t groupspar t i c ipa ted in the es tab l i shment

of s e v e r a l kibbutz im ( e . g . Maoz Chaim,



Bet Ha 'a r a v a , Sdot Yam). Hamachanot

Ha'o l im was the first I s r a e l i move

ment to c a l l on its members to s a c r i -

f i c e t h e i r s t u d i e s be f o r e gradua t ion

and to j o i n g ar in groups to the

Palmach.

During the Second World War the

first of such gar in im comple ted its

t r a i n i n g (which inc luded a g r i c u l t u r a li n s t r u c t i o n ) , and

j o ined KibbutzB et Ha 'a r a v a , on

(6 )

the Dead Sea sh o r e s .

The movement ca r r i ed

on wi th its program

as be f o r e - th rough

th e l a s t days of

th e Mandate , the War

of Independence andthe e s t a b l i sh m e n t ofThe S t a t e . The f o l -

lowing year s put the

movement on a f i rm

f o o t i n g ; th e t i e s wi th the worldmovement s t reng thened over the y e a r s ,

u n t i l it became c l e a r t h a t u n i f i c a t i o n

was p o s s i b l e .

At the World Conference of the Move

ment in 1958, he ld a t Kibbutz Lochamei

H a g e t a ' o t , . the movement adopted the

name of Dror-Hamachanot Ha 'o l im.

The movement today has sni f im (known

in the I s r a e l i movement as Machanot)

in every town in I s r a e l . Dror-Hama

chanot Ha 'o l im , wi th its c l e a r l y

def ined e d u c a t i o n a l program, ha s ,

s i n c e the u n i f i c a t i o n wi t h i n Dror

Olami t , been an example to our Move

ment in the Golah. I t has shown the



Movement what it should Qe, b u i l t

on sh 'chavo t of a l l ages , forminggar inim and hachsharo t , se rv ing in

Nachal and f i n a l l y j o in ing or e s t -ab l i sh ing Kibbutzim.

DROR OLAMIT

(7 )

In 1948 the two European movementsDror-Hechalu tz Hatza i r and Hanoar

Haborochovi, in Poland , France ,

Belgium, e t c . uni ted in to one, andwere jo ined a year l a t e r by th e

movements in North and SouthAmerica. However, fo r some years

a f t e r t h a t , the movements still

cont inued to be known by th e

des igna t ion of t h e i r developmentand h i s to r y .

To mark the occas ion , a new semel(badge) was adopted by the whole

Movement, cons i s t ing of the Magen

David, symbol of I s r a e l and the

Jewish people , undertwo ears ofwheat , r ep -

r e s en t a t i v e

of youth and a g r ~ -cu l tu r e , and remi n i s cen t of the

badge of the

Palmach. The

slogan "Aloh Na' leh

fDIOR

1

. .•I

I

i s inscr ibed on the Magen David asa reminder of the Movement 's

u l t i ma t e aim of "Hag·shama"- "Ful -

f i l lmen t " of a pioneer ing l i f e ,and th e whole badge se t on a

red background.



On the same occas ion a n ew "c hu l t z a "

(movement s h i r t ) was a l so adopted -

b l ue , bu t ton ing h a l f way down the

f r o n t and wi th a pocke t on e i t h e r

s i d e .

Chap te r I I I

Fundamenta ls of our Ideao logy

Jewish Nat iona l i sm

What f u t u r e i s t h e / e fo r a Jew, as

such , ou t s i de of I s r a e l ?

He can c on t inue as h i s f a t h e r or

gr a nd f a t he r d id by being the r e l -

i g i o u s , p ious Jew - c l o s i ng himse l f

o ff from th e r e s t of t he wor ld ,

conserv ing h i s ' J e w i s h n e s s " , h i s

r e l i g i o n , h is " d i f f e r e n c e " in a

c losed vacuum; and e ve r y th ing w i l l

cont inue fo r a no the r 2000 ye a r s

in the same way.

Or we can r e j e c t t h i s way of life.

" In the modern s o c i e t y

one c a n ' t l i v e

l i k e t h a t . They

su f f e r e d becausethey were l i ke

t h a t , bu t we must

l i v e wi th the t i m e s . "What does t h i s mean?

We become good AmericansB r i t i s h , or Frenchc i t i z e n s . Our pa r e n t s

go to synagogue

twice a ye a r , a t Rosh Hashana and

a t Yom Kippur ; They d o n ' t know

why. ~ h e y had the impress ion when

they were young t h a t t hese were

the most impor t ati t hol ida y s ,

( 8)



(9 )

and because of the p res su re of

work and s o c i a l condi t ions they

have had to d i sca rd all the o t h e r s .

Maybe t h e re a re s l i g h t v a r i a t i o n s -

t h a t they keep ka bs h r u t a t home

bu t in r e s t u r a n t s they ea t a ny th ing ;

they go to see the ' Succah ' a t

Succot , and a t Chanukah they

give p res en t s , l i g h t candles andhave a "Jewish Christm.as" (some

f ami l i e s even have a t r e e with

a Magen David a t the top - - you

know, to keep up t r a d i t i o n ! ) .

But we, t h e i r ch i ld ren have r e

j e c t ed ( i f not us, then ourch i l d ren wi l l ) even t h i s : - T t hasno meaning fo r us . It i s p o i n t

l e s s . The s i l v e r thread t h a t kept

the ge ne r a t i ons be fore us going

on devot ion and p i e t y , has beenbroken . " I want to be l i k e every

one e l s e a t school or co l l eg e .

Why t ake o ff days here or t h e re

fo r something t h a t only makes

me d i f f e r e n t ? And how I de sp i se

those Jews who you can see a re

Jews 10 miles away. They a c t l i k e

Jews, they swagger around , speakin a Jewish accen t - -o f money and

b u s i n es s . "

And so we r e j e c t every th ing Jewish

t h a t i s l e f t behind eventhough ithas been changed accord ing to

co n d i t i o n s . We r e g r e t . We t r y

to f o r g e t t h a t we a re Jews; maybe

we w i l l succed . The next s t ag e i s

to marry a non-Jew. We run away



from any th ing Jewish . So the

Jewishness w i l l d ie wi th in us .

No fu tu re fo r us as Jews in the

Golah . But one day perhaps some-

t h ing or someone w i l l remind us

(o r our c h i l d r e n . ) .

We must ask our se l ve s a ga i n . Dowe wish to remain Jews? I f so ,

what fu tu re i s t h e re fo r a Jew

o u t s id e of I s r a e l ?

Twenty ye a r s have passed s i nc e

(10)

the end of World War I I . Has the

l e sson of t r agedy been l o s t fo r us?

Six m i l l i o n Jews were massacred ,

t o r t u r e d , b u rn t , sh o t . Y e t , d esp i t e

t h i s , thousands

of Jews haver e t u r ne d to l i ve

as pe a c e f u l l y asb e f o r e , as if

noth ing has ever

happened and it

has all been a

n igh tmare . Yet

when we speak

to them of t h a t

t ime of p e r s e c

u t i o n , tell them

t h a t we cannot

tell what tom-

morrow w i l l br ing and even show them

s i gns of l a t e n t a n t i - s e m i t i sm in t h e i r

own c oun t r y , they need only r ead t h e i r

own newspapers to see th e t ru th oft h i s , they become embar rassed and

cannot answer , o r r e j e c t the whole

t h ing as the works of an i n d i v i d u a l

or a few madmen. But what was H i t l e r ?



An u n su i t ab l e p o l i t i c a l c r i s i s i s

enough to spa rk o f f u n res t ag a in s t

the "mu l t i mi l l i o n a i r e s " and the

" r i c h Jews" a t any p l a c e .

(11)

May we ignore the evidence? One

must admire th e e f f o r t s of t hese

people to change th e s u b j e c t and

pass t h a t memory i n t o o b l i v i o n . Butma y we be permi t t ed t o f o r g e t sucha th ing? And even i f we our se l ve s

a re no t a c t u a l l y in danger , have

we th e r i g h t to f o r g e t the thousands

of Jews whose l i v e s a r e t h r e a t e ne d

da i ly?

We the youth must know what has

happened in the p a s t , and be awareof the c ons t a n t p o s s i b i l i t y of

r e oc c u r a nc e . We must know no peace

u n t i l the l a s t Jew i s uneasy in

h is life in th e Golah. Yes, we mustt h i nk ha r d - - whe the r we wish Jews , as

Jews , to c on t i nue . I f we do, we must

r e a l i z e t h a t t h e re can be no f u t u r e

fo r th e Jews i n the D i a s p o r a . I s

th e re so much d i f f e r e n c e between

Pe r se c u t i on and As s im i l a t i on? Agains t

which one w i l l the Jews s t a nd b e t t e r ?

We know all too we l l the weakness of

the o l de r ge ne r a t i ons of the co u n t r i e s

in which we l i v e ; we should be mind-

fu l of our double t a s k . As youth wemust warn peop le and be w i l l i n g to

r e c o n s t r u c t our n a t i o n .

But l e t us make it c l e a r .

We a re no t mere ly Jews

because no one w i l l

a c c e p t us ( a l though



(12)

it must be admi t t ed t h a t t h i s has

played an impor tan t p a r t in ho ld ing

our na t i on t oge t he r over 2000 year s

of d i s p e r s i o n ) , bu t a re Jews f or

p o s i t i v e r e a s ons ; because of the love

of our pe op le , because of its c h a r a c t e r ,

i t s t r a d i t i o n s and its c u l t u r e . Throughthe f u l l f il l m e n t of our i de a s we w i l l

help deve lop ourse lves i n to a normal

n a t i o n .

We have succeeded in c onve r t i ng t h a t

i n s u l t of "Jew", thrown a t us over

the cen t u r i e s , i n t o a term of honour .

The s t a t u r e of all the Jews in the

world has been r a i s ed by the c r e a t i o n

of the S t a t e of I s r a e l and her

ach ievemen t s . F i f t y ye a r s ago ourr e l i g i o n was the main b ind ing fo rce

fo r the d i f f e r e n t groups of Jews all

over the wor ld ; bu t s i nc e t h a t t ime

g r e a t changes have t aken p l a c e . Al a r g e p a r t of Americanand Europeon Jewry no l onge r

b e l i e v e s . The r e l i g i o n

of the Jews of th e

U.S.S .R. i s " r e s t r i c t e d . "

Orthodoxy d ied wi th those

r e l i g i o u s Jews who

were massacred in

th e l a s t World War,

and who r e p r e se n t e d

over h a l f of Europ-ean Jewry . The r e l i g i o n

t h a t fo rmer ly boundth e Jewish people t oge t he r i s no l onge r

enou gh. There e x i s t s today however ,

more f avourab le c ond i t i ons fo r Jewish

na t i ona l i sm than even t he n . Jews in

the most u n l ik e ly p l a c e s now share

a common i n t e r e s t :

The ex i s t en ce of the Jewish S t a t e

has become the f o c a l p o i n t of

World Jewry .



(13)

We must remember above a l l t h a t

our nat iona l i sm depends on the

p resen t and upon a t r an s l a t i o n ofp a s t co n d i t i o n s . On the co n t r a ry ,

our nat iona l i sm i s i n t ended to in -

sure th e fu t u re s u rv i v a l of ourpeople . Ne i the r the ghet to northe "Jewish Suberb" r ep re s en t s

modern Jewry fo r us ; what mat t e r s

i s the t h i r t e en mi l l i o n Jews

sca t t e red a l l over the · wor ld ,

who may mold t o g e th e r one count ry ,

our count ry .

We do not env isage as our u l t i ma t e

the p resen t St a t e of I s r a e l ,with i t s n ea r ly t h ree mi l l i o n

i n h a b i t a n t s . This can only be

the nuc leus of what i s to come,

the means of ensur ing th e a r r i v a l

of every Jew to our sh o res . One

day we s h a l l form a comple te andnormal n a t io n , l i v in g i ndependent ly

and f ree ly in our own l and .

Our nat iona l i sm does not mean

t h a t we wish to i so l a t e our se l ve s

from the r e s t of the world ; we

f e e l as good Jews t h a t i f we couldse rve the world as a people , ours e rv i ces would be of fa r g r e a t e r

va lue than they can be in ourp resen t s t a t e as i n d i v i d u a l s .

We would t h u s , by se rv ing our ownpeople , be se rv ing humanity asa whole . Can an Englishman be a

good Englishman wi thou t f i r s tbeing a good member of h is own

town or vi l l age? Likewise can · we

be good c i t i z en s of the worldwi thout f i r s t being good Jews?



( 1 4 )

Ber Borochov, in h i s w r i t i n g s ,

showed t h a t th e n a t i o n a l qu e s t i o n

e x i s t s fo r a l l soc i a l c l a s s e s ,

a n d t h a t the abnormal economic

s t ru c t u r e of the Jews in the Golah

can only be r e s o lve d by the concen t r a t i o n of Jews i n to one t e r r i t o r y .

These t h e o r i e s form the fundamenta l

i d e a l of our Movement. They a re

the proo f of the v i t a l i t y of ourn a t i o n a l c onc e p t ion .

Cha l u t z i u t

Chalu tz i u t , or p ione e r ing spirit,

i s not p e c u l i a r to the Z io n i s t

Movement a lone . Many a re the

na t i ons who have had t h e i r p io n ee r s .

What i f not p ione e r s were the

Boers who pushed back the Af r ican

j u n g l e , and the Americans who

s e t t l e d in the Far West? Why i s

it t he n , t h a t th e Jewish Chalu tz

Movement hold such as impor tan t

place wi th in our People? Without

doubt it i s only because

of the s p e c i a l d i s p o s i t i o n

of the Jewish

peop le t h a t the

Jewish you th have

accomplished such

r emarkab le ach ievemen t s .

Only the youth canbr ing our na t i on out ofits p l i g h t . Only th e

-o',/ -I t \

youth can br ing our na t i on back i n to

a normal one , conta in ing workers ,

a g r i c u l t u r i s t s and b u i l d e r s , one

t h a t can l i v e on its own m e r i t s and

n o t on t he l a bou r s of o t he r pe op le s .

This i s a superhuman t a s k , to r e -

educa te a people who fo r hundreds



Franc

e



North

America

England



South

AITterica



of year s in the Goalah

has known no o t he r

l i f e . Yes, only the

youth can h ope to

accomplish such a

p r o j e c t . It was no

l a rg e body of youth ,

b u t mere hundreds ,

w i l l i n g and eager

to s t a r t a newlife, to r e j uve na t e

a whole na t ion ,who

succeeded i n d ra in ing

(15)

the swamps, bu i l d i ng th e r oa ds , making

themselves i n to f a rmers and founding

k ibbu tz im. It i s fo r a d d i t i o n a l

you th , the nex t ge ne r a t i on , to

ca r ry on wi th t h i s work. Today

we need cha lu tz im in the empty

G a l i l and Golan , and in th e open

Negev and the Si na i r e g i ons . We

need Chalu tz im to s t r e ng t he n weak

k ibbu tz im, to e s t a b l i s h i n d u s t r i e sand to bu i l d f a c t o r i e s .

I s r a e l w i l l a lways be in need of its

c ha lu t z im . When the number of ne w

immigrants f l e e i n g from oppress ion

r i s e s , so must the number of i nd -

i v i d u a l s who know e xa c t l y why they

have come to I s r a e l , wh y they wish

to j o i n th e k i bbu t z , and wh y they

choose to work th e s o i l or bu i l d a

f ac to ry or sit on the borGer .

Every f ami ly of f a rmers ma kes it

p o ss ib l e fo r a no the r four f a m i l i e s

of olim to l i ve in th e c oun t r y . I f

we want I s r a e l to be a b l e to r ece iv e

the many Jews who a re still to come,

an immense p ione e r ing e f f o r t must

be t ack l ed , a p ione e r ing e f f o r t

I



which needs thousands of young arms

in the most d i f f i c u l t p l a c e s .

(16 )

To be a c h a l u t z i s a lways to be r eady ;

to be a t th e d i s p o s i t i o n of the

Jewish people f or th e most s t r e nuous

of t a sk s ; to be a p i o e e r of s e t t l e m e n t ,

to l i v e a life of e q u a l i t y and tob u i ld all wi th in th e kibbutz im and

fo r the k i b b u t z . Bes ides prepar ing

y o u rse l f with a p ro fes s io n or

th e l e a r n i n g of a s k i l l (agr i c u l t u r e

or o the r wi s e ) , one must pr e pa r e

the mind. One must be prepared to

t h ink a t all t imes . And abovea l l we must prepare o u r se l v e s to

be s t rong and brave of h e a r t . The

arms w i l l be ready fo r anyth ing as

long as we a re i d e o l l o g i c a l l y

and s p i r i t u a l l y r e so l v e d .

The c h a l u t z i c s p i r i t i s no t only

one fo r th e i n d iv id u a l . It means

e q u a l l y a group f e e l i n g . Ch a l u t z i u t

in the end must mean a uni t ed e f f o r t

a g i a g a n t i c endeavor which can only

be a t tempted in un i s on .

The crowning glory of th e c h a l u t z

i s the k ibbutz and th e moshav.

The c h a l u t z i c life l eads to the

k i b b u t z , to a c o n d i t i o n where the

i n d i v i d u a l never l o ses s i g h t of the

g o a l , never l o ses h i s dynamic

fo rce and i s a lways r ead y to

b e t t e r h i m se l f .

JEWISH SELF DEFENSE

The beg inn ing of se t t l emen t

was coupled wi th

the c rea t ion of aJewish defense

movement - "Has o m e r ~ ·



( 1 7 )

l a t e r fo l lowed by the "Hagana ."What would have become of our end-

e a vo r s , ha d we not def ied the arms

of the Turks , and even the Br i t i s h ?

Slowl y we a re d i s p e l l i n g the l e ge n -

dary myth of the weakness and

cowardice of th e Jewish pe op le . The

courageous deeds of th e heroes ofmodern Jewish h i s t o ry a re t ak ing

t h e i r p la c e be s ide those of

any n a t io n . And r i g h t th rough all

t h i s the Movements have occupied

one of the c e n t r a l p o s i t i o n s in

Jewish s e l f defence . It was they who

were the founders of "Hashomer" and

the or ga n i z e r of Jewish s e l f defence

in P a l e s t i n e ; s i m i l a r l y it was the

members of the kibbutz im who formed

the backbone of th e Hagana and

comprised the g r e a t m a j o r i t y of th e

members of the Pal@ach ( shock Troops) .

It was th e Palmach who provided the

bulwarks of th e oppos i t i on to th e

advances of the Arab a r mies in 1948,

and it i s they who today defendI s r a e l ' s border s ag a in s t i n f i l t r a t o r s

and a t t a c k .

But l e t us n o t conc lude from t h i s t h a t

Jewish life i s only defendable on

our own s o i l ( a l though it i s e a s i e r ! )

We cannot agree wi th t h i s c onc e p t ion .

The cha lu tz im of the

Po l i sh g h e t t o e s , many <?)of whom were members r. 1>.3>of Dror , have shown , . ~ ~ ~ ~ ,.__"-:7.9us t h a t t h i s i s no t ~the c a se . They were

c e r t a i n l y ready and



(18)

capable of defend ing t h e i r l i v e s

when th e odds were a g a i n s t them.

Jewish life must

be defended where-ever and whenever

it i s t h rea t en ed .

The t r u t h i s d i s

t a S t e f u l , bu t mustbe a dm i t t e d ; mi l l i o n s

of Jews went to the

gas ovens in th e

l a s t world war ,wi thou t l i f t i n g a

f i n g e r in an a t t e m p t

to defend t hemse lves ;

Many of them c la imed

t h a t they would be "endanger ing t h e i rl i v e s in t a k ing up arms ." Yet i s i s

among those who d id f i g h t t h a t we

can f ind the h i g h e s t numbers ofsu rv iv o rs .

However, we must s t r e s s t h a t it i s

e s s e n t i a l to draw d i s t i n c t i o n between

defense and m i l i t a r i s m . Weapons a re

no t an end in t hemse lves ; they canonly be a t t imes a means to an end .

There i s a g la r in g d i f f e r e n c e between

th e d i s c i p l i n e of s e l f - d e f e n s e andbl ind m i l i t a ry subse r v i e nc e . The need

to defend our se l ve s does n o t n eces s a r i l y

i nvo lve th e i n c u l c a t i o n of a f ee l in g

of aggress ion towards o t h e r s . We

must combat any f e e l i n g of ha t red

of whatever k ind .

In the movement any tendency towards

t h i s s o r t of a t t i t u d e , towards

a gg r e s s ion and ha t red mu.s t be crushed .



(1 9)

Let the w i l l to do s om e th in g aga i ns tsomeone, if not in d ef e ns e , be l o s t

in manual l abour , in d eve lop ing

th e body, i n spo r t and in r ambles ;

t h i s the h e a l t h i e s t way fo r bo th

mind and body to l o s e such t hough t s .

EQUALITY

His to r y has shown t h a t only youth

i s capab le of r e a l i z i n g s o c i a l i s m .

The o lde r gen e r a t i o n

i s g e n e r a l l y too

a t t a c he d to its

cus toms , t r a d i t i o n s

and e g o i s t i c i n t -

e r e s t s .

Soc ia l i sm i s n o t

on l y a humanis t

theory and an i d e a l .It i s p r i n c i p a l l y

a pr og r e s s i ve

d o c t r in e endeavor ing to change an

e x i s t i n g s i t u a t i o n .

It i s the working c l a s s t h a t w i l l

be mot iva ted f o r c e in t h a t new s o c i e t y ,

a s o c i e t y in which everyone w i l l

have to work fo r a l i v i n g , b u t in

which everyone w i l l l i v e a life ofs ecu r i t y and means .

Soc ia l i sm b e l i ev es in man and h is

power to do. Our soc ia l i sm i s

hum a n i t a r i a n ; it b e l i ev es as d id

Erasmus t h a t : "Noth ing human can

be ex t r aneous to u s . " It p r e a c h e s

fo r th e un i t y of na t i ons and t h e i r

c o l l e c t i o n fo r th e advancement ofhumani ty .



..

( 21)

adap t ab le acco rd ing to c oun t r y ,

cu l t u re and the i n d i v i d u a l i n t e r e s t s

to each chaver . In t h i s way we

can hope to deve lop our p o l i t i c a l

knowledge as we l l as ap p rec i a t e

c u l t u r e . A group so organ ized can

spend t ime on the a r t , and s a y ,

music , wi thou t ne g l e c t i ng ou t ings

i n to the c oun t r y , doing sp o r t and

devleoping th e body.

Our aim i s fo r chaverim to be

f ami l i a r wi th all the f i e l d s of

life, however , s t r e s s on c e r t a i n

a spe c t s w i l l be dependent on l o c a l

and pe r sona l co n d i t i o n s .

Wherever the Movement e x i s t s it must

r each the maximum number of Jewish

youth .

THE MOVEMENT AND THE KIBBUTZ

Kibbutz HaMeuchad i s th e n a t u r a l

c onc lus ion to our movement educa t ion .

At some p o i n t the cahver i s faced

wi th the "b ig d ec i s i o n , " of f u l

f i l l i n g the g o a l of the Movement.

He has come to the s t a ge when t a l k

i s no longer s u f f i c i e n t , and now

ac t io n must be t a ke n . He has pu t

i n to e f f e c t all t hose i deas whichhe accep ted as a Movement member.

The Kibbutz i s th e sou rce of a l lh is a s p i r a t i o n s - i t i s the sy n th es j s

of what he has wanted .

The k ibbu tz i s th e mo s t ap p ro p r i a t e

and ne c e s s a r y u n i t t he r e i s fo r

both chaver and cou n t r y . In the



(22 )

Kibbutz our chaver can l i ve aJewish Life" amongst fel low Jews.In it he wi l l be pa r t i c ipa t i ng

in the c rea t ion of Jewish mater ia l i sm

of a new kind . Kibbutzim are the

back-bone of I s r a e l , wi thout whichthe Sta t e would not have been

born or have the s t reng th tocon t inue .

The kibbutz i s th e bulwark of the

Sta t e of I s r a e l . At the t ime ofthe Mandate Kibbutzim were the bas i s

fo r th e HAgana and th e Palmach, andthe Kibbutz members were the most ,ac t ive of i t s so ld i e r s . Duringth e War of Independence kibbutzimwere the f o r t r e s s e s aga in s t whichth e armies of the enemies hur led

t hemse lves , and which r e s i s t ed with

success th e enemies a t t a cks 'andf i n a l l y turned back t h a t same

enemy who had boasted of soeasy a v ic to ry .

Even today, as i s wel l known, the

kibbutzim are play ing an e s s en t i a l

ro l e in th e defense of the Sta t e

by remaining in t hose s t r a t eg i cpos i t ions and c rea t ing new

s e t t l emen t s where needed.

The kibbutz i s th e

avan t -garde groupof th e Zion i s t

Movement. It i s

s e t t l i ng the

Negev & Sina i ,

and the Gal i l

& Golan, ands t ead i l y pushingback the dese r t .

Look a t the map



( 2 3)

of I s r a e l ; you w i l l f i nd the

border s l i n e d , near ly e x c l u s i v e l ywi th the kibbutz im o f HakibbutzHameuchad, from Misgav Am in the

Nor th , to E i l o t in t he very Sou th .

Pr i v a t e se t t l emen t s s e a r c he s fo r the

easy way, fo r the way t h a t shows an

immedia te p r o f i t , fo r a r e g ion

which i s as near as p o ss ib l e to its

marke t t h a t i s in town. But the

k ibbutz sees as its duty the c u l -

t i v a t i o n of new r e g ions wi th no

r egard to economic ha r dsh i p s .

The kibbutz i s t he nuc leus of a ne w

s o c i e t y . It i s based on the p r i n c i p l e

of comple te e q u a l i t y of its members,

and on c o l l e c t i v e pr ope r t y of the

means of pr oduc t ion and consumption .

No o t he r vo lun ta ry s o c i a l group in

th e world has r e a l i s e d and pu t t hese

p r i n c i p l e s i n to p ra c t i s e with suchsuc c e s s .

The s t r e n g t h of the

kibbutz i s a l so an

impor tan t mora l

f a c t o r in the

s t r u g g l e fo r the

r i g h t s of every

worker in the

c oun t r y , and a

f o r c e f u l and

e s s e n t i a l e lemen tin the s t r u g g l e

fo r a Labour

Movement in I s r a e l .

L a s t l y , Kibbutz Hameuchad i s aMovemnt which l i k e our you th Movement,

i s open to a l l ; it a c c e p t s and gleans

members from every count ry of o r i g i n ,

of no mat te r what p h i l o s o p h i c a l



(24)

out look , and makes no l i m i t to thes ize of its kibbutz im.

We have shown you j u s t a roughout l ine of the ideology of KibbutzHame'uchad in the above, bu t it

should be su f f i c i e n t fo r you to

see init

the d u p l i ca t i o n andcomplete i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of ourMovement with HaKibbutz Hame'uchad.

OUR MOVEMENT

Preamble of the Co n s t i t u t i o n ofDROR - NORTH AMERICA, May 25,1976 .

Dror Young Z i o n i s t Organiza t ion

i s a f f i l i a t e d with the p o l i t i c a lpar ty Mif lege t Avodah in I s r a e l

and the Labor Z i o n i s t All iance in

North America. Dror i s the YouthMovement of Kibbutz Hame'uchad.

As an a c t i v i s t youth movement DROR

i dea l s a re as fo l lows:

1) As Labor Zion i s t s we bel i eve

t h a t soc ia l i sm prov ides the b es t

veh ic le fo r c rea t i n g p o l i t i c a l l y ,

s o c i a l l y and economical ly j u s tand f r ee s t a t e in I s r a e l .

2) The educa t ion of its' members

in the apprec ia t ion of the Hebrewlanguage and cu l tu r e , and of Jewishhi s to ry and t r a d i t i o n s bui ld ing

an ac t ive Jewish consciousness

in the Diaspora .

3) That Jewish a c t i v i t y in NorthAmerica should promote Chalu tz ic

Aliyah to k ibbutz in which the

i n d i v i d u a l can be f ree from

e x p l o i t a t i o n and r e a l i z e f u l l



( 2 5 )

human p o t e n t i a l .

4) To s t r en g t h en th e bonds between

Jewish you th t h roughout t he wor ld .

5) To broaden unders tand ing on th e

p a r t of its' members concern ing

Jewish a f f a i r s in I s r a e l and th e

D i a s p o r a .

6) To he lp members r e a l i z e t h e i r

c a p a b i l i t i e s and to deve lop af ee l i n g of r e s p o n s i b i l i t y fo r the

chaverim in the movement.

7) The defense of Je wish r i g h t s

everywhere .

8) To fo l low in th e Je wish humani ta r i an

t r a d i t i o n on b eh a l f of people in

need wherever they may b e .

9) To e x p re s s co n c r e t e l y ourc h a l u t z i c i d e a l s we t ake i n i t i a t i v e

in the es t ab l i sh men t of gar in im

in I s r a e l .

We d ed i ca t e o u r se l v es to th e up-b u i l d i n g of th e S t a t e of I s r a e l

through th e kibbutz im and to the

educa t ion of J ews in North America

of th e c e n t r a l i t y of I s r a e l both

h i s t o r i c a l l y s p i r i t u a l l y

in Ju d a i sm.



BIBLIOGRAPHY

In Engl ish

Young Germany; W.Z. Laquer(Rout ledge & Kegan Pa u l , London

1962)

Encyclopedia of the So c ia l Sc iences ;

Youth Movements:Vol.XV) Hahns Kahn(New York 1954)

Scout ing fo r Boys

(The Boy Sout Assoc ia t ion ,London

1960)

Year Books of the Leo Baek I n s t i t u t e

(East & West L ib ra ry , London)

Book IV (1954) The Z i o n i s t S t u d en t ' s

Movement: W. GrossThe Werkleute ; El iyahu Maoz.

Book VI (1961) The German YouthMovement and the Jewish Q u es t io n ' :

W.Z.Laquer

The Jugendervand; H. St rau s s .

Youth, Change, and Chal lange; ed .E. Erikson (New York 1963)

New Trends in Youth Organiza t ions

(UNESCO, Par i s 1960)

I n t e r n a t i o n a l Mental Heal th Research

Newsle t t e r (Youth Movement in I s r a e lin T ran s i t i o n ; Haim Ormian:

V o l . IV ,N o . l / 2 , 1962)

Pionee rs from the West; Yaakov Morr is(Youth & Hechalutz Dept . ,The

Jewish Agency, 1953)

Adolescence; G.M.Flemming

( In t e rn a t i o n a l U n i v e r s i t i e s Press

In c . , U.S.A. 1951)



New Unders tanding of Learder sh ip :

Ross & Hendry (Assoc ia t ion Press 1957)

Youth Movements, Pas t and Pres en t ;

M.Mader & Y.Reimer ( Ichud Habonim

Leadership handbook 1964)

The Kibbutz Ha'Meuchad - Pubbl i shed by

Dror Olami t - -1965 l

In French

The Orig ins of our Movement;

Shimon Mahler (Dror-Hechalutz Hatza i r .

Pa r i s 1950)

In Hebrew

Tnu 'o t Hano 'ar Bechevra H a i s r a e l i t

(Youth Movements in th e I s r a e l So c i e ty ) ;

Haim Adler (Szold I n s t i t u t e & Youth

Dept . of Mini s t ry of Educ. ) l962 .

Al Tnu 'o t Hano 'a r H a ' I v r i

(On Jewish Youth Movement s )N.Bi s t i r i t sk i

The Story of Hano 'a r Ha'oved; D.Cohen

(Ha 'noar Ha'oved Vehalomed)

Sepher "Dror" (Dror Anthology) ; ed .D.Goodspoecht , H.Hadar iA.Reichman (Ha 'Kibbutz Hame'uchadPubl i sh ing House. 1947)

Hechalutz Hatza i r ; ed M. Basck(Ha 'k ibbu tz Hamuechad Pub.House 1944)

Tnu 'o t Hanoar (Youth Movements);

H.Barze l (Shal l im, The Jewish Agency,J e r u s a l ~ m 1962)

Lis t en Gen t i l e ! Y.Ben Aharon

Tnu 'o t Hano 'a r B e l s r a e l Vebaolam

(Youth Mov ements in I s r a e l and the



World); M. Rot tenberg ,M.No'ar(Amihai-Tel Aviv 1962)

The I s r a e l youth Movement; A.Aderet(Niv Hakuvutza,Dec. 1962)

Leaders & Counsel-lo r s of I s r a e l i Youth:S.Edan (Sha ' l im,Jewish Agen.Jerusa lem)

Encyclopedia of Educat ion ( I s r ae l )

Book I The Youth Movement; M.Gerson

Book I I I Youth Organiza t ions ;H.Barze l

Darkei Noar (Youth Groups)G.Hanoch (Youth & Hechaulutz Dept.Jewish Agency. Jerusa lem)

Kvutsot l lano 'ar (Youth 's Pa ths)

S.N. Eisens tad t (Ionim Publ ica t ions )

Yesodot ieha Shel Tnu'ot Hano 'a r ;

M.Gerson (Urim 1947 IV p . l2 -28)

Hachevro t Batn 'ua Hano 'a r Vehshta tu t

Hachevra t i (The Socie ty of the YouthMovement and t h e i r Socia l S t a t u s )

Ben David, (Megmaot V, 227-247)

Mekomam she l Tnu;ot No'a r Bei s rae l s h e l

Hayom (The Sta tus of the Youth Movements

in I s r a e l Today); R. Halevi (Hechinuch;XXX

59-69)

T n u ' a t Hano 'ar Hachalu tz i t ; Y.Peres(Urim 196l .XVI I I 161-169/337-347. )

I rg u n e i No'a r Kegoram Hinuchi ;Tz.Zemorah (Basadeh-1960,158-166)

Id ea , Ideologia , Ideal ;AA.Simon(Molad 139

Banivchan; the organ of Dror Hamachanot

Ha'ol im



Rewr i t t en Apr i l , 1977

by DROR, NORTH AMERICA

215 Park Avenue SouthNew York, New York 10003

a history of dror

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