Kibbutz-Kissufim

I’ve had Jewish professional colleagues who talked about volunteering in a kibbutz for a summer or for a year in the 70’s, before launching their careers. They extolled its transforming experience of personal enrichment and connecting with their roots. I happened to schedule my Israeli trip on Passover so I was very excited when my friend invited me to have Seder with her in her kibbutz, Kissufim. It is 1.5 kilometers from the Gaza strip, south of Tel Aviv, northwest of the Negev desert, which raised anxious concerns among my family and friends. But my friend’s father still live there (she now lives in Tel Aviv) and she’s going so I figure, I’ll be just as safe there as anywhere else. There were signs of the danger though, in the ongoing construction of bomb shelters in each residence.

 I rented a car and drove the 116 kilometers on sleek highways. I had no trouble as the driving is on the right as in the US and I had a GPS I named Golda. I was intrigued to learn more about the kibbutzim movement when my friend remarked that people in Israel can tell when they meet her, that she was raised in a kibbutz. I couldn’t, but I’m sure the telling characteristics are positive.

The kibbutz movement is communal living based on socialist principles of sharing with all and each provided by all with what he needs. Together with the Zionist movement it became a powerful force in establishing the state of Israel. The Zionist international organization provided the funds to buy lands in Palestine for settlement. The kibbutzim are generally in the periphery of the state as they were intended to define and secure the borders of the state. The first kibbutz was founded in 1909 by Russian youths in the southern shores of Galilee, in Degania. Kissufim was founded in the 50’s by immigrants from South America and the US. My friend’s father is one of the founders. Early life in the kibbutz was harsh. Palestine, after the demise of the Ottoman Empire was barren and ridden with malaria. The resident Arabs were poor and lived in miserable conditions. The Jewish settlers, drained marshes, irrigated the desert and planted the land and developed a thriving agriculture economy then later expanded into manufacturing, services, electronics and other industry. With the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, kibbutzim grew rapidly, until it began its decline in the 80’s, due to various factors such as economic recession worldwide, decline of agriculture revenues, ideological shift in the younger generation towards individualistic principles, income gap, media exposure to outside influences, abuse of the system, etc. Today there are about 260 kibbutzim ranging in size from less than 100 members to over a thousand. The idealogy is changing towards various degrees of privatization, and there are some who prophesizes its demise but others who maintain optimism that it can incorporate change to adapt to reality but retain its core principle of egalitarianism. Today many kibbutzim are moving towards eco-agriculture, and tourism to maintain its vitality. Kissufim now has dwindled to about 100 members, many are aging. It’s economy is fueled by agriculture, and dairy production, and it employs outside labor ( Arabs and Vietnamese) to provide its workforce. The dining room is no longer the hub of the commune, my friend’s father has a caregiver and eats at home, but his needs are taken care of by the commune. Some are moving back with young children by choice. The kibbutzim no longer raise children in separate quarters from their parents since the 70’s, like how my friend was raised, so families find the commune ideal to shield children from the onslaught of external influences. And some young couples move back to escape the stress of urban living.

Maybe, it is not a lost world.