7. Pioneering Ideology: ‘Halutziut’
The ideological influence of the pioneering generation
– the Halutzim – on the creation of the society,
State and way of life of young Israel, cannot be overstated.
It was all-encompassing, leaving an imprint on everything
it touched. There is room here for only a limited number
of observations on its effect on cultural patterns and
creative expression in the young society.
It is imperative to note that the Halutzic view of the
world was essentially collective. While their ideology
spoke of the importance of the individual, this basically
lay in his/her relationship to the collective endeavor
of the society. An individual was expected to express
the interests of that society, and to work for its benefit
– part of a number of larger communal units that
interacted to form the society as a whole. This collective
ideology became the foundation of the most cultural expression
of Israeli society in its formative years.
It may also be suggested that, by its very nature, the
Halutzic emphasis on physical work as the foundation of
their way of life produced a very male culture. Women’s
struggle to gain equal status was bound to be problematic
in a society that measured success and personal standing
largely according to an individual’s physical contribution
in building up the society. While this will be dealt with
in Section 12, it is appropriate
to mention here that the most personal writing of the
pioneering generation was produced by a woman, Rachel
Bluwstein. It was she who expressed the pioneering ethos
of the society in a way that did not subordinate the individual:
her work always presents the particularized voice even
as she celebrates her attempted contribution to the collective.
Perhaps this is not coincidental. Despite protestations
to the contrary, however, the world of the Halutzim was
a male world.
In
many ways, it was also an Eastern European world. It drew
its atmosphere, ideology and many of its symbols and trademarks
from the socialist, revolutionary circles in the Eastern
European lands from which most of its members came. Perhaps
the perfect cultural expression of all of these tendencies
– emphasis on the collective, maleness and the Eastern
European character – is the emergence of the workers’
choirs of the Yishuv that flourished from the 1920s and
30s onwards. The texts of their songs reflect the pioneering
ethos, but the melodies – drawn from Eastern Europe
– recall nothing so much as the Red Army Choir that
was world famous under the Soviet regime.
Undeniably, music provides a fine cultural path for entering
the world of the Halutzim. Dozens of songs were written
– many on the basis of the works of poets such as
Rahel or Bialik – that celebrated the pioneers’
ideas and ideals. These songs tend to reflect a strong
secular pride in the achievements of the young society:
whatever has been achieved has been achieved by the people
themselves; God has had no part in building the society.
Man (and, to a lesser extent, woman) has been the creator
this time.
Indeed,
this society made a new religion of physical labor: a
priesthood of the Halutzim, a synagogue of the kibbutz
and Avodat Kodesh (holy work) of its members’
constructive actions. When Avraham Shlonsky speaks of
his work as a road-builder, he equates the newly built
houses with the boxes (‘houses’ – batim)
of Tefillin (phylacteries), and the new black roads
crossing the land with their straps.
Early
cinema also focuses on the pioneers’ work. Almost
messianic in their associations, the films of the 1930s
express great admiration for and delight in the achievements
of the pioneers and new kibbutzniks. Life in towns is
sometimes shown to be problematic, individualistic and
decadent: it is in the collective achievements of the
pioneering society that the essence of creativity is found.
In one famous scene from this era, the pioneers of Kibbutz
Mishmar Ha‘emek are shown singing a Halutzic song.
First the camera pans around the kibbutz, showing its
members at their different tasks all singing the same
song; then the scene switches to the dining hall where
all the kibbutzniks are singing the song collectively.
It is a powerful moment, and one that perfectly captures
the spirit of the pioneering world.
As time progressed, the pioneers’ world ceased to
be the central expression of the highest values of Israeli
society. Society changed – as did the kibbutzim
themselves – and other models prevailed. The pioneers
and their ideals seemed increasingly at odds with the
widespread mores and more individualistic atmosphere of
the times. Their way of life became the subject of increasing
criticism, and even ridicule. Night of the Twentieth,
a famous 1970s play by a leading Israeli playwright, Yehoshua
Sobol, provided a sharp, iconoclastic critique of some
of the outstanding symbols and great individuals of the
pioneering movement. Israelis flocked to see the play.
In retrospect, this may have been the beginning of the
pioneer’s dethronement from the central place in
the Israeli ideological pantheon.