Our guide for the hike extension, Eitan, had gone to live on a kibbutz when he turned 15. The one he went to is on the southern end of the Sea of Galilee, and we happened to drive right by it, so he took us for a tour. A kibbutz is a community that runs with socialist ideals. Everyone contributes what they have to the kibbutz, and whatever the people of the kibbutz need is drawn from the community pool. He said that this worked for some time, until members began to take advantage of it. Sounds like the over-arching difficulty socialism struggles with across the board. There are still operating kibbutzim in Israel, however; they are just run differently now. It was interesting to get a small glimpse into kibbutz life now.
They apparently had a small animal zoo there, although we didn’t get to see it. They definitely had a large cattle operation that produces income for the community.
We got to see the school where all the kids go. Longer ago, the kids were taken from their homes to the community schools and daycares when they were very little and the parents didn’t see them much. Eitan said that has changed some now, and parents get to see their kids in the evenings now, and are allowed to make supper in their own dwellings now if they wish, instead of having supper in the community dining hall.
Evan the cat whisperer found a friend while we were there, of course. Then we walked by the hotel, a place where people can stay and a source of income for the kibbutz. In fact, our last two nights in Israel, we stayed at a different kibbutz.
Here is Eitan describing the building behind him, the community center which included the dining hall and the place where the community’s “board” meets to make decisions regarding public matters, like whether or not it is OK to cut down a certain tree, or if someone will get funding to go to college.
In the mid 1900s, this was a rather unstable area of the world, and they had multiple bomb shelters in case of air-raids. They are still usable, although the need to use them has not been there for several decades. Still…un-nerving a bit to have a bomb shelter in the middle of your community, just in case.
Upon leaving the kibbutz, Eitan showed us a chocolate shop near the bus. All the ingredients for the shop are produced by the kibbutz.
They had ice cream and specialty coffees as well. Neat place. On the way back to our hotel in Nazareth, we got a pretty spectacular sunset show.
Nice cap to the day. Tomorrow we tackle Day 10!