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From: R. Kovacs
Subject: Formative experiences
Date: 14 Elul 5783
R. Nachmani touches on something deep.
In my grandfather's time, the youth movements were not summer activities. They were ideological training grounds. Hashomer Hatzair, Betar, Bnei Akiva, the various religious youth groups. These were not clubs for recreation. They were where you decided what kind of Jew you would be, what kind of Zionist, what kind of socialist, whether you would go to Palestine or stay in Europe. They shaped lives, determined futures, sometimes saved lives.
My father had two cousins, brothers actually, who joined different movements. One went to Hashomer Hatzair, the other to Betar. My father said they stopped speaking to each other for a year, though my uncle claims it was longer. The Hashomer boy's training prepared him for the forests, and he survived. The Betar boy went to Palestine in 1938 and fought with the Irgun. Both lived. Many of their friends did not.
The movement you joined was a declaration of who you would become. Your parents' politics, your rabbi's leanings, your neighborhood. All of it was encoded in those youth group meetings.
American summer camp is different, but not entirely different. The ideology is softer, perhaps, but the shaping is real.
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