Living a life full of giving - My reflections on Kibbutz

Spending the past two weeks on Kibbutz has been one of the more thought provoking experiences of my life. The Kibbutz lifestyle is one which contradicts the world I have grown up in. I do not intend to criticise the community and society I have been brought up in, on the contrary, I am incredibly grateful for my upbringing. At the same time, I believe that anyone that has been bought up in a western society would gain tremendously from spending time on a Kibbutz…

The unanimous highlight of the Torani programme (Bnei Akiva gap year scheme) is the two weeks we spend on Kibbutz before Pesach, which culminates with the Seder night. We start by going round Israel on a 3 day seminar where we hear from different speakers of whom represent the entire political and religious spectrum. We heard from Religious Zionists, Hassidim, Secular Jews, Arabs and Ethiopian immigrants. I could write a blog on those 3 days alone. After this educationally enriching few days, we made our way to kibbutz.

Kibbutz Ein Hanatziv is situated in the North of Israel. It was founded in 1946 by Bnei Akiva.

Over our time there we were all given certain jobs every morning.. The mornings started at 6am and we worked until lunchtime (12pm). We had jobs such as laying irrigation on a field, working with cows, preparing lunch in the kitchen, helping in the nursery, uprooting weeds around the kibbutz and planting trees.

When I was working I often had the same thought process. At first I would enjoy it, it was something new. I had never worked in a field before or cooked chicken for 600 people. Then it started to get quite repetitive and demanding. I started to focus on the ‘negative’ nature of the job. I completed the work that was asked of me and kept my mouth shut. At the end of the day (lunchtime), I always felt this overwhelming sense of fulfilment. There was an element of newfound meaning to my day which was different to that which I felt every day in Yeshiva. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was.

I heard from a mentor of mine in Yeshiva, ‘A person can have perfect eyesight, but they can also lack vision’. Whilst I was working and I had a negative attitude, I never really thought about the implications of what I was doing. At the end however, I realised that the work that I completed had an impact that stretched far beyond my own realm. I was working for the sake of others. I was ensuring that people ate food, that the kibbutz had produce to sell and this is where I found meaning. I may have had the eyesight during Kibbutz, but I could never appreciate the vision.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch is quoted by Rabbi David Milston. The concept of Pesach is that of going from slavery to freedom. We commemorate this by offering the ‘Korban Pesach’, the sacrifice. This was both a communal and individual sacrifice, unlike most others which were carried out by a representative, The Korban Pesach was carried out by each individual of the nation. It happened at the same time and in the same way. This is how we mark the beginning of our voyage to nationhood. We are individual but we are part of the Am, part of the nation. As the great scholar Hillel says, “if I am not for myself then who am I, but if I am only for myself what am I?”.

The main lesson that I learned from my time on Kibbutz was that the way that I can find meaning in my life is by living a life not just for myself, but by doing things for other people. Western culture is a dog eat dog world, it is one where people are competing against others to get to the top at any cost. This is contrasted with the Kibbutz philosophy where everyone is working for each other. Peoples sole objective in their day to day work is to make sure that everyone has enough to get by. I see the positives and negatives of both. For me however, the past two weeks have evidenced what it means to live a Jewish lifestyle of self-sacrifice for the nation.

That is what the story of the Jewish people is about. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks says that there is no such thing as ‘Jewish History’. ‘History’ can be read as his story. Judaism reflects on memory. My story. Your story. Our story. We are part of a collective which means that we must work for one and other. This is something which Yoni was passionate about. Someone who dedicates their summer holiday preparing educational content instead of going on holiday with their friends is someone who values the importance of the wider picture. As I spend more time in Israel, I am slowly being exposed to more experiences which highlight the vision the Yoni Jesner had. All of his values and ideals are all being unravelled for me through my experiences. For this, I will be eternally grateful.

Irrigating Fields

Torani 5779

Gardening duties