We Spent A Night In A Kibbutz in May 1988

 Per Fifi's suggestion about writing something about Israel when I was there with my congregation's tour group, I thought I would say a few words about the kibbutz.

In looking at a list of kibbutzim, I know that it was one of the Kfars in Northern Israel. I don't have photos because some turkey stole my camera off the plane when we landed in NYC to change planes.  Otherwise I would probably remember better.  I believe that it was Kfar Giladi up near the border with Lebanon.

The Lebanese civil war went from 1975 until 1990. We were there while it was still going on.  I was very surprised to hear real shelling!  It was a dire and sad sound. Please Lord, I never want to hear that again.

Kfar Giladi

History

Kibbutz Giladi was founded in 1916 by members of Hashomer on land owned by the Jewish Colonization Association. It was named after Israel Giladi, one of the founders of the Hashomer movement. The area was subject to intermittent border adjustments between the British and the French, and in 1919, the British relinquished the northern section of the Upper Galilee containing Tel Hai, Metula, Hamra, and Kfar Giladi to the French jurisdiction. After the Arab attack on Tel Hai in 1920, it was temporarily abandoned. Ten months later, the settlers returned. Several older buildings stand on the kibbutz that memorialize previous battles on the site, before and during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.

Between 1916 and 1932, the population totaled 40–70. In 1932, the kibbutz absorbed 100 newcomers, mainly young immigrants. From 1922 to 1948, between 8,000–10,000 Jewish immigrants were smuggled into Palestine through Kibbutz Giladi, circumventing the Mandatory ban on Jewish immigration.[3] The immigrants came from Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Afghanistan and Eastern Europe.

In an operation known as Mivtzah HaElef, 1,300 Jewish children were smuggled out of Syria between 1945 and 1948. At the kibbutz, the children were dressed in work clothes and hidden in the kibbutz chicken coops and cowsheds.[3]

In August 2006, during the 2006 Lebanon War, twelve reserve IDF soldiers were killed after being hit by a Katyusha rocket launched by Hezbollah from Southern Lebanon. The group of artillery gunners were gathering on the kibbutz in preparation for action in the conflict.

Lots more at the link.

This has to be the right one.

We had the usual kibbutz dinner scene, buffet style service, food prepared by residents.  Then we had to take a historical meeting about the place, with speeches.  I don't remember the speeches but I do remember one speaker.  He was an Israeli general, and if that is not enough, at the age of 60 something he walked up to the stage which was at chest height to him, put one hand on the stage and vaulted up there to give his speech.  Tough, I reckon. lol!

From there we hung around outdoors a bit.  I bought some really awful Israeli, but very cheap smokes, for about a buck.  Then to bed in the very basic dorm type rooms.  One other wife traveling alone and her daughter stayed in my room with me.  Hard beds! lol. But after all it was a kibbutz.

The place was something like this, but very much a farm.  At our place the buildings were surrounded by hollyhocks about 12 feet tall.  As soon as the sun hit the windows in the morning I could hear bees!  These "bees" were at least an inch long and black.

Large black bee - Israel 2-3cm

In addition, a word about Israeli breakfasts of the kind they have in hotels and places like communal dining rooms.

It's buffet style, of course.  I mean after all, we are tough.  We wait on ourselves, right?

OK, always freshly squeezed orange juice.  It's a thing there. Blood oranges.

Mounds of olives.

Three different tartnesses of yogurt, plain.

Fresh rolls and butter and jam.

Fruit depending on what's good that day.

Boiled or scrambled eggs.

Smoked whitefish.  How I yearned for them when I got home!

The ubiquitous Israeli salad of cucumber, tomato and green pepper.

Sweet rolls sometimes.

Tea and coffee, with cream and sugar available.

I think that's it.  I never bothered buying lunch after that spread.  Also we all took a roll away with us, full of butter.

When I got home, miserably jet lagged, going to sleep at 4 in the afternoon and stuff like that, I gathered my children and went to the nearest Med style restaurant, in Edmonds I believe, and we had a sad substitute for the real Israeli meal.

This escapade was paid for with our income tax refund that year.  I remember that the whole deal was about $2000.00.  I had almost no cash!