Confrontation has always been a very difficult thing for, to have to confront a person that I appreciate and I like, was particularly hard for me. I went into that office after not sleeping well for two weeks, very anxious and nervous. At the beginning of the meeting I was all choked up and wishing myself in a calm beach in the Mexican Pacific. One of the things that kept me going was knowing that We knew that this is the right thing for the movement and that the chaverim of the movement are doing this together, as a movement, because we recognize that it is our responsibility to take this movement back to its historic place of being the hard-core of the Jewish people.
I naturally had to refer myself to the authors, the movement founders, the historical leaders of this movement, for instance, Zivia. In a different way than any time before, I understood what Zivia meant by saying that "The Movement always knew how to demand everything from its members. The Movement’s goal has always been to educate a new kind of man, capable of enduring the most adverse conditions and difficult times while standing up for the emancipation of our people, of the Jew, of mankind. It was our Movement education which gave us the strength to endure.
The meeting went well, with a good, pleasantly tense and calm atmosphere, things were said very clear from both sides, and an agreement was reached; the agreement was on disagreeing and on going on a struggle where the winner will be the one that stands by their principles the longest and who receives the support of the rest of the members of the movement around the world, not to mention whoever can do all this while still managing to pay the rent and feed their spring.
At the present moment we are all in shock, all parties involved and bystanders. We are thinking and re-thinking every thing that happened in the meeting and after it, every comment, every phone call, every muscle spasm. I honestly thought that after today's meeting I would be able to go to sleep easily, but I don't think that's exactly what's going to happen, I still feel a nut in my stomach and feel more responsible than ever to do what's right for this movement, the movement that taught me to stand by my principles, to fight for my rights, to not accept to ever be oppressed, to believe that all human beings are equal just for being humans and to live by my values (among other things).
These are crucial times that will determine whether Habonim Dror will become, first of all, a real movement with education as it's most important priority, and then the movement that it aims for by working in the bettering of Israeli Society and positively affecting the future of the Jewish nation, or whether it will become a pluralist club with no values to actualize in it's center, a place where educational processes are not the priority, a pyramidal structured organization, "an empty semel" (symbol) that will eventually disappear because of apathy or bankruptcy.
Our recognized enemies are apathy, greed for power, capitalism and post-modernism, our allies are our values and principles, and knowing that we are part of a movement of people that is willing to live according to their beliefs.
If you are a member of Habonim Dror from any country, and somehow got to this post, you are welcome to email me with your concerns, advise, questions, comments, or any thing you can think of. I only represent my own opinion and view, but more than anything, I'm just writing to express what I'm personally going through in this stage of my life as a life-long member of Habonim Dror.
Ale v'hagshem!
Mauri
