Charles Sharp Collection

Kibbutz, The

Transcript (Download)

You In Hebrew kibbutz means group But in the last 50 years it has come to mean a very so kind of group The kibbutz is a group of people who live in a collective community With a purpose of contributing to the growth of Israel yet at the same time pursuing a utopian kind of socialism that allows every man to live freely according to his own beliefs The kibbutz way of life is essentially a return to nature and a rejection of the values of industrial and capitalistic society The individual kibbutz may praise in him a deep love of Israel and a romantic attraction for the land that surrounds him This is kibbutz Ramat Yohanan It will not be our purpose to judge the kibbutz only to try and understand it You Many Israelis feel That if it were not for the kibbutz ideals of a better society and their devotion to these ideals There would be nothing unique left in Israel Despite great adversity The kibbutz movement has held to the conviction that its members will not only create a new idea of how the community of man Should live the good life, but that they will live it even if they must do so at great personal hardship The kibbutz movement began in 1909 This particular community of Ramat Yohanan was established in the early 30s Rafael Degan tells about the founding of Ramat Yohanan actually, I was one of a group of Americans who came to Israel at that time and Of course, this was before Ramat Yohanan was in existence 1930 we came to a small kibbutz Temporarily settled at a devout for a forest where we were planting trees at the time we in 1932 we came over to what is now Ramat Yohanan and began a kibbutz of our own From the very beginning Nehama levy was born in Jerusalem as were her parents and grandparents To her this land has always been home She was not one of the founders of Ramat Yohanan, but her devotion to the movement and to this kibbutz is typical.

I Want to tell you one basic thing that you have to know that 2000 years Nobody They did anything to this land So 2000 years this land waited till we came here so we had to appreciate the rocks and the swamps and everything and to give them Good respect As Nehama says they have given the land good respect For years the various kibbutzim have been the backbone of Israel's agriculture The kibbutzniks have built roads and drain swamps They have taken this land that lay desolate since antiquity and turned it into a bountiful land But probably most important to themselves They proved the Jews did not have to live meekly in ghettos Did not have to be only shopkeepers that they could also be strong and proud farmers This is on all counts a society devoted to its children To understand the philosophy of the kibbutz it is necessary to first understand the relationship between the child the parents and the community These infants are looked upon as not just the children of particular sets of parents, but as children of the kibbutz Like all mothers these women want the best for their children, but these kibbutz mothers believe that alone They are unable to offer what is best Therefore they willingly relinquish their responsibility for the care and education of a child to the community The idea of a mother giving up the care of her baby to the community is not hard to understand When it is viewed in the light of the kibbutz philosophy Women should have the opportunity to reject what kibbutzniks consider the traditional but antiquated role of motherhood The women are released to join the men in what they view as a more important role in the kibbutz community It is an important task conquering the land and building the good society of the kibbutz However this does not mean that there is no longer any relationship between the child and the parents After work each day the parents devote two hours exclusively to their children Because of age differences it is not unusual for brothers and sisters to live in different houses This may be the only time during the day they are together Once they have been called for by their parents be taken for a walk Or a visit to the animals or as is most often the case to the parents room At the end of the visiting period the parents take their children back to the children's quarters and put them to bed From the time of infancy the child lives in a separate house with others of his age group Women known as metapolites are chosen by the community to train and care for the children The metapolite is an extended arm of the community which tells her what to do and what not to do in raising the children Along with her duties of child care she is responsible for cleaning the house Fetching the meals from the kitchen getting clean clothes from the communal laundry and doing the mending For many periods of the day the children are left to their own devices During this time the child is never alone but always in the company of other children his age Since they are seldom interfered with by a parent or even a metapolite The children learn to rely on one another for help comfort and not least security The fact that the children live and learn together is in keeping with a basic concept That of conditioning a man from infancy to the idea of cooperating and sharing with his fellow man I Think that this society It creates the situation that we don't have poor people and rich people The equality of people this brought me to the kibbutz Since everyone in the kibbutz is looked upon as socially equal A man and woman are judged on their ability to get along with fellow members of the kibbutz And on their personal efforts to be good and conscientious workers The democratic socialistic kibbutz theory is simply that each man will share the fruits of his labor And that only the community as a whole should profit from the work performed By the members Therefore a large amount of concern between husband and wife is devoted to the economic success of the kibbutz Rather than to their personal success So long as the community thrives The members will not have to worry about food clothing or shelter Because they will be supplied by the kibbutz In the kibbutz women are looked upon as having the same equality as men the same rights privileges and responsibilities But this does not mean that women have equal opportunity to do man's work Rather it means that they are given work for which they are psychologically and physically suited This work is elevated to an equal status with the work done by men When the community services of kitchen work laundry and child care were organized They were done so with the idea that this would liberate the women from having to perform these chores at home But in any society that strives for a utopia There are bound to be some weaknesses that must be faced as well as certain adjustments that the individual must make One of the weak sides of the kibbutz life is That one has to be always Among people This is something not so easy one has to accept it And to agree with it and to adjust himself Because many types of people are among us and not everyone is alike and the same And everyone has his personality and his weakness But if one gets used to it it makes him a little bit easier, but it doesn't avoid the fact Probably the best example of kibbutz togetherness can be found in the communal dining room This is the center of the community's activities Not only do they eat here, but this is the place where mail and communal announcements are received and work assignments made This is where the communal life is intended to take place This is so much so that in the early days of the kibbutz Husband and wife carefully avoided sitting together during dinner because it would separate them from their community of comrades Another one of the difficulties, especially for new members is the lack of table manners Manners at ramat yohanan are far below middle class standards But this is not due to ignorance of etiquette Rather it is a deliberate rejection of the niceties of the industrial society they left behind No one in the kibbutz is paid for his work But each member does receive an allowance amounting to about 35 dollars a year and some monthly coupons Which can be exchanged for various items at the communal store The Kibbutzim are the only places in israel that provide free education for all children up to 18 The teaching is of extremely high quality Most of what is taught can be directly related to the necessary economic activities of the kibbutz Not All of what the children must learn can be taught in a classroom Special projects are set up by the teachers to supplement the general class activities In the back of the science building we have our botanical garden which a part of it is now Where the children work? the Garden is about has an area of about an acre And we try to put in it according to the ecology and geography of the country old plants flowers and trees Which we found and we brought over here for us biology is one of the important parts of study because we live in nature We live on agriculture and understanding and loving nature is one of our major tasks And therefore we are doing a great effort to bring those values into the children's life and into their knowledge At ramat yohanan the elementary and high schools have their own land and the students conduct a full farm economy In grade school the children plant cultivate and harvest crops on their own farms They're also given animals to raise and care for Virtually all the elements of adult life are within the child's grasp He does the same things the adults do But on a smaller scale Unlike most children of an industrial society kibbutz children have the opportunity to visit with parents at their jobs Work is interrupted to explain it to the children and help them understand the importance of each task In relation to the success and well -being of the kibbutz This freedom to view their parents occupations as well as occasionally trying their own hand at the job Contributes to the feeling that this is our kibbutz So By the time the children reach their teens they are expected to begin to conform to the demands of the adult society Any desire they have to reach out to the big city or to the life they find in books and magazines Is frowned upon by their elders For the kibbutz teenager a place in society is assured However, this assured place is not of their choosing and for this reason a few will they leave the kibbutz as of probably do But most will stay some may feel a responsibility for the continuation of the movement Others may find themselves dedicated to the kibbutz philosophy of the good life Certainly there are those who remain because here they have security But whatever their reason for staying it is probably not due to any personal ambition to rise in the kibbutz leadership Unlike most societies There is virtually no advantage to being a part of the administrative group The kibbutz is first and foremost a worker society And if a person seeks recognition from his community he will obtain it faster As a devoted and energetic laborer than as an executive bearing the burdens of the kibbutz This often is due to a general feeling in the community That administrative work is not as worthwhile as that done by laborers All major decisions are brought up in the business meeting conducted in the dining room They are voted on democratically and their enforcement rests on the assumption that all members bear the same good intention It can be convincingly argued that the modern zionist movement has done more to preserve and revitalize the meaning of being Jewish In the past 50 years than anything else Modern israel is the culmination of 4 000 years of jewish history The kibbutzniks like to think of their movement as being an integral part of the new israel As being the crest of the wave of jewish rebirth In Ramat Yohanan, stone markers bear the names of the men and women who died defending their kibbutz Deserted cement block houses stand as a reminder of the deadly fight the people of this kibbutz and others like it Made against the attacking Arabs who tried to drive the Jews out of the city The people of Ramat Yohanan have great faith in the future of their kibbutz and in the kibbutz movement Those old enough to remember the tense moments of the war The cities that shelter the founders look with pride on their communities today It is the belief of these people that no matter what the individual does Whether driving a tractor, picking fruit or mending clothes Zephyrits are not only creating a new society but contributing to the future of Israel Yet in the end, such a unique movement as this must be equated in terms of people And I will bring back the captivity of my people Israel And they shall build the waste of cities and dwell therein And they shall plant vineyards and drink their vine And they shall lay out gardens and eat their fruit And I will plant them upon their own soil And they shall not be pulled up any more out of their land Which I have given unto them, saith the Lord thy God Music .

Identifier
F.2009-07-0002
Date Of Production
1966
Abstract
Presents an overview of some structures of kibbutz life. Describes one of the older kibbutzim in Israel, Kibbutz Ramat Yohanon, and tells briefly how it started, how it conducts itself, and how it teaches its children.
Run Time
0:11:07
Format
16mm
Extent
400 feet
Color
Color
Sound
Optical
Reel/Tape Number
1/1
Has Been Digitized?
Yes
Language Of Materials
English
Element
Print
Genre
Documentary
Ethnographic
Form
Short
Subject
Manners and customs
Related Collections
Charles Sharp Collection

Related Places
Asia ➜ Israel

Main Credits
Sharp, Charles Dee (is filmmaker)

Additional Credits
Sharp, Charles Dee (is cinematographer)
Ford, Robert (is writer)
Ford, Robert (is editor)
Bettelheim, Bruno (is contributor)

Participants And Performers
Da Silva, Howard (is narrator)
Dagan, Rafael (is performer)
Almog, Yosi (is musician)

 
Do you know more about this item?
If you have more information about this item please contact us at info@chicagofilmarchives.com.