By Steve Kramer
KIBBUTZ KETURA, Israel — Michal and I, together with our friends, recently spent a long weekend on this kibbutz in the Negev Desert. The trip was sponsored by their beit knesset, the Masorti (Conservative) Congregation of Ra’anana. A quote from its website: “The membership of Ra’anana Masorti is a successful mixture of English-speakers, South Americans, and Israelis that enjoy having the community run in both English and Hebrew [mostly]. Ra’anana Masorti members come from a broad spectrum of religious observance and to accommodate this, the Synagogue is divided into 3 sections: family seating, as well as more traditional separate seating for men and women. This approach allows us to accommodate the differences between the different worlds.”
Our busload of families and couples left Ra’anana, an upscale city commuting distance from Tel Aviv, in the early morning. We stopped for lunch at Sapir Park, which is a pleasant oasis in the desert. The park, which has a lovely pond designed with an Asian theme, is in the small village of Sapir, which is the administrative center of a group of communal settlements in the Negev’s Arava rift valley. “A charming lake at its center, a waterfall, a flowing spring, extensive lawns, unusual vegetation, shady picnic areas and an impressive sculpture garden – all combine to make Sapir Park a jewel in the desert,” is the website’s accurate description.
We arrived at Kibbutz Ketura (www.ketura.org) in mid-afternoon, having traveled nearly all the way to Israel’s southern tip at Eilat, 30 miles distant. Ketura is a highly developed community between the yellow/brown/black/pink Negev Mountains to the west and the red/brown/purple mountains of Jordan, to the east. The kibbutz remains a traditional socialist-run cooperative, one of the few kibbutzim that has retained its original communally owned and operated structure.
Ketura was founded was just after the Yom Kippur War of 1973, when a small group of young North Americans, graduates of the Young Judaea Year course (a gap year program), founded the new community in the desert. Their aims were Zionistic: to build and develop Jewish life in the Jewish state. The founders believed that each member should live according to his or her spiritual beliefs. This has resulted in a “live and let live” attitude, maintaining a Jewish atmosphere in public spaces, while members are free to do as they please in their private quarters.
Significantly, while other kibbutzim have abandoned socialism and sold off building lots to non-members, Ketura continues to expand its public, communal sector. A few examples: Ketura’s members may work where they please, on or off the kibbutz, but their salaries go into the communal pot. And since there are no private cars on the kibbutz; one must arrange to use one of the shared vehicles. Money is collectively earned (“from each according to his abilities”) and spent (“to each according to his needs”).
There is no association between work done and money received, exhibiting the members’ strict adherence to classic socialism. Incidentally, Ketura’s members are very highly educated, similar to an academic community. Unlike most kibbutzim, all of the high school graduates are entitled to attend college, regardless of whether they plan to eventually become kibbutz members.
On our arrival, we enjoyed coffee and cookies at the Visitor Center, where we learned a lot about the kibbutz. We then walked the short distance to the large solar panel display, which is about to be expanded by a factor of six! The field currently stretches over 20 acres of land and produces almost 5 MW of power. It is Israel’s first medium sized solar field. Arava Power Company was founded on the forward-thinking kibbutz in 2006 and is now gearing up for major expansion, hence the planned expansion here and in other locations in Israel.
Until recently, agriculture and outside salaries were the economic pillars of Ketura. The focus now is on creative economic thought and entrepreneurship in diverse fields, to provide interesting employment with good, stable incomes. We saw an innovative installation of pipes for the purpose of extracting antioxidants from seaweed for processing and shipment to India, where it will be a valuable raw material for a very large factory. We also saw a large dairy cow operation, whose future hangs in the balance. Why? The dairy business is so advanced and popular in Israel that competition is fierce. Therefore, continued investment in dairy farming is questionable.
We learned that a vote was to be held shortly to approve reducing the size of the dairy business in order to invest more money and space in the seaweed operation. This, and all other decisions, will be determined by the membership. That’s the way life is on a modern but old-style kibbutz.
With a choice of several activities the next day, we decided to go with our friends and others in the group on a rigorous hike through the adjacent Shayarot Cliffs nature reserve. From the stark, flat desert, our trail began its ascent. The trail became steep and challenging while it offered us beautiful views. I’m not ashamed to say that I was rather nervous in certain sections where we climbed three, separate, rocky sets of “stairs.” At times the trail narrowed, so that we found ourselves clinging to the rock wall to avoid a dangerous fall. I did my best not to look down!
Once on the summit, the trail led us along the top of the cliff before entering a picturesque, dry river bed. There we found a shady spot for the picnic lunch that we had prepared. After our respite, we gradually descended to level ground, but not without scrambling over boulders in several places. There was still a long walk back to our starting point, but we were rewarded with a nice rest before welcoming in our Shabbat (Sabbath) and enjoying an excellent dinner.
Those who didn’t join us on the five-hour hike had a fantastic guided tour to several areas of the kibbutz that we didn’t get a chance to see: the large, beautiful and very profitable date plantation, the totally natural desert park, a desert agricultural research and development center (Arava Institute for Environmental Studies) which attracts an international student population (including Arabs from countries with no diplomatic relations), a cooperatively owned fish farm, and more.
These facilities attract a great number of tourists, especially organized groups like our own. The following day we enjoyed a restful Shabbat, with quiet activities that didn’t interfere with those who were Shabbat-observant. Though breakfast was minimal, an excellent lunch was served, and a later, “third” meal before we headed back home.
Our weekend was great. Although as visitors we didn’t partake of any of the rich cultural life enjoyed by the 150+ kibbutz members (plus an equal number of kids), we learned a lot about kibbutz life on one of Israel’s most successful communal settlements.
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This article was previously published by the Jewish Times of South Jersey. Author Steven Kramer’s works may also be read on the website, www.encounteringisrael.com