Kibbutz Arava is an agricultural community located in Southern Israel in the arid Arava Valley. The kibbutz has a fluxing population with an average of over 300 people present at any time. Most people living on Kibbutz Arava are of American decent, but there are many other nationalities represented. Many new kibbutz members are from England, Israel, and America. Both religious and secular people live on Kibbutz Arava, making it the only kibbutz in Israel that includes both types of people.
Kibbutz Arava adheres to traditional kibbutz ideologies regarding production and therefore relies on agriculture as its main source of income. The kibbutz has resisted industrialization. Recently, due to several diminished farming seasons, Kibbutz Arava has fallen into debt. The kibbutz recently began debating the opening of an industrial rock quarry as to help pay back its debt. Many members object, hoping that the kibbutz would come up with more creative ways to earn an income. Within its population, I believe, that the members of Kibbutz Arava possess the knowledge, ability, and willingness to create a broad and sustainable economic base that would let the kibbutz support itself in the future. To validate this last point, one need merely to walk around the halls of environmental studies departments on any campus. Posted on the walls are fliers advertising the Kibbutz Institute for Environmental Studies.
Each adult member has a different story of why they came to live on kibbutz. However, most people are living on Kibbutz Arava for two reasons: 1.) to be able to work for themselves, and 2.) to be able to raise their children in a safe and comfortable environment. In a world whose cities are increasingly becoming more polarized and violent, these basic wants/needs are synonymous with life on a kibbutz.
Internally, Kibbutz Arava functions rather communally and ecologically. There is a central dining room and commons area. Food that is eaten in the dining room arrives as bulk, wholesale crates, thus eliminating retail wastes such as packaging and plastic wrappers. The kibbutz is a pedestrian community. People are able to walk and ride their bikes to any kibbutz activity. In fact, there are only five leisure cars available for the 130 adult members. On kibbutz, people don’t throw much away. When things break, they are fixed either by the garage, carpentry shop, or laundry. Things are not easily thrown away, as items are scarce. There are public commodities, such as a coffee and tea lounge, a pool, an entertainment area, a computer and fax room, a music studio, and a horse stable. By offering these enmities, the kibbutz eliminates the need for everyone to have their own T.V., computer, etc.
The central kibbutz office handles financial and bureaucratic needs: The mail is stamped, travel reservations are taken care of, and painful tax forms are filled inconspicuously, often unseen by most members. Even though the kibbutz does not pay individual members money, it spends about U.S. $20,000, annually, for each adult. Because the kibbutz collectively spends its money on all its members, its is able to create a quality of life much higher than that of a person earning $20,000 in America. On kibbutz, each member owns a house, enjoys a beautiful landscape, and lives comfortably knowing that nutritional, health, and child needs are all provided for.
Kibbutz Arava has recently allowed for moderate privatization, allowing members to accept monetary gifts from outside family members. Because of this, some members had plush living accommodations with futons, entertainment systems, and cars. Other members had only what the kibbutz gave them. To help those members that had no money to spend on luxury items, the kibbutz upgraded many of its community areas such as the members lounge and the computer room.
Work on kibbutz is unique. Unemployment is quite low, about 1%. Those who are unemployed usually choose to be unemployed. There are no set schedules, jobs often change, and work progresses quite informally. There are no time cards and no paychecks. Payment is received as the security of knowing that there will always be food, health care, child care, and public services available at all times. Because Kibbutz Arava functioned this way, it had a minimal outflow of wealth. The minimal monetary provisions awarded to members and volunteers is usually spent at the kibbutz store where one can buy sundry foods, drinks, and basic supplies.
Externally, Kibbutz Arava functioned like any other business. It produced products, marketed them, and sold them with the goal of making as much profit as possible. To an outside buyer, the kibbutzim operated like any other business.
My biggest problem with kibbutz life was the long working hours. I felt that people really needed two days off to have enough free time to pursue individual goals. Also, I felt that too much red meat was consumed. For the most part the food was good, but after several months, it became quite monotonous. For people with specialized diets, such those found in Santa Cruz, kibbutz life might be impossible. My final complaint about my kibbutz experience was the above mentioned use of pesticides. This is bad and needs changing.
The modern day kibbutz is not an organization out to promote social change for other people. It does promote social change, though on an internal level for those living within its framework. The kibbutz, contrary to my initial hopes and curiosities, does not offer the world an alternative to capitalism. What it can do, in one member’s words, is “show a personalized model of an alternative community that exists on a small level." The kibbutz is a selective community where people have come to live, in order to avoid the “contaminants" and negative attributes of a capitalistic society. People living on Kibbutz Arava have come to create a better lifestyle, to form a community where people care and look after one another, and where public activities act as a central source of entertainment. The socialist mentality and mostly communal lifestyle is really what I feel constitutes social change here. “Everyone to his or her own needs.”
If the kibbutzim of Israel, or for that matter, any community in the world, wants to survive, they must uphold certain basic conditions. Community amongst people is vital. Without community, people are separate and weak, prone to any such action that prevails. When people live and work in a community, they hold the power to control their destiny. In a world that is becoming increasingly predetermined, I hold this idea of community and self power most sincerely, for it is that which has given humanity that motives to keep evolving.
In the vast Negev desert of Southern Israel lie an uninviting, barren desert landscape. The day brings blistering 120� heat. The night may freeze. The ecosystem appears lifeless, yet creatures do survive. Any living thing there must constantly adapt to the variable and unpredictable conditions in order to survive. Kibbutz Arava, in quite a similar situation, must do the same, or it too will wither and die.
Some final thought: To you, I give thanks
