Page 2 - C.A.L.L. #29 - Winter 2007
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Dear Readers,
CONTENTSONTENTS
CONTENTSCONTENTS
C
This issue is dedicated to our secretary
Sol ‘Shlomo’ Etzioni, who sadly passed
away recently. This time the cover, 3 33 3
which is usually so colourful, is in black From the Secretary’s
and white out of respect. As we Desk
remember Sol (see obituary on opposite
page), I look back to the summer in an 4 44 4
attempt to recapture the vibrancy and ICSA Conference,
positive feelings I experienced at the
International Communal Studies 2007
Association (ICSA) Conference hosted by
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the special community of Damanhur in Italy. It was due to Sol’s 100
determined efforts, and his wish that I experience what he did when School of Living, USA
he visited ZEGG in Germany for the 2001 conference, that I was able to
represent the International Communes Desk (ICD) this year. I 1 11 11 11 1
remember a conversation I had with Sol before I left for Italy, in which Kaleidoscope by Joel
he told me that as an introvert, he often pushed himself out of his Dorkam
comfort zone to become a conspicuous, active participant, and he
encouraged me to do the same. I was reminded of this conversation at
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the conference each and every time I met someone who asked after Sol 1616
and sent him their warmest regards through me. Many people Crystal Waters,
remembered Sol fondly, and his desire to meet people made him many Australia
friends in the communal world; he will be sorely missed.
The conference was a fantastic experience; an opportunity to meet 1 11 17 77 7
both academics and communards that are thirsty to both teach and Kibbutz Shorts
learn about communal living. The host community of Damanhur was
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incredibly inspiring, an example of people that are attempting to 1919
actualize their values by the way that they live. Ecovillages, Worldwide
This issue of C.A.L.L. has much content related to the conference,
written by people that were there. I’d like to make particular reference 2 22 20 00 0
to a wonderful sharing conversation I had with Anaconda Papaya, an Twin Oaks, USA
educator at Damanhur, some of which can be read on page 25. As
educators, we agreed that there is a strong connection between 2 22 23 33 3
communal living and education. Many communities are not only Christiana, Denmark
building a more just society for themselves, but are also involved in
affecting the outside society around them through education and
living as a personal example. The Damanhurian approach to education 2 22 24 44 4
reflects this, and is congruous with the following words written by Damanhur, Italy
Martin Buber which I used in my presentation at the conference:
2 22 26 66 6
In these recurring encounters between a generation which has reached its Or Haganuz, Israel
full development and one which is still developing, the ultimate aim is not
to transmit a separable something. What matters is that time and again
an older generation, staking its entire existence on that act, comes to a
younger with the desire to teach, waken, and shape it; then the holy spark
leaps across the gap.
Coincidently, the theme of the latest Camphill Correspondence is education, and the following quote appears
on the front cover, written by their inspiration, Rudolph Steiner:
It is aliveness that must be the guiding principle. Aliveness in the teacher must pass over to aliveness in the pupils.
Joy and happiness for living, a love for all existence, a power and energy for work - those are among the lifelong
results of a right cultivation of feeling for beauty and art.
Finally, I’d like to add Sol to this esteemed company; an educator who, from his whole being, became a role-
model for many to learn from and follow.
Anton
anton@kyovel.org
www.communa.org.il
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