During the war, many Palmachniks were killed, and after, the brigades themselves were disbanded.  Palmachniks became prominent in all walks of Israeli life: politics, the military, agriculture, journalism, the arts.  Attempts were made, from time to time, to continue the chizbat tradition at private parties and gatherings.  But it didn’t work.  Things had changed: The ambience wasn’t right.  The youth had come of age.  A state had been established, and there were new truths to be reckoned with.  The days of the chizbat had passed.

Elliott Oring is professor of anthropology at California State University, Los Angeles, and a research associate at the Center for the Study of Comparative Folklore and Mythology at UCLA. He has written The Jokes of Sigmund Freud: A Study in Humor and Jewish Identity and Folk Groups and Folklore Genres: An Introduction, as well as articles on humor, folklore, and symbolism.

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