He'arah Issue 2: Autonomy

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A few opinions By Tal Levin and Matthew Levy: 5 - 7 Horoscopes With Ruth Bader Ginsberg: 8 - 9 An enactment of values

Table of Contents

Kvutsot of HDOZ by Zivia, Or & Frumke: 11 - 14 Some notable people With Martin Buber and David Ben-Gurion: 15 - 16 Things to keep you busy With social isolation: 17 - 19 Art scattered throughout By Tomer Belkin, Tamar Gordon and Tash Kane: 4, 10

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A note from the editors

Welcome to He arah issue two i

We use the word autonomy a lot in our movement. For us, it means more than just the dictionary definition of the right to self-governance. For us the word autonomy holds historical and emotional weight. We remember the creation of Habonim in the 1920s when the youth movement split from the adult organisations which governed over it. We think about our movement’s existence during the Holocaust. One could say that Dror remained autonomous even in the Warsaw Ghetto, as members continued to build a movement with strong ideology and meaningful action. Despite all personal freedom being taken away, movement autonomy still existed. We think about other expressions of movement autonomy throughout the past few decades including asephot, veidot and aliyot. It could be said that any expression of our movement’s values is an expression of autonomy. If we are continuously shaping the cultures our movement creates, then we are enacting autonomy. This thought can be of great comfort during this pandemic when it seems like our lives are restricted in ways that we are incapable of changing. This issue of He’arah explores how we relate to autonomy today. Issue 2 reveals that autonomy for us is closely linked with creativity. Our abilities to think creatively and also act creatively are not limited by social isolation. Perhaps these uncertain times have heightened our creativity as a movement. We are amidst the process of re-defining what movement autonomy looks like during COVID-19, and it seems like we are doing pretty well. By Yael Grunseit 3


ii

My Talit, My Siddurii Tamar Gordon, Oz, Melbourne 4


Why I make my own tools in art class

By Tal Levin

I read an article in art class about why you should make your own tools, rather than buying them from the shop. It said some interesting ideas about freedom in the modern world. It seems that we feel like the more we progress technologically, the more freedom we have, but maybe thats not the case?

If I wanted to make a clay pot and bought my tools from the shops, it seems I then have the freedom to make whatever I please, but in reality, I'm limited by what those tools can do. These tools were made by someone else, and heaps of people have them! The only way I can have true freedom to make whatever pot I want, however I want, is to learn to make my own tools. Then I can customise my pot and be truly autonomous in my art practice. Companies today try to advertise freedom, they sell you a bunch of products that will do things for you, allowing you to have more “freedom� and time in your life. While yes, a dishwasher and a blender definitely frees up your time, does consuming a bunch of things that we are told to buy really make us feel free? Are we actually becoming passive, unable to do things for ourself? Perhaps, we are ignoring the human need to make, create and master that truly makes us feel free, and are instead taking the easier route sold to us. Imagine spending years learning an instrument vs. flicking through songs on spotify. I would argue, that the one who masters the instrument feels more fulfilled and freed by music in their life, even though it took more time.

Sometimes, it is better to spend more time doing this with your hands, painting a picture for a peula on camp rather than printing it, or building that cardboard rocket for the 5th time instead of buying a plastic one at habo this week. Just because the option is there to buy lots, move fast, and free your time by having someone else do the making, doesn't mean its the option that will make as feel more free.

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The Times They Are AChangin’

Come gather ’round people

There’s a battle outside and it is ragin’

Wherever you roam

It’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls

And admit that the waters

For the times they are a-changin’

Around you have grown And accept it that soon

Come mothers and fathers

You’ll be drenched to the bone

Throughout the land

If your time to you is worth savin’

And don’t criticize

Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a

What you can’t understand

stone For the times they are a-changin’

Your sons and your daughters Are beyond your command Your old road is rapidly agin’

Come writers and critics

Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your

Who prophesize with your pen

hand For the times they are a-changin’

And keep your eyes wide The chance won’t come again And don’t speak too soon

The line it is drawn

For the wheel’s still in spin

The curse it is cast

And there’s no tellin’ who that it’s namin’

The slow one now

For the loser now will be later to win

Will later be fast

For the times they are a-changin’

As the present now Will later be past

Come senators, congressmen

The order is rapidly fadin’

Please heed the call

And the first one now will later be last

Don’t stand in the doorway

For the times they are a-changin’

Don’t block up the hall For he that gets hurt Will be he who has stalled

By Bob Dylan

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For the times to change, we must learn to trust

By Matthew Levy Wow Bob Dylan, the revolutionary, what a bloke, no one sums up youth autonomy better than him. What stands out the most to me in this song is the line...‘don’t criticise what you can’t understand...your old road is rapidly ageing.’

I just wish we lived in a paradigm in which older generations would take the time, do the hard work and research, make a genuine investment into finding out why younger generations believe the things they do. What structures, societal trends and ideologies have come into fruition over the last how ever many years to create these beliefs, in particular things that you may either disagree with or find threatening. Let’s take a sociological study into the last 30 years to see why the youth believe these things that trigger you.

Okay and fine, if you’ve done the research, and you still disagree, I’m cool with that, but until then, it’s seriously not cool, It’s uncool. It’s seriously patronising. It’s as if our lived experiences aren’t valid. Our generation hasn’t had the ability to critically think and analyse the world around us to make informed decisions.

Youth autonomy doesn’t exist in a vacuum, it requires the older generations to put trust and faith into the youths ideas, no matter how jarring and uncomfortable they might make you feel, it’s about trust. It’s about recognising that you were once in the same boat not long ago.

You might not understand us, but the least you can do is try to learn and listen, it might take time, it might take years, but you’ll get there, even if you don’t agree. And I’m sure the irony rings through, cause for some of you, Bob Dylan was probably your favourite musician, who you idolised. So remember, if Bob can say it 50 years ago, and it’s still relevant, then the ideas of the youth are probably worthy and youth autonomy is something that we should be believing in.

#powertotheyouth #donttokenizeus #istilllovemymumanddadunconditionally #bobdylanwasajew

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Gemini (May 22 - June 21): Cuius est solum, eius est

Cancer (Jun 22 - Jul 23):

This month, things that you regard

usque ad coelum et ad inferos.

as an impediment turn out to be

That’s right, you own everything.

great fortune. Don’t be shy on

Shoot for the stars. Especially

your zoom meetings. Now is a

when Mercury is in Gatorade.

great time to learn how to sew.

Horoscopes with the

Notorious RBG Leo (Jul 24 - Aug 23):

Your anger is holding you back from

Virgo (Aug 24 - Sep 23):

Don’t let the government make choices

making relationships with your pets.

about your body. And don’t be the

Say, “I object!” Three times in the

government if your friend is your body.

mirror and RBG will appear. Fortune

Set yourself goals for fitness this

favours the brave.

month. You can achieve anything!

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Libra (Sep 24 - Oct 23):

Change up your style - try the French

Scorpio (Oct 24 - Nov 22):

Your place in the group will be valued

robe instead of the American. You’re a

more than usual this month. Relish this

revolutionary. Beware of siblings with

experience. You will be good at public

false intentions.

speaking so get up and use your voice.

Sagittarius (Nov 23 - Dec 21):

“Zedek, zedek, tirdfof” (“Justice,

Capricorn (Dec 22 - Jan 20):

If you’re going to change things, you

justice shall you pursue"). Just like

have to be with people who hold the

Ruthy, hang this up in your room. It

levers. Make sure to disinfect your

will be imperative to your wellbeing

phone on the 20th of May.

over the next month.

Aries (Mar 21 - Apr 20):

This month use your skills to the best

Taurus (Apr 21 - May 21):

Your senses will be heightened this

of your ability. Be smart, cheer smart.

month - especially hearing. Listen and

You’re the snail in the Donoghue v

learn from your literal or metaphorical

Stevenson case - mazel tov!

spouse. Communication is key. Also, have a good birthday.

Aquarius (Jan 21 - Feb 19):

Don't be distracted by emotions like

Pisces (Feb 20 - Mar 20):

You might find yourself disagreeing

anger, envy or resentment. These just

with those closest to you this month,

zap energy and waste time. Beware of

but that doesn’t mean you should be

your inner-saboteur, especially around

disagreeable. Do not eat broccoli.

noon. Ruth Bader Ginsberg is an American lawyer and the second appointed female justice of the Supreme Court. She raised her daughter and cared for her sick husband while becoming the first female member of the Harvard Law Review. Her career has spanned decades with a focus on gender equality. 9


‘Horse”

Tomer Belkin, Shavit, Sydney

“Create Your Own Magic”

Tash Kane, Ra’am, Melbourne

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A group of youth living together who practice communal living, Jewish culture, youth leadership, progressive politics and SocialistZionism. Kvutsah is an embodiment of Habo’s values. We organise our finances through a kuppah, we divide labour based on ones ability and we participate in peulot run by madrichimot and each other. It’s pretty fun.

Kvutsot of HDOZ 11


Introducing... Kvutzat Or!!!! We are four AZYC bogrimot who came together

Matthew Levy from

under one roof in Caulfield North, who found each

Shichvat Esh in Habo

other in the deep depths of radical left wing Socialist Zionist Youth Movements:

Katie Rumanovsky from Shichvat Ra’am in Habo

We are a kvutzah of movement partners who center our shared lives on the values of our movements Socialist Zionism, Secular Humanist and Reform

Hannah Blount from Shichvat Oz in Habo

Judaism, Shivyon Erech Ha’Adam and Chalutziut. This sounds pretty intense, but don't worry, it’s

Rochelle Braverman

suuuuuper chill. It’s like living at home with your

from Shichvat Ma’ayan

parents! Except for, you know, a few small things.

in Netzer

Like living off a shared bank account with your friends, engaging in an educational process with your kvutzah-mates facilitated by your madrichimot in Israel, having intentional discussions about your shared life, placing the youth movement at the centre of your life, facing dilemmas of coronavirus together, using the structure of your home as a central space for the youth movement and AZYC and a couple of other minor details. Call us now on +972KVUTZATOR for your 1 week free trial. Xoxo Team Light 12


Kvutzat Frumke

Our Kvutza is called “Frumke�, after the courageous Frumke Plotnicka. Frumke Plotnicka was born in 1914 in Poland, and at the age of 24 moved to Warsaw to assume a position at the headquarters of the Dror Zionist Youth Movement. In 1939 when Germany invaded

Poland, Frumke joined the underground rebellion as a leader in the HeHalutz youth movement. With the use of false papers and an Aryan disguise, she would travel between Jewish ghettos smuggling light weapons, blueprints and illegal paperwork. Throughout her travels she witnessed holocaust trains departing to death camps and the horrid ways in which Jews were treated by the SS soldiers. In September 1942, Frumke was sent to the Bedzin Ghetto by the Jewish Combat Organisation to help with the self-defence organisation there. In Bedzin, she would smuggle weapons in potato sacks from the Aryan parts of the city to the Jewish parts. In May 1942 the first deportations of Jewish

people to Auschwitz II Birkenau began, with 3,200 Jews loaded onto the trains. On the

3rd of August, 1942, during the final deportation action, Frumke along with the partisans, launched an uprising which lasted for several days. Frumke was killed in a bunker on the first day of the uprising, the 3rd of August, 1942. In a time were autonomy and freedom was obliterated, Frumke along with many other Jewish youth, rose up and fought for the autonomy and right of their people. 13


Kvutsat Zivia Zivia Lubetkin was a Dror leader in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. She was described by those who knew her as an individual whose thoughts and actions were one. This is something we aspire to work towards as we aim to actualise the movement’s values. Our kvutsah is an empowering countercultural space where each individual is encouraged to grow, experiment and learn. New Ruach Chant: 5 young smellyfish 5 young smellyfish sitting in a house woo sitting in a house One went to his parent’s house (silly bugger)

4 young smellyfish 4 young smellyfish sitting in a house woo sitting in a house One went to Canberra (silly bugger) 3 young smellyfish 3 young smellyfish sitting in a house woo sitting in a house One went to pet barn (Silly bugger) 2 young smellyfish 2 young smellyfish sitting in a house woo sitting in a house One went to London (silly bugger) 1 young smellyfish 1 young smellyfish sitting in a house woo sitting in a house One went on a medieval picnic (silly bugger) No young smellyfish no young

Mitch “Blade Beast” • Knife skills • Intuition • Patience with others Yael “Miso Mumma” • Bread pudding • Sandwiches • Enthusiasm Asha “Paddy Papa” • Flipping skills • Hygiene • Length of limbs Dylan “Sourdough Saba” • Conviction • Bread density • Deliveroo Kerryn “Choccy Chikita”

smellyfish sitting in a house

• Hot Chocolate • Cooking

woo sitting in a house because

• Vegan

its PESACH

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Some Notable People

David Ben Gurion The autonomy animal

“We shall be a self sufficient nation, honouring Arab rights in an accord of equality, and living in peace with neighbouring countries.”- DBG Born: 16th October 1886, Poland

Likes - Jewish autonomy

Notable Achievements:

- Developing Israel no matter the cost

- Became leader of the Jewish Agency

- Equality or Arabs within Israel

in 1935, and was the primary leader of

- Conquering states that don’t want

the Jewish people in Palestine.

peace

- Established the state of Israel in 1948,

- Pina coladas

and was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence (so much autonomy!!) - Founded the IDF, and led Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

- Getting caught in the rain Dislikes - People who don’t want peace and refuse to cooperate with Israel’s existence - Israel not being an established nation - Yoga

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Zion and the youth, Martin Buber The youth are humanity's eternal possibility for

friends become – as was foretold – the

happiness. This possibility occurs repeatedly

exceptions that do not succeed in life. And

and humanity misses it again and again.

again the empty mechanism was saved; it was

Generations of people in their twenties return

proven again that inertia is stronger than the

to the stage again and again with the passion

flight of the free spirit, which aspires to

of absolute yearning in their hearts, devoted to

legislate more exalted laws. And again

ideals, ready and waiting to break through the

humanity did not receive the achievement and

blocked gates of Eden.

the chance that fate summoned for it, and a new generation rises up, a new youth, and

Nothing stands between this generation and the

what had happened to its predecessors will

fulfillment of its obligation but the deed itself;

happen to it too.

and hence they prepare themselves. But in the hour of preparation an abundance of inferior

However, the uniqueness of times in which

and unimportant goals from the society around

great internal and external crises occur in the

them take control of the youths' souls. Vain

lives of nations and humanity as a whole, is

urges of egotism and the urges for excellence

that they refuse to surrender to the decree, they

and power take control of them. Their

rebel against the law of inertia and dare to

environment preaches the perception that the

save the youthful vigor that did not yet

'facts' are stronger than the ideals and that we

disintegrate, and from it they dare to grow an

are subjects in a sequence of events that we

act of revolution, an act of renewal. These

cannot change, shape, or control, and that the

times speak to the youth with lungs of fire,

aspiration to escape from the rituals of the all-

they demand from the youth, even command

powerful “greater good” will turn the rebel into

of it, not to surrender, to face the evil, to save

an outsider from society and a hallucinatory

the soul, and to do its deeds. And the youth

person.

listens.

He will become a man that lives a life of

This youth stretches via great exertion and

celibacy, who isolates himself from society,

shakes itself free from the coercion of the

and is unsuccessful. This preaching overcomes

empty mechanism, and is not tempted by it.

the longings and devotion; the pure force,

This youth dares to do what is beyond. It

which was going to actualize a life of truth on

performs an act like Yehoshua in Givon: it

earth, was coerced into becoming a burden of

delays the sun from rising in the sky until its

lies and the burden of the soulless walking on

endeavor is completed. It prolongs its youth by

the sidelines. And the remaining few rebels,

one hour, one great hour, and performs what is

who were abandoned and left behind by their

necessary for the turning point to occur. 16


In response to COVID-19 we’ve included some activities to help pass the time. We know it can be really hard navigating this new, sometimes lonely reality. We are all here to support each other. You could complete these activities with friends over zoom or by yourself for some relaxation.  

Things to Keep You Busy

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Sudoku!

Decorate the Semel Tag or send a habo intstagram account your work and we’ll put it in the next zine!

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Movement Word Search

empower rebellion autonomy dynamics culture youth space

shoresh socialist zionist humanist process chinuch kef 19


May 2020

‫ה‬ ֶ ‫א‬ ָ # ‫ה‬

Edited by Maya Buhrich, Tal Levin, Itai Shaul and Yael Grunseit

Font and back cover by Ilan Galanti

Doodles throughout by Tal Levin

Submit for our next issue! Use the link: https://forms.gle/YgvJpmzV1Fv29ZkL8


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