From The Editor (1st Edition)

A warm welcome to this inaugural issue of Kaleidoscope, an online magazine for readers who are likely to open an email containing the word “Habonim” in the subject line!

The background to this online publication will be of interest. It all started in 2015 as the brainchild of Stephen Pincus, a past leader of Habonim-Dror in South Africa, who brought together a group of ex-Habonim friends, then resident in Canada, UK, USA and South Africa, for a program of encounter in Israel, which was named Kaleidoscope. The program was expanded beyond the Habonim community in subsequent years and in 2020 the HABO 2020 (now HABO 100) brand, website and Facebook Group were created.

Unfortunately, what also emerged in 2020 was the pandemic lockdown. An online platform called “Habonim Engaged in Dialog” (affectionately referred to as “HED”), was immediately formed under the leadership of Stephen Pincus (chair), Dave Bloom, Mark Kedem, and Felicity Swerdlow, which aimed to engage alumni of the “Movement” in a series of stimulating presentations by Habonim alumni who had emerged as distinguished leaders in politics, healthcare, finance, social activism, science, law and many other fields.

What was entirely unanticipated was the fact that these repeated online encounters would lead to the surfacing of old friendships, professional, and, in some cases, family relationships. In other words, a real “community” had been formed online, something which would not have been imaginable prior to the pandemic. This community subsequently expanded over time across generations and geographies, with current members of Habonim South Africa being very much part of this virtual community.

And then the pandemic ended. The frequencies of HED programs diminished. Personally, I expressed my concern that this vital community would lose its bearings and disintegrate and that we needed to find a vehicle to act as the glue to hold it together. I suggested that a magazine be published on the internet and possibly in print to engage members of this community. After a gestation of about 2 years Stephen Pincus and I decided to proceed with the idea of a magazine.

I agreed to serve as a possible founding editor, based upon my interests in both the sciences and humanities and the fact that I had experience in establishing and editing journals, knowing full well that a far more competent replacement for me would be found at some point. In responding to the frequent question from friends and associates as to what the focus of the magazine was to be, my answer has been: “I have no idea!”. It would be broad-based, dictated by the varied interests, expertise and sentiments of the geographically dispersed readership. It would not be an academic journal but it would require an editorial board to ensure a high standard of style and substance and which, in some small way, would pull at the heartstrings of a remarkable community most of whom spoke with the same recognizable accent.

Kaleidoscope is now ready for a flood of letters to the editor, short or long narratives, reflections on past experiences in the Movement, artworks, photography, poetry, and the like. All submissions in this issue have undergone editorial review and some have been thereby improved. Some have been viewed as not being suitable for publication and have been politely declined. These practices will continue and will include letters to the editor, some of which will not be deemed worthy of publication.

The initial distribution of the magazine has been sent to the email addresses of approximately 2500 individuals who attended HED sessions over the years. We expect the distribution to be significantly expanded going forward.

Stephen Pincus serves as Chair of the overall infrastructure and support of the magazine and as advisor to the Editor. Sandra Fine, a retired librarian, living in Jerusalem, with experience in journal editing and past positions with Newsweek Magazine, the Knesset library, the Israel Democracy Institute and the Van Leer Institute, serves as Managing Editor. The Editorial Board which includes a group of editorial advisors, is charged with the responsibility for identifying prospective contributors, reviewing submissions and making recommendations to the Editor.

Kaleidoscope plans to be a quarterly online publication.

Contributions will be archived so that these can be republished subsequently in print form if the magazine has the resources to move into a subscription mode.

Submissions and letters should be sent to the Managing Editor at Kaleidoscope.magazine.editor@gmail.com

I wish a happy 2025 to all our readers.