Several generations of Zionists gathered here last weekend at the posh Wyndham Franklin Plaza Hotel, for the First Zionist Assembly. The scene was one of stark contrasts: Activists in blue jeans and backpacks, professionals and functionaries in blue suits with briefcases. They mingled with each other against a backdrop of pink-with-roses carpeting lining the wide hallways, an alluring bar and five restaurants. And in the midst of this mosaic stood an easel with a display of black and white photographs of Degania, 1910. A group of early pioneers posed on the steps of a rickety wooden shack on this first kibbutz, their clothing tattered and their faces toughened by difficult conditions. The old and new generations confronted each other.
About 470 members of Zionist youth movements, some of them still in high school, others college graduates, met for a weekend of speakers, brainstorming and getting acquainted.
They came from the four corners of North America and from diverse political backgrounds to unite under the banner of “Magshimim,” those individuals committed to aliya and Zionist fulfillment.
They came from 12 garinim, or groups organized for aliya to kibbutz, and youth movements from Betar on the right to Hashomer Hatzair on the left. Four aliya activist groups comprised primarily of university students and graduates also participated.
SUBSIDIZED FLIGHTS AND ACCOMMODATIONS
About 1,000 American delegates from 16 constituent organizations of the American Zionist Federation, which organized the assembly, partipated in addition to the magshimim. Their convention began Sunday afternoon as the magshimim concluded their weekend.
According to some organizers, the AZF, World Zionist Organization and Jewish Agency provided some $200,000 to subsidize the flights, accommodations and food for hundreds of North American magshimim. Most of the organizers agreed that AZF brought the younger generation to demonstrate that aliya is still a vital force in the American Zionist movement.
Last Sunday, the only day that the magshimim conference intersected with the official four-day Zionist Assembly, the younger generation had some harsh words for the elders.
HARSH WORDS FOR THE JEWISH AGENCY
Joel Sweet, a member of Garin Gal Hadash and Habonim, criticized the Jewish Agency which funds the Zionist youth movements.
Following an appeal for aliya by Leon Dulzin, chairman of the World Zionist Organization and of the Jewish Agency Executives, Sweet said, “I am really beginning to doubt the integrity of the men who run the Jewish Agency.” Sweet told Dulzin that the youth movements still have no budgets for educational campaigns and group activities. “If you really think we’re relevant, don’t tell us, show us.”
Sweet argued the convention was a waste of resources because almost all of the magshimim are already committed to aliya. “We are still walking back to our groups with empty pockets,” he said. Gonen Hacklay, treasurer of Habonim Dror of America, told Dulzin, “Zionist youth movements waste much of their time worrying about where funds will come from for their next activity … The money used to plan this seminar could have been better used to support the youth movements in Batim (collective Jewish housing on campus) and in summer camps.”
NO LONGER A MONOPOLY
Simmy Zivel, director of the United Kibbutz Movement of North America, said the Zionist establishment called the conference because “The Zionist organizations in America no longer have a monopoly on issues related to Israel.
“Everyone in the Jewish community realizes that some relationship with Israel is the single most important component in most American Jews’ identity. So people, non-Zionists, will naturally ask the Zionist organizations. How are we different?
“The only way the Zionist movement can justify its ongoing existence is by dealing with the one issue that non-Zionists are not able to make an ideological stand on-namely Zionism.”
Many of the magshimim expressed resentment at being brought in as a showpiece, a display for the professionals.
But Becky Rowe, an organizer of the magshimim conference and the director of the Progressive Zionist Caucus (PZC), explained the necessity of the conference.
“It is important to show that there’s a youthful contingent, that there’s vitality in the AZF,” Rowe said. However, she added, “The hotel is a horrible statement. The shlichim (emissaries) said this is not for us, it’s a ‘busha’ (embarrassment). The movements have no money and they (AZF) waste so much money. But the Jewish professionals want their conference in a five-star hotel.”
ACKNOWLEDGES GENERATION GAP
Dulzin, responding to his youthful critics, acknowledged the generation gap. “I don’t claim to represent you,” he said. “There is a gap in age, in time and in temperament. But nobody will decide aliya for you but yourself. We will assist you, we will give you all our help. But you have to work out programs of activities and we will give you our support.”
Akiva Lewinsky, treasurer of WZO and the Jewish Agency, sought to explain why the Jewish Agency subsidized the magshimim, addressing the question of wasted money and resources.
“Why did I agree to it?” Lewinsky said. “The presence of the Zionist movement has not been felt. If a Zionist presence is not felt, the community will move away from Israel. This is the greatest danger to the Jewish people I see.
“I would have liked to save the money. But this was an opportunity for garinim to meet and for the movements to show that there is a unity of purpose. Here are 500 people for whom aliya is important.”
ASSURANCES ABOUT REDIRECTING U.S. ZIONISM
Lewinsky assured the magshimim that their funding would not suffer as a result of money spent on the conference. He explained that all Jewish organizations need more money for education. Rowe summed up the essence of the weekend following Lewinsky’s remarks. “Akiva Lewinsky said aliya is a process that starts with decisions. I disagree. Aliya is a process that starts with questions and that is why we’re here this weekend. I hope that not only can we come closer to achieving a tangible political goal but that we faced some intellectual and personal challenges related to our own future.”
Ben Cohen, AZF president, said the aliya activists have long been at odds with and suspicious of the establishment which has neglected them. But, he said, there is a genuine attempt to redirect American Zionism back towards aliya.
“Our intentions are honorable,” Cohen said. “We are trying to get the American Zionist movement to dedicate much more of its resources to education and the aliya process.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
