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Page 19 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE July 21, 1978
Who says a kibbutz has to be poor?
by Carl Alpert
HAIFA—There is indignation
in the kibbutz movement. Why do
people believe that a kibbutz has to
be poor? Why is it a crime for a
kibbutz to have an affluent society
of its own? Why the derision on the
part of city folks when they learn
that kibbutz members can live very
well indeed? Why this morbid
poking into kibbutz private life?
Why didn't they point a finger at us
when we had only olives and half
an egg for a meal?
These are, in effect, some of the
questions kibbutz members are
asking in the wake of a short article
in Hoaretz entitled “American
Style at Kibbutz Netzer Sereni.”
Some aspects of kibbutz
improvements and development
are already taken for granted. No
one is surprised anymore when he
finds air conditioning, hygienic
conditions, excellent food,
decorative arts and green lawns in
the larger and more prosperous
kibbutzim. The people worked
hard in these settlements, and
they’re entitled to comfort which
they have earned.
What caused lifted eyebrows,
however, was the report that some
members at Netzer Sereni had
private bank accounts on the
outside, took frequent trips
abroad, and apparently had lots of
spending money—this in a society
which is supposed to preach
proletariat) egalitarianism. This
kibbutz also operates several
prosperous factories which have
an annual turnover of almost a
hundred million Israel Pounds a
year, five times its income from
agriculture. There’s nothing wrong
in that, but of the ?40 persons
working in the plants, about a
hundred are hired help from the
outside. In other words, the
kibbutz is not only a capitalist, but
a successful one.
Explanations and qualifications
followed. Yes, it may be true that
some of the Netzer Sereni
members maintain private bank
accounts (through which they can
carry on private investments in the
stock market) but the money
stemmed from German repara
tions. Some of the members are
survivors of Buchenwald, and
when the reparations came
through it was decided that each
recipient could keep 80 percent of
the payments. The balance went to
the kibbutz. These members were
free to do as they wished with their
money. Some spent it on travel.
Some put it into expansion of their
Tears
At The Wedding.
Not At The
Reception.
Your daugh
ter s wea-
isone
most
important
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life. And yours. And when
you're involved in a flu
of wedding plans, we '
like you have
enough to do.
mat's why our
Director of Catering
offers a very special
Wedding Reception.
You can sned
all the tears vou
want to at the wed
ding, but there won't
be a thing to cry about at
the reception.
Your Next Business Luncheon
Should Be None iiv
Of Your Business. iHmr 0A
Because that's
our business.
Our highly trained catering
staff will set your business
affairs straight from the first
sip of a cocktail to the last
rap of a gavel.
Let our Director
of Catering arrange
everything for you. Be
cause he means
business. And
he means yours.
Catering By
Anybody Else
Just Wouldn’t
Be Kosher.
Peachtree Plaza
is the only hotel
in Atlanta with a com
pletely kosher kitchen. We'll
your son the best Bar
Mitzvah, bar none. Your
daughter the fin
est wedding re
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have. And your
luncheons, dinners anefpro-
fessional gatherings will all
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The combined tal
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For further infor
mation and our free
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our Director of Catering
at 659-1400.
PEACHTICE PLAZA HOTEL
*
give
homes and furnishings. And some
opened bank accounts.
The public was amused to read
that Netzer Sereni maintains its
own supermarket where members
can buy what they wish, paid for in
kibbutz script. Netzer Sereni has
departed from the original
collective ideology in other ways as
well. They were one of the first to
discontinue the common nursery
for children. Here the youngsters
are raised with and by their own
parents.
The kibbutz secretary told a
reporter: Should we have to
apologize for being successful?
Yes, we are a collective under
conditions of affluence.
Income tax? They insist that
they pay honestly, as required by
the law. But some observers point
out that the law was enacted by
Labor Governments and was
designed to give the kibbutz a
definite advantage, by dividing the
gross income statistically among
all the members, and thus reducing
the total payments. Netzer Sereni,
it should be noted has almost 600
souls, including members,
children, temporary residents,
ulpan students, etc.
There are some kibbutzim that
are said to be much wealthier than
Netzer Sereni. And there are
certainly many that have not
reached anywhere near its
economic standards, especially
some of the newer ones.
Rich or poor, capitalist or
Socialist, there is no doubt that the
kibbutz is a unique creation of the
Zionist movement, an object ot
curious interest to all from the
outside.
Bomb threat:
no Bible exam
TEL AVIV—Every pupil knows
the experience of having bad
nerves before an examination,
particularly if he is not properly
prepared.
Two Ramat Gan high school
pupils who had not studied for a
test in Bible Studies found a novel
way to put off the examination.
They arranged for a friend to
telephone the school saying that a
bomb had been left on the
premises. The school was
evacuated and only later did the
teachers find out that the two
errant Bible scholars were
responsible.
The laconic comment of one of
the policemen called in to search
for the “bomb" was, “I don’t know
whether they would have passed in
Bible, but certainly they’ve failed
in citizenship.”
^bfanas,\j±
Call Arthur
Zebrak for:
