Another Thing About Ketura:
Last weekend we went to visit Ketura for the third time since we moved to Reut.
It was very nice to see friends again and to spend a Shabbat (Jewish Sabbath)resting and soaking up the atmosphere. Shabbat on Ketura is very relaxing. The weather cooperated and we had a wonderful winter day in the desert.
We barely saw our two boys-they had a full schedule visiting all of their friends. Even Zoe, our 2 1/2 year old managed to spend time with some of her old playmates. My wife, Joyce mentioned that she would like to come back because she missed her friends. Joyce did manage to create close bonds with several of the women there.
While I found the trip pleasant, our third time there since saying no thank you to joining the kibbutz, drilled into me more than ever that it was the right decision short and long term for the family. There are several reasons for this: one is that Ketura is a society that has an incredible underlying tension in it. And of course it has to do with finances. There is a significant minority of veteran members who want more money in their pocket and are agitating to get that, however, economically, the kibbutz is just not up to rearranging the structure of stipends and benefits to enable this to happen. Some members are ideologically opposed to it as well-they oppose any move to move the kibbutz away from its communal origons and their creedo: Everybody according to their ability, everybody according to their need. Not that this is necessarily what everybody lives by either. Although incredible lip service is paid to this motto.
There is also an incredible societal tension between the haves and have-nots. The haves are those that have some sort of outside income, whether its investments or subsidy by generous parents. The have-nots are actually those who have to rely soley on the kibbutz for all of their wants and needs. Strange isn't it- you would think that the ones who are able to live the ideological lifestyle would be the haves. Aren't they afterall living according to their ideals and the fullest kibbutz lifestyle, which isn't supposed to be ostentatious? Oh, and yes, the ones with some outside source of income are not really supposed to be using it to supplement their lifestyle, but let's be realistic. It happens. For instance several kibbutz members take an annual trip abroad to visit family and/or vacation. The have not's are given a trip once every four years to visit their family abroad. During the three years we lived there this tension increased, and the problem hasn't abated. I didn't want to become a part of this battle especially since our resources were extremely limited and dwindling. There was a good chance we would have become one of the have nots.
Another reason, is that each time I go back there I realize, yet again, just how insular and closed kibbutz society is. Ketura has seemed to make it work and succeed, despite all of the problems they have (although, as I alluded to in the upper paragraph, its is slowly but surely breaking apart). That being said, in order to truly become a successful part of that community you really and truly have to change your way of thinking. Your worldview has to become kibbutznik. Living, working, sharing finances, having what you and your children eat decided by committee has to become natural for you, and the way we, the 99.999 percent of the world live, has to become, somehow, not natural. Since we never became members we were never a part of their club (almost but not quite), and since we moved away to the outside we are, as welcome as our visits are, not of their mindset.
It's just as well I suppose. Our first six months out of Ketura have been a little rough, but it is getting better every day. We belong with the 99.999 percent. It's the natural way to live.
Last weekend we went to visit Ketura for the third time since we moved to Reut.
It was very nice to see friends again and to spend a Shabbat (Jewish Sabbath)resting and soaking up the atmosphere. Shabbat on Ketura is very relaxing. The weather cooperated and we had a wonderful winter day in the desert.
We barely saw our two boys-they had a full schedule visiting all of their friends. Even Zoe, our 2 1/2 year old managed to spend time with some of her old playmates. My wife, Joyce mentioned that she would like to come back because she missed her friends. Joyce did manage to create close bonds with several of the women there.
While I found the trip pleasant, our third time there since saying no thank you to joining the kibbutz, drilled into me more than ever that it was the right decision short and long term for the family. There are several reasons for this: one is that Ketura is a society that has an incredible underlying tension in it. And of course it has to do with finances. There is a significant minority of veteran members who want more money in their pocket and are agitating to get that, however, economically, the kibbutz is just not up to rearranging the structure of stipends and benefits to enable this to happen. Some members are ideologically opposed to it as well-they oppose any move to move the kibbutz away from its communal origons and their creedo: Everybody according to their ability, everybody according to their need. Not that this is necessarily what everybody lives by either. Although incredible lip service is paid to this motto.
There is also an incredible societal tension between the haves and have-nots. The haves are those that have some sort of outside income, whether its investments or subsidy by generous parents. The have-nots are actually those who have to rely soley on the kibbutz for all of their wants and needs. Strange isn't it- you would think that the ones who are able to live the ideological lifestyle would be the haves. Aren't they afterall living according to their ideals and the fullest kibbutz lifestyle, which isn't supposed to be ostentatious? Oh, and yes, the ones with some outside source of income are not really supposed to be using it to supplement their lifestyle, but let's be realistic. It happens. For instance several kibbutz members take an annual trip abroad to visit family and/or vacation. The have not's are given a trip once every four years to visit their family abroad. During the three years we lived there this tension increased, and the problem hasn't abated. I didn't want to become a part of this battle especially since our resources were extremely limited and dwindling. There was a good chance we would have become one of the have nots.
Another reason, is that each time I go back there I realize, yet again, just how insular and closed kibbutz society is. Ketura has seemed to make it work and succeed, despite all of the problems they have (although, as I alluded to in the upper paragraph, its is slowly but surely breaking apart). That being said, in order to truly become a successful part of that community you really and truly have to change your way of thinking. Your worldview has to become kibbutznik. Living, working, sharing finances, having what you and your children eat decided by committee has to become natural for you, and the way we, the 99.999 percent of the world live, has to become, somehow, not natural. Since we never became members we were never a part of their club (almost but not quite), and since we moved away to the outside we are, as welcome as our visits are, not of their mindset.
It's just as well I suppose. Our first six months out of Ketura have been a little rough, but it is getting better every day. We belong with the 99.999 percent. It's the natural way to live.
posted by Unknown @ 12:36 AM
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