Intercultural Communication: Kibbutz Ketura, Israel

Kibbutz Ketura operates unlike the majority of Israel. Founded in the 1970’s by a group of young adults, the Kibbutz runs under socialist ideology. This means that all members of the Kibbutz are equal in the eyes of the community. Kitchen duties are shared, houses are relatively the same size, no members are allowed to own cars, and income is shared equally among the residents. It is expected of all members to work to their highest individual ability and each member must turn over their paychecks to the Kibbutz to be distributed to the members via equal allowances per member. The rules of the Kibbutz were created and are adapted by democratic voting done by the Kibbutz members (this group does not include volunteers, those renting homes in the Kibbutz, students, and children). The Kibbutz is technically a Conservative Jewish community, but many of those residing in the Kibbutz do not practice the religion. In fact, being a conservative community is very rare for all of Israel, so I would consider this Kibbutz a sub-culture in the country, for that reason. It is also a place that is very accepting, welcoming, understanding, and appreciative of diversity and expression of differences, which is another rare attribute to find.

View of Kibbutz Ketura from above. The isolation of this unique can be explained deeper with this image. The physical separation of the community is depicted.

Despite the differences in religious practices found on the Kibbutz, the dining hall is 100% kosher and Shabbat is observed within all communal locations. Therefore, the framing culture of the Kibbutz is Conservative Judaism, but I have encountered many sub-cultures within this space. For instance, there are volunteers who work around the Kibbutz for a very small wage, young adults who are either awaiting their military service, or who have just returned from serving their military time, and the students of the Arava Institute, of which I am a part. Interestingly, there are many co-cultures within the Arava Institute student body. The student population consists of Israelis, Americans, Jordanians, Canadians, Palestinians, and Latin Americans. Because of this broad range of cultures mixing on campus, the cultural identity of the student body is hard to pinpoint. This multiculturalism is intentionally created by the Institute to encourage diverse conversations and to expand the learning within the classrooms throughout the entirety of each student’s stay in Israel. We will be learning just as much in the classroom as we will be from our peers.

             On the last day of orientation week we took a day trip around the Arava Valley, the area surrounding the Kibbutz. We were told to meet outside of the dining hall at 7pm, with the warning, “DO NOT BE LATE!” That morning five American students and myself showed up to the dining hall within five minutes of our departure. I expected many students to be there already and be patiently waiting for the trip to begin. When we walked up to the building, there were no other students waiting outside, but there were a few students inside eating breakfast. After waiting around for five more minutes, only half of the students had arrived, and finally our program director, the man taking us on our trip, appeared. It wasn’t until 7:15pm that everyone showed up and our trip began… and I had thought we weren’t supposed to be late! Apparently, in this country scheduled times for many activities are flexible within ten to fifteen minutes of the designated time. In America, many times if you show up at the exact time in which a meeting, or class, or event begins you find that you are actually late or have already missed some important information or event.  Although I had done incredible amounts of research on this country and the cultures within it, this is something that I had never come across. It is just something that has to be experienced in order to be understood. I can’t wait to experience more of this/these cultures and add to my breadth of understanding of this beautiful country.

Two cats on the Kibbutz. Not only is the community laidback, all of the animals on the Kibbutz live very relaxed lives. Allowed to roam freely all day, pets are only required to be inside during the night.