Habonim Dror (alt. Dror Habonim) is a Socialist-Zionist youth movement formed by the merger in 1980 of the Habonim and Dror youth movements. Habonim was founded in London in 1929. It was modeled after the Wandervogel movements in Germany. Its aim was to found and populate Kibbutzim in Palestine, later Israel. The idea soon spread to other English speaking countries and finally throughout the Jewish world. The movement was responsible for founding, amongst others, Kfar Blum, Kfar Hanassi, Bet Haemek, Mevo Hama, Tuval and Gesher Haziv. The ideals of Habonim were promoted through weekly activities and summer camps. As the kibbutz movement ideals find themselves in decline Habonim has sought to redefine its aims. In the 1980s it amalgameted with a similar group and is now known as Habonim-Dror. Famous graduates include, Mike Leigh, Mordechai Richler, Jonathan Freedland, Stanley Fischer, Chaim Herzog, Sacha Baron Cohen (Ali G)and Dan Patterson and Mark Levison, producers of Whose Line Is It Anyway?.
Dror was founded in Poland in 1915 out of a wing of the Tzeirei Tzion (Young Zionist) study circle - the majority of Tzeiri Tzion had merged with a group called Hashomer in 1913 to form Hashomer Hatzair - those who remained outside of the new group formed Dror. The group was influenced by the teachings of the Russian Narodniks.
Dror was aligned with the Kibbutz Meyuchad network while Habonim was aligned with the Ichud kibbutzim. When the two kibbutz movements merged in 1980 to form the United Kibbutz Movement (Takam), so did their respective youth movements.
Today, Habonim Dror exists in twenty-one countries worldwide, and continues to promote Socialist-Zionism by supporting and building urban communes in Israel dedicated to improving Israeli society. Its symbol comprises of a wheat sheaf in a star of David, symbolising the kibbutz roots of the organisation. It is aligned with the United Kibbutz Israel which recently merged with the Kibbutz Artzi Federation which is aligned with the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement. As a result of this merger, the two youth movements have increased their level of co-operation where, previously, they had been rivals. Traditioanlly, Hashomer Hatzair is the more left-wing of the two and has been aligned with left wing Zionist parties such as Mapam and Meretz where Habonim has been aligned with Mapai and the Labour Party.
Countries in which Habonim Dror operates
Habonim Dror UK
Habonim Dror UK has a 'mission statement', which is:
Habonim Dror exists to build a socialist, culturally Jewish future in the state of Israel.
HDUK runs weekly meetings, weekends away and summer and winter camps all over the world.
Habonim Dror North America
Habonim Dror North America [1] has five distinct pillars:
- Zionism - the belief in the state of Israel
- Judaism - upholding Jewish culture and religion
- Socialism - working as a collective group for everyones better good
- Social Justice - freedom and equality for all
- Actualization - doing, not just dreaming
Habonim Dror North America (HDNA) runs many programs during the year, including a bi yearly veida (a mass meeting with representatives from all over the movment), local events in central cities, kibbutzim in Israel, a year long program in Israel (called Workshop), and many other gatherings geared torwards its pillars.
HDNA also runs 7 summer camps across the continent. These have become a large part of the movment, and in most cases are more important to members than local meetings (called ken meetings). Additionally, a five week trip, named Machaneh Bonim in Israel (MBI) summer tour of Israel for 16 year olds. The seven camps are as follows:
- Camp Tavor (Michigan, USA)
- Camp Miriam (British Columbia, Canada)
- Camp Gilboa (California, USA)
- Camp Moshava (Maryland, USA)
- Camp Na'aleh (New York, USA)
- Camp Gesher (Ontario, Canada)
- Camp Galil (Pennsylvania, USA)
Habonim Dror Australia
Habonim Dror has four kenim (centres) around Australia. They are in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. Each Ken holds weekly meetings, regular seminars and two camps each year (winter and summer), with chaverim (members) from all of Australia coming together for senior summer camp.
Ideology
Habonim Dror Australia's Ideology is based around the four pillars (Judaism, Zionism, Socialism and Haghsmah) and the 13 principles:
Hagshamah
- Habonim Dror believes Hagshama Atzmit is the process of personal fulfilment of all movement aims, thus turning the vision outlined in Habonim Dror’s ideology into a reality.
- Habonim Dror encourages each chaver/a to adopt an approach to life inspired by the movement's thirteen principles.
- Habonim Dror believes that chalutzic Aliya, whilst embracing one’s jewish identity, is the highest expression of Hagshama; building a community in Israel holding paramount the values of social justice, equality, and peace.
Socialism
- Habonim Dror believes in a socialism based on the values of: equality, social justice, peace and democracy, and educates its chaverim towards contributing to a society, and living a life based on these values in Israel.
- Habonim Dror asserts that the practice of socialism – combining elements of common ownership, democracy, free access to resources and an understanding of collective responsibility – is essential for the equality of all people.
- Habonim Dror believes in the ideals of Kibbutz, be it agricultural or urban, as a society and system based upon the ideals of socialism, and thus educates its members toward living on Kibbutzim that maintain these values.
- Habonim Dror's socialist aims include Tikkun Olam, meaning:
- The preservation of life and our planet by caring for our environment and all of its inhabitants.
- Striving toward equal opportunity for all mankind.
Judaism
- Habonim Dror recognises the basic solidarity of the Jewish people with a common destiny, which transcends geographical and cultural barriers. We are One People – Am Echad, with each of its parts responsible for the others.
- Habonim Dror believes in the validity of all streams of Judaism and strives for unity and respect among all jews.
- Habonim Dror encourages each chaver/a to develop their own Jewish identity. Habonim Dror believes in the importance of learning and questioning one’s beliefs, and that each chaver/a has the right to determine the nature of their own abservance and develop their own meaningful Jewish expression.
- Habonim Dror engages in Jewish education through cultural practices and the use of texts and sources both secular and religious
- Habonim Dror believes that Judaism contains the morals and values of a just and humane society, by which all chaverim should aspire to live
- Habonim Dror believes in the centrality of the state of Israel as the home of Jewish religion and people, and as an essential element of Jewish expression and education.
Zionism
- Habonim Dror educates its members towards Aliyah from all countries and Zionist Hagshama, the participation of the Jewish people in building Israel as a Jewish state, and in strengthening it as a society, based on the values of socialism
- Habonim Dror participates in Jewish - Zionist education, based both in Israel and the Diaspora, formal and informal, fighting against assimilation in order to strengthen Jewish and Zionist unity based upon the centrality of Israel.
- Habonim Dror promotes the expression of Israeli culture to help chaverim develop a deep love for the country and reinforce the aims listed above. Habonim Dror believes that Habrew is essential to this and uses it wherever possible.
The 13 Principles of Habonim Dror Australia
- We critically and independently evaluate the accepted values of the society in which we live. In the process of evaluation, we should recognise the merits of society and where we do not find merit, we shall support and strive to create alternatives.
- We believe in providng the opportunity for every Jewish youth to become involved in and derive benefit from Habonim Dror activities by striving to overcome all barriers
- We believe in the teaching and celebration of Jewish culture, values ahd chaggim in an environment conducive to Jewish social interaction.
- We believe that the traditional values of kibbutz reflect our society ideals. Furthermore, we uphold the values of equality and humanitarianism.
- We believe that Aliya is the ultimate expression of Zionism. Active participation in Israeli life through supporting and promoting Israel as a Jewish State and Ivrit as its national language is central to our Zionist activity
- We believe that the Jewish People, both in Israel and in the Diaspora, share a history, a future and, therefore, a common national identity and responsibility to one another.
- We believe that hadracha - through informal education and the presentation of chinuch in a creative, dynamic and relevant manner - creates an environment which develops the positive personal qualities and ideals of bogrim, madrichim and chanichim. Self-education and education of others is a continuous process throughout the movement.
- We believe that dogma ishit entails the personal responsibility of each chaver/a to his or her own self, to fellow chaverim and to the wider community in a manner which reflects the ideology and values of Habonim Dror.
- Chaverim are educated to be aware of social and environmental issues afecting the wider community and to actively respond to those issues.
- We believe in the importance of participating in Jewish community life and do so by educating Jewish youth, supporting other Jewish organisations and involving ourselves in Jewish community events.
- We believe that chaverim respect the physical and spiritual well-being of themselves and of others. Chaverim are encouraged to respect the right of the individual to form his or her own opinion. As such, Habonim Dror provides a warm environment which promotes self-expression and excludes rivalry.
- We nurture and develop the potential, qualities and attributes of each chaver/a and instill a lasting commitment to Judaism and the Jewish People.
- We believe that each chaver/a should embody the spirit of Habonim Dror based upon their experiences and values gained in the movement
Habonim Dror Brazil
The Movement arrived in Brazil by influences of the Argentine activists. In 1945 some young Brazilian jews traveled to a Seminar of the Argentinian Movement and came back with the concept that helped to establish our Tnua in Porto Alegre (southern Brazil).
In a couple of years, the Tnua reached Curitiba, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Some time later, arrived in Recife, Salvador and Belo Horizonte. Finally, in 2004, our youngest snif was founded in Niteroi (Rio de Janeiro state).
Bogrim from all these snifim have immigrated on a socialist-zionist allyah wich we believe has contributed to the establishment of the State of Israel, its creation, strength and development.
Nowadays, in our eight Snifim across the country, we run weekly activities for children, teenagers and young adults from 7 to 22 years old, educating towards Zionism, Socialism, Judaism and Israel. Each kvutza has its own madrichim and peulot specially developed for its age group, providing them the chance to learn, discuss and develop their own opinions about several subjects.
Our ideological beliefs are:
· Zionism – We believe that Israel is our mother land, to where we shall return. We believe that Zionism is Allyah.
· Socialist-Zionism – Not limited to a combination of this two words, we believe that this is the only way to arrange our beliefs of freedom, justice and social equality in our mother land.
· The Kibutz – The only place for the concretization of our beliefs, the Kibutz is the perfect society for justice and equality. The kibutz was and still is an important part of the Israeli society, contributing to the development of Israeli agriculture and industries well as to the cultural development of the Israeli people. Our struture reflects the structure of the Kibutz as a socialist, democratic institution.
· Chalutzianism – We pay tribute to our chaverim who followed our ideals of Socialist-Zionism making Allyah and helping the creation and establishment of the State of Israel. But we also find ourselves as Chalutzim in the present day, just like them, for believing in our ideals and working for them. Giving up our particular needs and wills for the common cause and the collective well-beeing.
