Page 18 - C.A.L.L. #32 - Summer 2010

From Korea to The Kibbutz KIBBUTZ SHORTS

“Dear chaverim (friends)”, reads the written circular, “I want to tell you what has happened to me
in the ten wonderful years I have been living here in Kibbutz Re'im. From the moment I decided
to get married here, I understood that I have to leave my past behind and fully join your way of
life. But my name Tzuhan is so dear to me, that I can't change it, so you will have to go on calling
me so. The name stands for ‘taking responsibility for my life and for the environment’ which is
written in all your books too”.

Art – In Memory

Eitan Arnon of Kibbutz Bet Zera exhibits his artwork in a large
Tel-Aviv gallery, under the title "The Disappearing Israel". "In
memory of my parents"' he declares, “who came to this
country and settled here in the Jordan Valley [very near
Degania] as part of a life-long process of ongoing revolution.
They considered themselves pioneers of a completely new
social order and lived accordingly all their life." A painting by Eitan Arnon, from
his series, “The Pioneers”.
Communities - A Permanent Feature of Social Life

Yaakov Oved, a life-long member of Kibbutz Palmachim, has been researching and teaching the
history of Communes all of his adult life, especially those in the United States and in Israel
(Kibbutzim). His books have become classics, a treasure of information, each and every one. His
new book "Communes and Intentional Communities in the Second Half of the 20th Century" (at
present only in Hebrew – see review on Page 12) tells of the upsurge of intentional communities
all over the world, especially in the U.S. Here are some extracts from the concluding chapter:

"In the relevant period, different groups signed up to the experiment of building a collective way
of life: pacifists, anarchists, socialists, Evangelists, Anabaptists and Catholics, diverse hippie
groups, ‘New Agers’ and ecological groups. Their aims were not identical: there was the aspiration
for social reform, the quest for a meaningful life, the need to ‘belong’, the search for an
alternative to the antagonistic and alienated society, counter-reaction to the materialistic world,
the utopian vision of ‘the truly good society’, and a pragmatic approach for a better quality of life.
All those different motifs came from the same source: the realization of a personal striving to live
free of the rule of governmental interference, a life of freedom from any coercion”.

After the crises that many communes experienced in the first half of the 20th century, which
were vividly described and analyzed in Yaakov Oved's book "200 Years of Communes in the U.S.",
he proceeds by saying:

“I hope that my new book makes it clear to all: Communes and Intentional Communities exist
today as a constant phenomenon, and even though they did not become a path-for-the-masses,
they represent a minority whose influence reaches far beyond the number of its members”.

Cake for All

Thirty years ago Nira Scheuer of Kibbutz Kfar Menachem wrote and
published a book named "Cakes for All", which has sold half a
million copies to date, which for Israeli standards is considered a
real best-seller. Nira, the first baby of this kibbutz, is now 75 years
old and has given up her baking. Over the years she has held many
different jobs, and wherever she has been, be it at work or in her
spare-time, she used an old recipe to sweeten her co-workers' life:
"I have tried to realize my old maxim: a nice word of understanding
Nira Scheuer and sympathy for any of your fellow chaverim can work wonders!"

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