THE WORKSHOP; A QUALIFIED SUCCESS STORY

An annual program which, after ten consecutive years, evokes nostalgia among its early participants and high anticipation among its aspirants may well be considered successful. The ten Workshops in Israel have not been uniform in composition, numbers, leadership, location, or program; but in a large measure all have succeeded. It can be surmised, then, that there Is something particularly auspicious about the idea itself and that no single aspect is decisive.

Perhaps any program which permits young people—just out of high school—to spend a year abroad in the companionship of other youngsters and away from home and parents is bound to be favorably received. If, in addition, the country of choice is Israel—a country with great and growing appeal—another important ingredient has been included in the formula. To top all this, youngsters in Habonim are exposed to the Workshop idea over a period of years, so that anticipation grows; then a selection board again sharpens the sense of anticipation. What can one expect, with the stage so well set, the costumes so well appointed, and the performance so magnificent?

The Workshop emerged during the movement's low period of 1950-51, when any idea of scope and imagination could loom as a large wave on the horizon. The program stemmed from the need for retrenchment and consolidation under new auspices. The Workshop would supplant the withering hachshara (training) farms and integrate the Habonim Institute. Thus, hachshara and hadracha (leadership) were the dominant strains in the Workshop hybrid of 1951; and such they remain in 1960. Even after the experience of almost a decade, the compatibility of these strains is being questioned. Can the same Workshop program provide both hachshara and leadership training for Habonim? In effect, it is doing both, but whether results would be more gratifying in a more restricted program—or whether such a program is feasible at all—remains an unanswered question.

There was no intention of having the first year's Workshop serve as a pilot plant for the development of a suitable program. The movement's position was too critical to permit the delay entailed by experiment; and a backlog of older members was available, eager for the adventure the Workshop promised. Nevertheless, the first Workshop did serve as a pilot plant; and every succeeding Workshop group built its program on the shortcomings, no less than on the successes, of the first.

The young people arrived in Israel brimming with enthusiasm and ready to get up and do things. Their first stop was "Bet Berl" (the Berl Katznelson Institute at Kfar Saba). Here they were to remain for three months, studying Hebrew and learning about the country. Lovely though the setting was, the Workshoppers had no patience for Bet Berl. They had left schools behind them in America and now wanted to do their learning from real life. The Workshop publicity brochures had promised "work, travel, and study," and with the Bet Berl experience behind them the group was prepared to carry out the balance of the program. They traveled the length and breadth of the country, saw a great deal, learned a great deal, but never stayed in any one place long enough to strike roots or to learn to work properly.

On the basis of solid experience this "Cook's Tour" aspect of the program was scuttled in favor of finding a "home" in Israel. The study program was revamped. Hebrew was further emphasized. Work and the learning of work skills were stressed. A more careful scrutiny of candidates was undertaken, as, year by year, standards were raised. The Workshop administration improved as procedures and routines became established. Publicity in and outside the movement grew in skill and scope.

So potent is the Workshop's success and so pervasive a force in the movement, that the traditionally named Habonim groups gain an additional identity in terms of their projected Workshop year— Class of '61, Class of '62, etc. Almost every senior leader and organizer is a Workshop graduate. Thus, Workshop graduate has become almost synonymous with the oldest age group in the movement. Often— all too often—instead of a planned educational program, a recounting of some Workshop adventure provides the content of a group meeting.

As institutions grow, they develop a logic and momentum of their own. In view of the particular development of the Workshop program, it is questionable whether movement interests are served always and in every respect. After the first three years, when the number of Habonim candidates dwindled to the danger point, great efforts were made to recruit non-members. It was argued that there were few fundamental differences between a Habonim member and a candidate from some synagogue group or Jewish center. Furthermore, the educational impact of a year spent in Israel under Habonim sponsorship
was deemed sufficiently great to cast a long shadow over all previous experience, whether within Habonim or without. The pressure cooker of Israel, so proficient at digesting polyglot immigrants and making them Hebrew-speaking Israelis, could with little effort do the lesser job of transforming non-Habonim to Habonim.

Experience has shown up some faults in this hypothesis. Some non-movement Workshoppers have become Habonim people; many have not. This has been true even when the Workshop has led nonmembers to an aliya commitment. It would appear that a fundamental difference between the member and the non-member is not in Jewish or Zionist information or even orientation, but in the fact of a relatively early affirmation of a particular organizational framework. A Habonim member who has come to the Workshop through his Habonim experience over a period of years usually has developed a simple and straightforward loyalty to his movement which no Johnny-come-lately can achieve. This loyalty often exists independently of the principles for which the movement stands. During the Workshop period, despite attempts to tackle the problem, first loyalties are built up to Israel as a whole and to the kibbutz. The movement pales in the distance. Indeed, many a member-Workshopper, upon debarkation in New York after an exhilarating year in Israel, regards the movement as an encumbrance, "kid stuff," an activity which has become somehow beside the point. If, frequently, one-time Habonim members feel this way, is it any wonder that many of those without a past movement loyalty should consider their formal association with Habonim terminated by the end of their return voyage?

There have been notable cases of non-member Workshoppers taking an active part in Habonim. Often they have put their Workshop experience to use in their synagogue groups. In the work program of the kibbutz, nothing has distinguished members from non-members though frequently within the group a distinction does exist. It is particularly important during the screening process to recognize the motivation of the non-member This is not easily done, since he is usually less well-known to the admission committee's members and his background may vary greatly from the more familiar Habonim pattern. By employing careful screening, however, a high degree of success can be achieved with regard to both movement and aliya commitments—but, after all is said and done, the Habonim member remains the better risk.

In the earlier years of Habonim's history the movement was aliya centered; with the firm establishment of the Workshop it became Workshop-centered. There is no direct contradiction here, since both aliya and Workshop relate directly to Israel. In one case, permanent settlement is indicated; and, in the other, a year of training and preparation leading to the same eventuality. In consideration of the fact that the former aliya was not always permanent and that not every Workshopper actually has settled in Israel or plans to do so, the gap between the two goals is less great than at once apparent. Beyond this point, however, there is a divergence. In placing aliya beyond the Workshop, the Workshop has become the chief—if not always the ultimate—goal of the Habonim member. The Workshop goal is certainly more easily achieved than is aliya; and, as such, it has often been substituted for the ultimate aliya goal.

Traditionally associated with the term aliya is the joy of return to the ancestral home, a home never before seen, but long cherished. The Workshopper returning to Israel is simply making a return trip. He entered Israel for the first time under the spell of the Workshop and experienced then whatever he experienced. He cannot feel the same joy and high expectation felt by an oleh, an immigrant, arriving in Israel for the first time. For the returned Workshopper, being an oleh pertains to a particular visa in his passport and a particular legal status. Upon his first arrival in Israel, he was a tourist; and upon his second, a returnee. The Workshopper thus forever loses the opportunity of being an oleh in the traditional sense. This may be of little relative importance. What is important, however, is that a sincere and devout wish to go to Israel and to live there is often fully satisfied at a too-young age and on a mere one-year basis. The initial urge to "go see" has been fulfilled and the desire to settle dissipated.

The Workshop program does not provide hachshara in the same sense that on-the-job training provides instruction for people who have chosen a particular trade. Indeed, a common attitude among Workshoppers is that they have come to Israel for a trial period. During this period Israel is on trial, and the kibbutz is on trial; the city is on trial, and so is the moshav. The climate, the food—in short, everything is on trial. In some cases the Workshopper enlarges his scope sufficiently to put himself on trial as well. This pragmatic approach has considerable merit, but it certainly takes a lot of romance out of aliya.

Since World War II there has been a tendency in America to early dating and younger marriages. In further search for security there has also been a tendency to early planning of careers and the pursuit of career courses in the universities. It would appear that the Workshop, in its own way, is keeping pace with the trend to early planning. In a hardheaded way, the Workshopper contemplating his future weighs the pros and cons of one form of settlement against another. He knows what the city has to offer. He knows something about the standards of living, professional opportunities, appropriate clothing and furniture. The ultimate is reached when aliya is reduced to terms of expediency and a decision is based on the availability of a certain type of housing or on the country's need for physiotherapists with two years' experience. This is an approach to aliya which is foreign to a youth movement and a far cry from the Zionism and chalutziut once known in Habonim. Yet, by cultivating the "go see" urge, the Workshop largely eliminates a serious pitfall of the traditional aliya pattern. Many of the pre-Workshop immigrants from Habonim who found Israel a disappointment and who left after a short stay would have saved themselves considerable anguish had they been able to look first. There is a strong likelihood that the returned Workshopper who has finished his trial run has planted his stake deeply in Israel and will settle permanently. Available statistics tend to bear out this contention.

The foregoing critical appraisal of certain aspects of the Workshop program is presented in the spirit of providing leaven to a success story. It is also intended to explore the consequences of that story in areas infrequently probed. In no sense is the real achievement of the Workshop challenged, nor is a substitute recommended. Statistics state with simple eloquence that the Workshop has provided the responsible leadership for Habonim for almost a decade and given impetus to its aliya program.

It is impossible to base a complete evaluation of the program on aliya and leadership achievements. Though these are the chief objectives, they are not the only ones. The Workshop had done its fair share in maintaining a living bridge between America and Israel, in bringing visitors to the country who otherwise might never have made the trip, in showing thousands of Israelis that there are serious young Jews in America who identify themselves with Israel and who plan to live there. The Workshop has made hundreds of young Jews spokesmen for Labor Israel and recruiting agents for the Workshop itself. Workshop graduates are sought by Jewish religious and community institutions for educational work in all fields. Within a relatively brief span of time the Workshop has become an institution in its own right on the American Jewish scene.

The fundamentals of Habonim's Workshop program have been adopted by several organizations working among American Jewish youth. When a program is imitated and, indeed, the name of the original author forgotten, it can be said that the highest compliment has been paid. The Workshop must continue to serve a double purpose: it must provide a well-informed leadership for Habonim, and it must serve as a motivating force and training ground on behalf of the kibbutz and moshav. Traditionally, Habonim directs its graduates to agricultural settlement without placing city dwellers and professionals beyond the pale. If this is where Habonim places the emphasis, this is the Workshop function. It cannot be anything more or less than an agency for the unique program and needs of Habonim.

PINCHAS RIMON, Kfar Blum, 1960