The ideological influence of the pioneering generation – the Halutzim – on the creation of the society, State and way of life of young Israel, cannot be overstated. It was all-encompassing, leaving an imprint on everything it touched. There is room here for only a limited number of observations on its effect on cultural patterns and creative expression in the young society.

It is imperative to note that the Halutzic view of the world was essentially collective. While their ideology spoke of the importance of the individual, this basically lay in his/her relationship to the collective endeavor of the society. An individual was expected to express the interests of that society, and to work for its benefit – part of a number of larger communal units that interacted to form the society as a whole. This collective ideology became the foundation of the most cultural expression of Israeli society in its formative years.

It may also be suggested that, by its very nature, the Halutzic emphasis on physical work as the foundation of their way of life produced a very male culture. Women’s struggle to gain equal status was bound to be problematic in a society that measured success and personal standing largely according to an individual’s physical contribution in building up the society. While this will be dealt with in Section 12, it is appropriate to mention here that the most personal writing of the pioneering generation was produced by a woman, Rachel Bluwstein. It was she who expressed the pioneering ethos of the society in a way that did not subordinate the individual: her work always presents the particularized voice even as she celebrates her attempted contribution to the collective. Perhaps this is not coincidental. Despite protestations to the contrary, however, the world of the Halutzim was a male world.

In many ways, it was also an Eastern European world. It drew its atmosphere, ideology and many of its symbols and trademarks from the socialist, revolutionary circles in the Eastern European lands from which most of its members came. Perhaps the perfect cultural expression of all of these tendencies – emphasis on the collective, maleness and the Eastern European character – is the emergence of the workers’ choirs of the Yishuv that flourished from the 1920s and 30s onwards. The texts of their songs reflect the pioneering ethos, but the melodies – drawn from Eastern Europe – recall nothing so much as the Red Army Choir that was world famous under the Soviet regime.

Undeniably, music provides a fine cultural path for entering the world of the Halutzim. Dozens of songs were written – many on the basis of the works of poets such as Rahel or Bialik – that celebrated the pioneers’ ideas and ideals. These songs tend to reflect a strong secular pride in the achievements of the young society: whatever has been achieved has been achieved by the people themselves; God has had no part in building the society. Man (and, to a lesser extent, woman) has been the creator this time.

Indeed, this society made a new religion of physical labor: a priesthood of the Halutzim, a synagogue of the kibbutz and Avodat Kodesh (holy work) of its members’ constructive actions. When Avraham Shlonsky speaks of his work as a road-builder, he equates the newly built houses with the boxes (‘houses’ – batim) of Tefillin (phylacteries), and the new black roads crossing the land with their straps.

Early cinema also focuses on the pioneers’ work. Almost messianic in their associations, the films of the 1930s express great admiration for and delight in the achievements of the pioneers and new kibbutzniks. Life in towns is sometimes shown to be problematic, individualistic and decadent: it is in the collective achievements of the pioneering society that the essence of creativity is found. In one famous scene from this era, the pioneers of Kibbutz Mishmar Ha‘emek are shown singing a Halutzic song. First the camera pans around the kibbutz, showing its members at their different tasks all singing the same song; then the scene switches to the dining hall where all the kibbutzniks are singing the song collectively. It is a powerful moment, and one that perfectly captures the spirit of the pioneering world.

As time progressed, the pioneers’ world ceased to be the central expression of the highest values of Israeli society. Society changed – as did the kibbutzim themselves – and other models prevailed. The pioneers and their ideals seemed increasingly at odds with the widespread mores and more individualistic atmosphere of the times. Their way of life became the subject of increasing criticism, and even ridicule. Night of the Twentieth, a famous 1970s play by a leading Israeli playwright, Yehoshua Sobol, provided a sharp, iconoclastic critique of some of the outstanding symbols and great individuals of the pioneering movement. Israelis flocked to see the play. In retrospect, this may have been the beginning of the pioneer’s dethronement from the central place in the Israeli ideological pantheon.