TEL AVIV (dpa) – The pioneers of the kibbutz movement could have hardly imagined that some day kibbutzim would be considered by many a holiday place, since living in these agricultural settlements in Israel always meant one thing above all: gruelling work.
Nowadays there are about 250 of these kibbutzim, from Eilat on the Red Sea via Caesarea on the west coast to Ein Gev in the northeast of Israel. They are still vital for agriculture, but tourism has become an important factor, too.
The kibbutz movement dates back to the 19th century, when the first European Jews returned to Palestine, but the first kibbutz was not founded until 1909, on the banks of the river Jordan. It was called “Deganya” – cornflower.
By the end of World War I approximately 40 had been established. The inhabitants – the kibbutznik – were mainly immigrants from Eastern Europe who were often influenced by socialist ideas of a community life, where all lived together and worked for each other.
But also for practical reasons the kibbutzim were an obvious form of social organization: before the state of Israel was founded in 1948, Jewish settlements were practically under permanent threat. A kibbutz offered relative protection and allowed people to live according to the old motto of “unity makes strength”.
The kibbutzim were important to the development of Israel. After all, they were often deliberately set up in areas which had been considered highly unsuitable for cultivating fruit and vegetables.
But by means of clever irrigation, plantations were created, and so the kibbutzim deserve much of the credit for the success story that is agriculture in Israel today.
In today’s Israel, the kibbutzniks are a tiny minority: just about three per cent of the population. And it has been many years since the kibbutzim stopped being entirely agricultural production communities. Many founded their own businesses, producing machinery, for example.
Furthermore, the settlements are very different in size and cannot be judged as one – nor can the political ideology of their members, although by tradition most kibbutznik have felt their duty bound to the political left.
Generally, the rules are the same as ever: accommodation and working utensils belong to all. The ideals of renouncing property, which date back to the start-up phase of the kibbutz movement, have not survived in their original form though.
Still, the idea of living for a while in such an unusual settlement remains attractive to many non-Israelis, and many kibbutzim take in guests who live there for a few months free of charge and in turn help bringing in the harvest or working in the kitchen.
They get a little pocket money – and the chance, together with other young foreigners, to really get to know Israel.
More recently, many kibbutzim have established guesthouses and hotels, where tourists can stay overnight or for a real holiday.The Kibbutz Hotels Chain Reservation Centre in Tel Aviv helps tourists book their holidays in Israel without having to make separate reservations for every hotel.
One member of this chain is the Kfar Blum kibbutz in Upper Galilee, in the far north of Israel, which is considered ideal for bird watching during spring and autumn.
The air-conditioned rooms have bath and shower, television, radio and telephone. In the kibbutz itself there are tennis courts, a swimming pool and a sauna.
For a beach holiday on the Mediterranean Sea, for example, the kibbutz Dor is suitable; it is about 35 kilometres south of Haifa. The tourists stay in air-conditioned bungalows, and there is a diving club nearby.
There are other kibbutzim on the Mediterranean which welcome guests. For example, the Nasholim kibbutz south of Haifa, from where organised excursions to Mount Carmel can be booked by bicycle, jeep or camel.
There is even a kibbutz in the southernmost part of the country, on the Red Sea.
Tourists can stay in the holiday village of Ye’Elim, in air- conditioned huts with cooking facilities and a small garden. The village is located about 35 kilometres north of Eilat, the center for watersports on the Red Sea.
The Kibbutz Hotels Chain offers a variety of package deals: an individual round trip from one kibbutz to another, for example, where tourists, after landing in Tel Aviv, continue the trip in hired cars; or nature travel programmes in cooperation with an Israeli environmental protection society.
There are also special offers for holidays with children.
Relatively new is the concept of “a kibbutz vacation in the country”, which the hotel chain developed three years ago. Similar to the bed-and-breakfast offers in Britain, tourists can sleep in rooms which belonged to departed kibbutznik and thereby get to know the daily life in the kibbutz.
Breakfast is in the dining hall together with the kibbutznik.
Quite a few kibbutzim have this on offer, for example in Galilee, Jerusalem, Eilat, and along the Dead Sea.Information: Kibbutz Hotels Chain Reservation Center, 1 Smolanskin Street, P.O.B. 3193, Tel Aviv, 61031 Israel (tel. 3 – 5246161, fax 3 – 5278088).
