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A Map of the Kibbutz
Like all good things ever since Julius Caesar, Kibbutz Reshafim is divided into three parts:
Where we sleep, where we eat and where we *sigh* work.
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AccommodationThe flats were mostly built in the glorious days of what used to be called communal education, i.e. the children lived most of the time in the children's houses under the supervision of trained educators. They received their meals there, they slept there and played or studied there. Parents saw their children about four hours a day, but the time spent together was dedicated exclusively to their children, so called 'quality time' (what an awful term) .Since then we have abolished the dormitories in the children's houses and the children sleep at home in the flats which, as we've already said, were not built to accomodate a whole family. Cramped conditions ensued and following them much bad blood. A number of well known phenomena began to occur such as the beating of children or the organizing of gangs, things we could easily have done without. |
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We were luckier than many other kibbutzim in that we had a number of empty flats, and by breaking
down a few walls we were able to solve the most serious cases. The flats range in size from 40 square
metres for bachelors to 120 for families with children. A strange quirk of the kibbutz system is
that once you've lived in a large flat, nobody can force you to move to a smaller one, when you
don't need it any more.
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Public Service BuildingsAgain, these were built, when needs were different. On the one hand the dining room, where people were served three meals a day and which is now closed at breakfast and supper time and therefore too big (it was shut down finally in Autumn 2005), and on the other the administration, which in the best of Parkinsonian traditions would have done any conquering general manager proud. A home for the elderly and invalid was built a few years ago. A clinic deals with the dispensation of medicine and light medical cases. The dental clinic being underused, there are thoughts about opening it up to outside patients. Our public library with its tens of thousands of books is still very busy. |
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Which can't be said of the clubhouse, an unfortunate white elephant. Many attempts have been made to find some use for it, most have failed quite miserably. A while ago (in the summer of 1999) some bright spark has had the idea of serving supper there. Whether the dining room might not be the more appropriate place for this is an open question.
The clubhouse: The seven blind wise men might be in doubt as to its colour, but whether white or pink, it's an elephant. In the summer of 2006 the clubhouse has undergone major repairs: an access ramp for wheelchairs has been added, toilet doors have been widened, the floors have been re-laid, the leaking roof has been fixed, cracked glass panes have been exchanged. Now we just have to find a purpose for the bally thing. |
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Bringing Home the BaconWe used to literally. Until the 1960's Kibbutz Reshafim was the proud owner of a piggery. The religious parties put a stop to that and we began growing turkeys. Until during a turkey meat glut the bottom fell out of the price barrel. Today we rely heavily on our plastics factory as the government has declared war on agriculture and wages in this sector are only a third of the national average. A few people are still farming though. We have one of the more successful milk dairies in the Beit Shean Valley, the battery chickens continue laying the occasional egg, we grow cotton, wheat, potatoes and a few other crops on the fields surrounding the kibbutz [1]. The fish ponds to the North of the kibbutz are stocked with carp, St. Peter's fish and others. We export Cichlids and other aquarium fish. The subtropical fruit we grow include mango, avocado, grapefruit, dates and a few unidentified citrus fruit with ever changing names. And then you'd find a carpenter's shop [2], a garage, an electrician's and a few other.[1] Update April 2003: We used to. After years of dismal results we have joined an agricultural cooperative which has resulted in a modest gain for the first time in a decade. [2] Note please: I said carpenter's shop not carpenters. |
Updated January 2000, August 2006