Kibbutz & Emek Yizrael
Kibbutz HaSolaim
“Nothing else is new except the more that I see and hear the way the kibbutz is run, the more convinced I am that it is a very efficient economic unit. The value of their produce here is increasing by about 20% a year since it was established 8 years ago.”
“I spent the morning helping out with the Potato sorting machine.”
July 26, 1957 - Night
“Right now I’m sitting here in a lovely room on a Kibbutz right in the geographical center of Israel’s Galilee. There are acres and acres of lush farmlands”
“My impression of the day and a half is that they are great & idealistic & very efficient. 3 crops a year are planted & harvested with modern equipment”.
July 29, 1957 - Night
“I am still on Kibbutz & will probably stay until Sunday making it a week. It is a wonderful experience, both in people living together & working together. I was amazed to learn that this place is almost 3,000 acres in area & has some of the highest acre yields in the world in certain items, dependent of course on proper irrigation.”
July 31, 1957 - Night
Jezreel Valley
“The afternoon is being spent here. Yesterday we went through Israel’s coastal plain & Valley of Jezreel. What a marked contrast to The Southern Negev & the Judean Hills. Here the soil is rich and there is plenty of water.”
July 29, 1957 - Night
“Sunday Morning we left the Kibbutz and began touring parts of the Galil, Israel’s bread basket the valley of Jezreel.”
August 5 1957 - Night
David's Comments
In 1957 the Kibbutz Movement dominated Israeli society
Hebrew sign at entrance to Kibbutz Hasolalim today.
My Father & Mother visiting Kibbutz HaSolalim 2017, in front of the cabins where their youth group stayed in 1957
Kibbutz HaSolalim
My parents stayed at Kibbutz Hasolalim which was located in the Jezreel Valley a place that my father described as Israel’s bread basket. My dad mentioned how he sorted potatoes. He did not mention he was sorting the potatoes with Elaine. The Kibbutz was originally established in 1946 mostly with immigrants from the United States.
Today the Kibbutz has 950 residents and not taking in new members. Attached is a picture taken 2017 of my parents Bob and Elaine Jacobs taken Passover 2017 at kibbutz HaSolalim in front of the cabins the youth stayed in 1957.
Kibbutz Efficiency
My father’s description of the kibbutz efficiency in the 1950’s is self-explanatory. As a future accountant and capitalist, he had a natural feel for business, and was successful in breaking down business opportunities for his clients
1957 vs today
In 1957, the country was run more as a socialist country and the kibbutz movement dominated Israeli society. Most of its leaders were kibbutzniks, and the most motivated soldiers grew up on the kibbutzim. People were loyal to their country and loyal to their kibbutz. In its beginnings, the kibbutzim succeeded to some degree, with the help of the Israeli leadership who themselves held socialist ideals.
Today, the country is more capitalistic, and many of the kibbutzim have become mostly private business enterprises. Instead of true equality, which is supposed to be the overriding value of the kibbutz, favoritism (“proteccia” פרוטקציה) among kibbutz members is what prevailed, and the idealism was diminished. Most of all, the lack of Torah and Zionist values created a younger generation of lost Israelis with no knowledge of their birthright. While their parents understood the importance of a Jewish State (since they had experienced the hardships of the exile), they were not able to pass that down to their children. In the end, without Judaism, our right to the land of Israel cannot be conveyed to the next generation.
LINKS:
What is a Kibbutz?: https://www.touristisrael.com/what-is-a-kibbutz/6053/
The Kibbutz: Israel’s Collective Utopia (Unpacked): https://youtu.be/RIf2f77tjJ8
About Kibbutz Hasolalim (Hebrew): https://www.homee.co.il/הסוללים/
Emek Yizrael Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13RNUhpZSlw
Emek Yizrael – Facts: https://www.gemsinisrael.com/the-gems/the-beit-shean-and-jezreel-valleys/the-jezreel-valley/