Kibbutz values and off-grid village

Following the hike, we broke into two groups, one to further explore the values of kibbutz living and the other to see a model off-grid village, a village that isn’t connected to a power or water supply.

In the kibbutz values program, students learned about the many committees that all report to the executive committee and ultimately the asefa, the communal gathering. Kibbutz life models a direct democracy, where every person votes for every issue sent to the monthly asefa. The committees include work placement, food, education, culture, infrastructure, religious life, and more. With such a communal structure come dilemmas at times. We explored three issues that have occurred at local kibbutzim, including one example of should the kibbutz fund the special music school of the daughter of a man who had stopped working on the kibbutz. Students were quite energized by the back and forth of discussions, with some gasps upon seeing the vote about how classmates responded to a particular vote.

At the off grid village, Ketura has modeled the structures and technologies that aid a substantial percentage of the world population to live without connection to the electrical grid. Many of these technological advances come from Israel, including a solar tube that bakes our students cookies! The mud huts keep the homes cool and the solar cooker allows for heated food without creating smoke. It was quite impressive to see how these resources are used and how this ingenuity protects lives around the globe.