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HeHalutz (Hebrew: החלוץ, lit. The Pioneer) was an association of Jewish youth whose aim was to train its members to settle in the Land of Israel, which became an umbrella organization of the pioneering Zionist youth movements.
Established by Joseph Trumpeldor in 1918, following World War I the movement spread all over Europe, as well as overseas. At its peak between 1930-1935 the movement counted 100,000 adherents, with 16,000 members in hakhsharot (training centers) for the pioneering life in the Land of Israel.
Hechalutz today (2009) is an Israeli non-profit organization dedicated to Cultural Jewish and Zionist education for Diaspora Jews. We aim to connect Diaspora Jewry to the timeless Zionist ideals of creating a self-determining, responsible, and moral Jewish Nation, centered around a sovereign Jewish National Home based on these ideals.
Hechalutz is more than just an educational service provider. We are a community of kibbutzim and irbutzim (urban kibbutzim) of olim (immigrants) from Zionist youth movements abroad who strive to live our lives based on the values of equality, freedom, tikkun olam (repairing the world), and tikkun atzmi (repairing the self). In addition to educational work with Diaspora communities, Hechalutz members also work in education within Israeli society, with the dual purpose of building a more just society in Israel, and involving the wider Jewish communities in this work. The individuals invested in Hechalutz have chosen to live and work in Israel as part of a strong personal devotion to our Zionist vision.
Cultural Judaism
Hechalutz is a center for Cultural Judaism and Jewish learning in Israel. Just like the original Zionist chalutzim (pioneers), we strive to shape our Jewish expression in a way that both preserves tradition and coincides with our values. Although Hechalutz is secular in nature, we cherish the study of Jewish sources both old and new. With traditional Jewish texts as our foundation, Hechalutz has developed a unique method of Jewish learning and expression that serves to connect Jewish individuals and communities intellectually and spiritually to Judaism and Zionism. The personal experience of the Hechalutz educators in shaping our own Jewish expression served as an inspiration to develop dynamic methods that allow us to engage in Jewish learning with a wider range of people exploring their own Judaism.
Education
Education is the manner by which Hechalutz aims to affect society – both in Israel and in Diaspora communities. Through this means, we hope to nurture the values of Judaism, Zionism, and humanism among the general population of the Jewish communities around the world. By engaging in education based around values, we strive to affect the character of the Jewish people.
Our education is informal in nature. This means that, rather than taking part in frontal classroom learning, a participant in a Hechalutz program is a part creating the educational experience – whether via active and physical creation on a tiyul (hike) or machaneh (camp), or via participation in a discussion on Judaism throughout a seminar.
Notes
- This article incorporates text from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and has been released under the GFDL.
External links
- Resistance in the Smaller Ghettos of Eastern Europe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Hechalutz Hechalutz Education
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