Hagashrim Kibbutz

Our drive from Tel Aviv took us north to the upper Galillee where we were to sample life on the Hagashrim Kibbutz. We stopped along the way to visit Naot shoes, a factory on a nearby Kibbutz, then onto our hotel kibbutz where we would spend the next two nights, and where Stu and I would pass the day. The story of the Kibbutzim is Israel’s story. Although never more than 4% of the population lived on a kibbutz, a much larger proportion of the Haganah members, and the current industrial output, come from Kibbutz.
Kibbutz are communist as their finest. The original kibbutzim were established on the land with each member working to his/her ability and receiving equally with all other members. You could live on a kibbutz without spending any money, rent, food, and clothing, all came from the communal pot. Times are changing, however, and more kibbutzim have a blend of privatization and communal living. In this emerging model, those with more responsible positions receive higher stipends than those whose jobs are more menial. Each still receives sufficient shares to live on the kibbutz, and major decisions are still made by the kibbutz.
Kibbutz Hagashrim operates a hotel and small conference center. In addition they have an agricultural component, manufacture some building products made of Jerusalem stone, and have been partners in the original EpiLady products sold worldwide. In Israel in general, and on the 230 odd Kibbutz that continue to operate, the population is aging with fewer babies born, or young people coming to the kibbutz than is needed to maintain their agriculture and industry.
A major question is whether or not prosperity and opportunity, the drive for individual gain, will not ultimately kill the communal living associated with Kibbutz. Cities like Tel Aviv and Haifa are major international players, and could be located in any developing or developed country in the world. They don’t have a distinctly unique Israel flavor. The country is more secular than religious, another question. Should the religious run the country, or should Israel be a secular nation, still based on Torah, but secular nevertheless. So many questions for us to consider, for Israel to consider. This is an extremely complex country, and its problems have no easy solution. Do we give up the Golan because there are a growing number of Arabs and the Arab birthrate is greater than the Jewish birthrate? If this continues, there will be more Arabs than Jews within the next decade. At some point everyone will have the vote, and what the Arabs have not been able to do in war, they may do by sheer numbers in the voting booth. If we give up the Golan, then perhaps we can maintain the flavor of Israel with a Jewish majority.
Stu and I opted to spend a day at the Kibbutz, sleeping in, rising late, wandering through the Kibbutz. The rest of the tour went to the northern border and took a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee near Tiberias—sights we had seen during our wonderful week in the Galilee and Tiberias. The rest was very welcomed and will hopefully prepare us for the balance of the trip.