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One of my wonderful followers (or at least commenters) asked these questions about Kibbutzim:
Tell us what a kibbutz is like. Do people live in separate homes? How big is it? How many families live there? Do you eat meals together? Why do people choose to live on a kibbutz? Are you allowed to go outside the kibbutz? Is there a school on the kibbutz?
I asked our archaeologist friends, Dan and Michael who have stayed in this kibbutz while digging at Omrit for many years. The kibbutzim movement was very important in the 1970’s. Here is their answer:
Many American Jews moved to Israel thinking they would create a utopian communal type of living. In the beginning the kids even stayed separate from their parents in the children’s house all week long and only went home to be with their parents on weekends. All of the meals were communal and everyone was paid the same stipend no matter how important they were or what they did for work. There were small houses where everyone lived and then lots of farmland. Each kibbutz produced different things. Now the kibbutzim are changing. Most of the people living on the kibbutzim are older. Many of the younger people have moved to the cities.
Every kibbutz has a business that provides work and money for the people who live there. Many kibbutzim have an area where there are cabins for people to stay in when they vacation in the country.
There are no longer communal meals. Everyone cooks for themselves in their own homes. There is a small grocery store where people can get the basics. There is also a pub and a swimming pool. People are totally free to go where ever they want on a kibbutz. I think there used to be schools, but am guessing that there are not now.
The Jewish Virtual Library information about kibbutz
Tomorrow will be about my visit to Palestine.
The new mascot to look for in some of the photos that I post is an armadillo with a cowboy hat. Texas has the armadillo as the state animal. The card on this armadillo says, “Texans have fallen in love with this mammal through the years in so far as to adopt it as the state mascot in 1981”. I need to come up with a name for this mascot and so I am going to put up another poll and I hope you will all vote. But first of all I need suggestions of names for the poll. What should we name the armadillo?Yesterday was another LONG traveling day. Here is what we did: 7:30 am taxi to the port at Kusadisi, 9:00 am ferry to Samos, 11:30 fight to Athens, 3:00ish (I can’t remember) flight to Cyprus, 9:00 flight to Tel Aviv, Israel, two hour taxi drive to ???? where I am now. We arrived at about 2:30 am. In spite of the long day and the many types of transport we did not lose our luggage and everything went as planned, so it was a miracle. But it is no surprise that I am tired today.
I woke up at 10:30 am in a strange place. The professor was gone. The poor guy had to go to meetings all day today starting at 7:30 am! I still don’t really know where I am. It is a kibbutz and I did take a walk and find a small grocery store where I could buy some food to eat. My main problem is that I cannot read the signs.
I did find one with a spoon and fork and it led me to the grocery store. I also finished reading my book. I have read two books and listened to another already on this trip. I read “On Beauty” by Zadie Smith last week because it was in the hotel library. I had to read it before I left Turkey, so I read a lot. I have also been reading “Three Cups of Tea, One Man’s Mission to Promote P
eace One School At a Time” which is an amazing true story of Greg Mortinson and the beginning of the Central Asia Institute. His stories make my trip sound extremely easy. I listened to “Tribes” by Seth Godin, I need to listen to that one again. It is thought provoking and I am not sure I agree with all of the things he says.I just got done Skyping with Bob Dunn who is one of the Followers of the Odyssey. I am going to Skype with him and his class tomorrow! They are in Vermont, USA.
