One of the central ideas is that of tikkun olam, a Hebrew phrase that means "mending the world" which originated in the early rabbinic period of Judaism.

Every chaver(a) (member) tends to embody the spirit of Habonim Dror and the underlying idea of mutual acceptance and support for one another through good works, based on their shared experiences and values gained in the movement.

The expression of these ideals involves gatherings and activities that include scouting, camping, hiking, as well as the education of the geography and history of Eretz Yisrael (the land of Israel).

[3] Aron acknowledges that he could not have succeeded without Chaim Lipshitz, who organized the first model Gedud (group), and Norman Lourie, whose enthusiasm helped generate other volunteer leaders.

[citation needed] Lipschitz was the natural person to lead the first group since he had already organized meetings of boys at his father's Cheder (school room) and they were well established by December 1928.

(Incidentally this Cheder was one of the few more-progressive of these establishments, many were unattractive places that taught only traditional Hebrew and Torah (Biblical law).)

[5] The first meeting of leaders of the Jewish youth community as reported by Wellesley Aron, was in a letter to Dr. S. Brodetsky (of the Zionist Foundation) on 11 January 1929.

Wellesley mentioned that only five people attended, but that Norman Lourie (the third founder) called a larger meeting for the following week (10 January) where representatives from at least seven Jewish youth organizations were present.

England at this time was the center of political Zionism, after the Balfour Declaration in 1917 had stated that "His Majesty's Government favourably viewed the establishment of a Jewish National Home in Palestine" (then under British mandate).

The first Gedud Trumpeldor was built on Lipschitz's existing youth group in Stepney with Lipshitz as Rosh (leader) assisted by Norman Lourie.

In May 1929 the first 27-page hand-booklet detailing how Habonim was to function was published by Aron with help in the mimeographing from Norman Lourie and his friend Nadia, who he later married.

During the Second World War the senior members of Habonim helped to organize and take care of the many refugee children who escaped from the Nazis through special Kindertransports.

Other members whose aliyah was delayed due to the war, helped the war-time food shortage to be met by working as groups of laborers on various farming communities.

[27] Habonim Dror has also adopted gender-inclusive programming for its campers as per the Jewish principle of ‘shivyon erech ha’adam’ (equality of human value).

[28] Above providing gender-neutral washrooms,[28] the movement's summer camps have reconfigured portions of the highly gendered Hebrew language used on its campgrounds to affirm transgender and non-binary members.

Habonim Dror Aotearoa New Zealand is possibly the last Jewish youth movement in the world to run their summer camps entirely under canvas, including digging own toilets.

They are in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Ken Ha'Shemesh Ha'Olah, which runs online and branches out to smaller communities around the country.

Habonim was first brought to Australia in 1940, when seven new Australians decided to create a Zionist youth movement along similar lines to those that already existed in Europe.

The following year, Habonim Australia's first hachshara (preparation, in Hebrew: הכשרה) farm was established in Springvale, about 25 km out of Melbourne's centre.

These madrichim will prepare and run peulot (activities) on a weekly basis for their chanichim, as well as biannual camps and other extra events such as shabbatonim (sleepover on shabbat).

Additionally, there are other tafkidim (roles) that allow for madrichim to take responsibility for various aspects of the movement such as Judaism, Zionism, gardening, equipment and politics and social action.

At these nine branches across the country, Habonim runs weekly activities for children, teenagers and young adults from 7 to 22 years old, as well as weekly-long Machanot (camps) in Summer and Winter.

The Mexico City ken is one of the most international connected keniano in the world working with North American and Latin America at the same time.

Lourie himself had adopted the idea in London where he had joined Wellesley Aron in the founding of Habonim on the same model one year earlier.

As Norman Lourie explained in a talk to Women Zionists in November 1931: he was aiming “principally to stimulate Jewish boys and girls to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the heritage of the Jewish past, leading to a vision of the new Palestine as the spiritual pivot of our hopes.” Yet aliyah remained unmentioned; Habonim’s official aims spoke only of stimulating Jewish boys and girls ‘to a realisation of their heritage as Jews and their responsibilities, in particular those relating to the upbuilding of Eretz Israel, which that heritage involves.’ It was particularly in its educational methodology that Habonim modelled itself on the Boy Scouts, each unit called gedud, being divided into kevutzot (patrols, and the senior bonim, aged about sixteen, being given responsibility as rashei kevutzot (patrol leaders) over the younger bonim.

Given these circumstances, over and above the already marked religio-ethnic consciousness of the mostly, Litvak-stock Jews of South Africa, the new Habonim movement made phenomenal strides.

Starting in March 1931 at Doornfontein, Johannesburg, with a gedud of twelve boys whose madrich was Norman Lourie himself, by the end of 1933 there were 56 gedudim comprising about 1100 members.

However, remains active running weekly meetings for Bogrim and shomrim members as well as other cultural events such as third seders, and outreach programes.

In this time, chanichim will travel around Israel, learning about and visiting a variety of sites, they will also be volunteering and spending an entire day with other Habonim Dror tour participants from all over the world.

[44] After returning from Israel Tour, participants become Madrichim (leaders) and will spend the year doing Hadracha (leadership) training in preparation for them to take on roles in the summer across a variety of Machanot.