50 Years On: Memories as a 6 Day Way Volunteer
The YZ Archive
We're more than just summer camps.
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Scroll down for a look at some of the archived blogs and vlogs - and surviving editions of the paper-version - of The Young Zionist (1931 - present).
May-June 1968
Howard Martell of Leeds Hafinjan pens 'Chofesh in Jerusalem'. Here's an extract: The chaos continued for most of the journey but suddenly everyone became quiet. It was not because the bus had come to a standstill or because a bomb had exploded, but because the hourly news bulletin was on the radio. And for the news everybody keeps quiet!
From the Six Day War (June-July 1967)
This is a fascinating insight into the Six Day War as it happens. 'In these fast-moving times,' writes the editor, ' words are outmoded before they are transcribed on to paper.' About a hundred FZYniks volunteer to go to Israel, dropping everything to join the cause.
June 1963 (Sivan 5723)
In our (Latin-titled) report of the resignation of Ben Gurion, which takes up a full page, the Movement writes: '[he] was a statesman with an unstatesman-like appearance - his inevitable open-neck shirt under an unruly mop of whipped-up white hair characterized his powerful diplomacy and his firm-handed management...'
August 1962 (Av 5722)
On the cover of this issue, you have seen that this is the August edition of the YZ. You may have noted that the July edition did not appear, and that the June edition came out on the last day of that month. That the issuing of the YZ has been erratic this year is an under-statement, and we must apologise for this.
October 1961 (Cheshvan 5722)
'Although we have no rigid rules and regulations as to who should belong, there are always the unwritten ones which I have now taken upon myself to write: We expect out members of FZY to have an interest in Jewish and Zionist affairs and to actively participate in the activities of their own.'
December 1959 (Kislev 5720)
It is vitally important - apparently - that an FZY group is not a club but a society. Its meetings are not primarily social but are for the purpose of informing and indeed educating the participants in the wider implications behind the word 'Jew' and in the wider aspects of our Jewish heritage and way of life.
April 1959 (Nissan 5719)
'The Jewish Chronicle has been conducting an enquiry to find out what type of person reads that paper. We have been conducting a similar enquiry to find out what type of person reads the Young Zionist. Unlike the Jewish Chronicle, we do not intend to print the results of this investigation.'
Russican Exodus Continues (March 1959, Adar II 5719)
WWII leaves a significant gap in our archives. When we rejoin in 1959, The Young Zionist costs sixpence, includes a quiz, and a scathing letter from a Habonim member which takes FZY to task on allegations that Habonim imbued children of an impressionable age. Feisty.