Name: | Leah Feder. |
Commonly known as: | Shim's sister |
Joined Betar:: | In 1949 (prehistoric time don't you think?) |
Why: | I started out in Habonim. Would you believe it? That was back a century ago (1948). At that time my brother was already in Betar and every time I came back from a Habo meeting I kept calling my brother a "fascist" and he called me a "Commie". My mother couldn't put up with the continual arguing back and forth and laid down an ultimatum. Either I joined Betar or Shim join Habonim. Being the squirt that I was I was forced to join Betar. That's how I got where I am today...... I was at a "Hashy", meeting every Sunday at Herzl Hall (deceased) together with Gwen and Philip Mirjam and Jack Mirjam was our madrich. What I remember clearly was that we spent most of the time doing "tass" - targilei seder. We became very good at it, as I remember. Sorry it was so long ago I have forgotten others who may have been in our group and for that I apologize. My first camp was the second one at Woori Yallock which I very much wanted to attend despite my brother's opposition. He gave in in the end on one condition - that I never mentioned that he was my brother and that I keep my distance from him. It worked fine, and as you can see I survived the camp and I'm still a member of Betar. I continued to climb the ladder going through Kanaim and into Bnei Etzel, finally becoming a Madricha. In 1956 I was selected to go on the Machon as a representative of Betar together with Aaron Ninedek. It was one of the best years of my life and one that influenced what I am today. I returned to Oz in 1957 (see Aaron's recollections of how we got back to Australia because of the closure of the Suez Canal after the Sinai Campaign). Later on I became a member of the Netzivut (secretary, taking down the minutes of meetings etc.). The Netzivut at that time: Jack Mirjam, Aaron Ninedek, Sam Offman and Alan Morris created a new Maoz in Northcote which was later taken over by Harry M. This was as a result of my going on Aliya in 1959. Since living here [in Israel] I worked for an insurance company, a shipping company and finally with an engineering company. Glad to say that I'm no longer useful as I am now "retired". Love every minute of the free time Ihave. In all these years I have always considered myself a part of Betar which has always been an integral part of who I am. This will never go away. |
Oh, by the way: | Who remembers "shmira" at camp? We were supposed to guard the flagpole and the kitchen to make sure nothing was swiped - ha ha!! From what I recall it was mainly for double-dating. My first shmira was when I was 10.....It was together with a kid from Sydney, Johnny Mann (famous for his accordion playing). We didn't do much "guarding" and I remember it was my first torrid love affair at the tender age of 10. Since then it has become a password for "getting to know each other better" and how better can it be done than if there's no-one around between midnight and 4 in the morning. |