I managed and updated Michael’s website — article upon article expressing his worldview on a wide range of topics that, for him, all came together in a completely holistic ideology: Reform Judaism, Zionism, ecology, the kibbutz, democracy, and peace with our neighbors. Both the writing itself and the work of collecting and preserving his materials at Yad Tabenkin strengthened me and inspired me to do the same.
Another connection between us was around matters of the Habonim Dror movement. In recent years, Michael invested enormous effort in the youth movement he had left some 60 years earlier. When people 50 years younger than him stopped believing the struggle could succeed — and despite having far more to lose personally if they gave up — Michael kept encouraging perseverance toward the goal, continuing the struggle in line with the values of the youth movement, the movement that gave rise to the urban kibbutzim, even though the rural and desert kibbutz was also so important to him.
And then there was the kibbutz itself. As someone who fully understood that the kibbutz was no longer the idealistic kibbutz it once was, when most of those around him gave up on the cooperative, mission‑driven Zionist kibbutz, he continued to fight tirelessly for the face of the kibbutz in the 21st century. I don’t understand how the despair experienced by so many kibbutz members during the privatization and dismantling processes never seemed to pierce him at all, and how his absolute faith in people and in cooperation never let him stop fighting for the character of the kibbutz even when all signs around him indicated that success in this struggle was impossible.
I am the editor of Habonim Dror’s newsletter, an online publication I put out each month. Michael had a regular column in the paper. Amid all the updates from summer camps around the world and youth movement activities, there was Michael — in his 80s — writing about Zionism, ecology, Judaism, the kibbutz, and peace. It was so important to him to educate future generations about these ideas, just as he had done all his life.
Even after 25 years in Israel, my Hebrew is still far from where I’d like it to be. But all these years, I’ve kept one rule — to speak only in Hebrew with people whose mother tongue it is, no matter if they speak to me in English, I always answer in Hebrew. When I speak with native English speakers, I speak to them in English — it’s easier for me. Except with Michael. We always spoke in Hebrew — we never talked about it — I never asked him why. Maybe because, after over 60 years in Israel, it really was easier for him. But maybe it was yet another way for him to embody Zionism, even as it had become something of a dirty word.
Michael, we will miss you, but we will keep fighting for a better world. I can’t promise I’ll keep up the struggle with all my strength until nearly age 90, but know that you paved a path that many people are still walking behind you.
May his memory be a blessing.