Habonim Dror Australia
Encyclopedia
Habonim Dror Australia (colloquially known as Habo or HDOZ) is a Jewish Socialist-Zionist Youth Movement. It has branches (kenim, in Hebrew: קנים) in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

 and Adelaide (in descending order of size). In 2006, there were around 80 graduates (bogrim, in Hebrew: בוגרים) Australia-wide.

Habonim Dror Australia runs weekly meetings for students from years three to 12 as well as biannual camps. Each state runs independent winter camps and a summer camp for junior students (years three to eight), while annually in January all state movements come together for a federal camp for years nine to 12, which runs for ten days.

History

For more information on the history of both Habonim and Dror, see the History section on the main 'Habonim Dror' entry.

Habonim was first brought to Australia in 1940, when seven new Australians decided to create a Zionist youth movement
Zionist youth movement
A Zionist youth movement is an organization formed for Jewish children and adolescents for educational, social, and ideological development, including a belief in Jewish nationalism as represented in the State of Israel...

 along similar lines to those that already existed in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. In March of that year the first meeting was held in Melbourne's Herzl Hall, and later in December, Habonim's first summer camp.

After a brief union with Betar
Betar
The Betar Movement is a Revisionist Zionist youth movement founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Vladimir Jabotinsky. It has been traditionally linked to the original Herut and then Likud political parties of Israel, and was closely affiliated with the pre-Israel Revisionist Zionist splinter group...

 in 1942, Habonim grew into an Australia-wide movement in May 1944. The following year, Habonim Australia's first hachshara (preparation, in Hebrew: הכשרה) farm was established in Springvale
Springvale, Victoria
Springvale is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, approximately 20 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Greater Dandenong...

, about 25km out of Melbourne's centre. The next year five Habonim graduates made aliyah
Aliyah
Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...

 settling on Kibbutz Kfar Blum
Kfar Blum
Kfar Blum is a kibbutz in the Hula Valley part of the Upper Galilee in Israel. Located about southeast of the town of Kiryat Shmona, it falls under the jurisdiction of Upper Galilee Regional Council. In 1994 the population was 615.-History:...

.

In 1957, the first organised group of Habonim graduates made aliyah in a garin
Garin aliyah
Gar'in is a Hebrew term used for groups of people who moved together to Ottoman Palestine, British Palestine, and since 1948, Israel.-Background:...

 to Kibbutz Yizre'el
Yizre'el
The kibbutz was established on 20 August 1948 by demobilised Palmach soldiers just to the west of the remains of the depopulated Palestinian village of Zir'in It was named after the ancient city of Jezreel, which was located in the area allotted to the tribe of Issachar...

. Six garinim would ultimately be formed with the intention of making aliyah. It is unclear how many succeeded.

Although Dror never had a presence in Australia, when the aligned kibbutz movements of Habonim and Dror merged in 1980, so too did their respective movements, with Habonim Dror coming into existence in 1981.

A more detailed history of the movement can be found on Habonim Dror Australia's website

Ideology

Habonim Dror Australia's ideology is divided into are four pillars: Chalutziut (pioneering), Hagshama Atzmit (personal fulfillment), Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

, Socialist-Zionism
Labor Zionism
Labor Zionism can be described as the major stream of the left wing of the Zionist movement. It was, for many years, the most significant tendency among Zionists and Zionist organizational structure...

.

Movement structure

At an Australia-wide level (federal), there is an executive (mazkirut, in Hebrew: מזכירות) which includes a Secretary-General (mazkir, in Hebrew: מזכיר), Treasurer (gizbar, in Hebrew: גיזבר) and a Head of Education (rosh chinuch, in Hebrew: ראש חינוך). Similarly, each individual branch has these executive positions, along with a point of liaison with junior leaders as well as Jewish schools. Currently, and in recent years, due to lack of bogrim, the Adelaide branch has only a Secretary-General.

Recently there has been more of an emphasis on collective responsibility for the movement and a shift away from the hierarchical secretariat system.

See also

  • Habonim Dror
    Habonim Dror
    Habonim Dror is a Jewish Labour Zionist youth movement formed by the merger in 1982 of the Habonim and Dror youth movements. Habonim Dror's sister movement in Israel is Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed, the Working and Studying Youth.-Ideology:...

     -- the global movement.
  • Zionist youth movement
    Zionist youth movement
    A Zionist youth movement is an organization formed for Jewish children and adolescents for educational, social, and ideological development, including a belief in Jewish nationalism as represented in the State of Israel...

  • Mark Regev
    Mark Regev
    Mark Regev , formerly Mark Freiberg, is an Australian-born Israeli diplomat and media spokesman. He is currently the spokesman for the Prime Minister of Israel and an advisor on foreign press and public affairs, a position he has held since his appointment by the former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert...

     -- former member of the Melbourne ken, and now Spokesman for the Prime Minister of Israel
    Prime Minister of Israel
    The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of the Israeli government and the most powerful political figure in Israel . The prime minister is the country's chief executive. The official residence of the prime minister, Beit Rosh Hamemshala is in Jerusalem...

    .
  • Guy Spigelman
    Guy Spigelman
    Guy Spigelman is an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson, originally from Sydney, Australia. Because of his native English skills, he is often seen in the English language media...

     -- former mazkir and now IDF spokesperson.

External links

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