5/24/2018 Change of address -The Kibbutz goes urban |Jerusalem Post |June '14

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By BARBARA BAMBERGER

The idea of establishing a kibbutz in a city mightseem like a contradiction. But as standardkibbutzim move towards privatization, a newmodel is popping up in cities around Israel.

It is fueled by the belief that kibbutzvalues democracy, social justice, love of Israel offerreal solutions to social problems, and that the bestplace to effect change is from within.

To this end, the Dror Israel Movement recentlypurchased a derelict corner lot in the strugglingShapira neighborhood of Tel Aviv, and is poised tobegin construction on the first building specificallydesigned to function as an urban kibbutz.

Dror Israelis made up of adults who grew up in the LaborZionist youth movement Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed(NOAL). Traditionally, the movements youth wouldenlist in the IDFs Nahal Brigade for a lengthened termof service. Part of the time was spent on kibbutz, where

soldiers would integrate into work and socialafter discharge, many would return to live on thBut the trend towards kibbutz privatization nchanges in the course of service.

Originally from Rishon Lezion, Eli Shamjoined NOAL at the age of 13 and served The movement recommended that insteato a kibbutz, we consider going to a city. Wand went to Tel Aviv, where we ran programspeople.

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Change of

addressThe kibbutz goes urban, moving to Tel Aviv

Eli Shamsian at Beit Dor Baby Hous

Beit Dor, Jaffa. (Courtesy)

http://www.drorisrael.org.il/englishhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ6RzEEL1HMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ6RzEEL1HMhttp://www.drorisrael.org.il/english

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In 1999, Shamsian finished the army and remainedin Tel Aviv to help found the original kibbutz. Ibelieve in the idea of contributing, he says. Theressomething in me thats suited to living in a group. Thetogether allows for a greater contribution as long asthe goal is shared.

Much as in the standard model, city kibbutznikimlive communally, pooling salaries and resources,but instead of working in agriculture, they work in avariety of informal and formal educational capacities.The 1,200 members of Dror Israels EducatorsKibbutzim serve 100,000 people in 158 locationsaround the country.

Shamsian remembers the first group of kids hementored. We caught three 14-year-olds red-handed,painting graffiti on the NOAL building [movementheadquarters]. It was obvious they were bored. We toldthem, Come tomorrow and well give you paint. Paintover the graffiti and well give you a room here whereyou can hang out. They came back the next day andpainted, Shamsian laughs.

So we gave them a room, and a connection began.The group grew to about 15 kids, mostly from theformer USSR, living in Shapira. Wed go on trips, doactivities. They joined NOAL and went into the army.Today, theyre parents; they have families. Im still intouch with most of t hem.

Today, in Tel Aviv and the sur rounding s uburbs, 110kibbutznikim serve approximately 4,500 youth andadults, designing and implementing programs incommunity centers, schools and military facilities.The pioneers who founded the first kibbutz,Degania, were building a country, says Shamsian.One hundred years later, the country exists butsociety has other issues to address. We see ourselvesas the new pioneers; our Tel Aviv kibbutz is the newDegania.

Currently, the Tel Aviv kibbutz consists of rentedapartments scattered throughout the city. It is anexpensive and inefficient way to live. Dror Israelbelieves that having a permanent, physical basewithin the community they serve will enhance theirability to take action.

In one such instance of mobilizing to serve thecommunity, years ago they heard that 15 to 20busloads of Sudanese were headed toward Tel Aviv.

We understood they would be dumped off in themiddle of the city and we were there to meet themwith food and clothing, Shamsian says. We sawthere were a lot of teenagers. Without any framework,they could easily become criminals. We draftedresources and opened a school for them. Eventually,the state took responsibility and we closed the school.It was never meant to be a permanent solution, butbecause we were right there, we were able to providean immediate one.

ACCORDING TO Guy Zuzut, youth coordinator for thecitys department of youth and young, one out of everythree Tel Avivians is under the age of 25. In the past,the municipality didnt provide any programming forresidents from after high school, until they becameparents. But in recent years, his department hasextended services towards non-parents in the upperage bracket.

Our goal is to provide meaningful activities. Weveopened a network of neighborhood youth centers;a professional staff offers holistic treatment its notjust about afterschool clubs, Zuzut explains. Wegive them a physical place where they can come inand spend time, and offer relevant activities aimedto attract and draw them in. We target every segmentof the population: Jews, Muslims, Christians, thedisabled and people with special needs.

The youth movements, of which the Scouts isthe largest, provide programming and volunteermanpower. We also utilize kids serving in Nahaland Shnat Sherut [pre-army service], says Zuzut.In addition, we have six paid employees from the

Educators Kibbutz. They run four of t he youth centers,serving 500 to 600 youth. They are the only movementwith whom we have this kind of relationship.

For me, the group is really special. Theyre freshand refreshing. They dont think conventionally.They care about society; they want to contribute. And

theres continuity if one finishes, someone else cantake their place.Zuzut agrees that a permanent kibbutz building will

benefit the city. Well concentrate all the start-upminds together, he says. This could be the SiliconValley of education in the community.

DIRECTLY BEHIND the ornate Nouzha Mosque onJerusalem Boulevard in Jaffa are two school buildings

one Arab, one Jewish. One small room off courtyard houses all of NOALs activities inopen during school recess, for afterschooland during school holidays.

Sharon Raz is the schools director of acare. It is very important that NOAL is here

The informal educational activities they rthese kids to more than what they get at hoteach them about values and relationshare real connections between the counselochildren. If someone has a problem, the care there to provide an answer, other thanteachers give them.

Soundos Daka, 17, has been in the movemeyears. She is planning to continue after hig

Gilad Perry (left) and Gary Levy. (Courtesy)

Dror Israel kibbutz members. (Courtesy)

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Its not always easy to come here; there are alwaysother things to do, she says. But we simply loveit. Ive learned what it means to be together, Ivelearned how to deal with children.

The movement is a world in itself. WhenI was in ninth grade, 1,500 of us kids went ona seminar in the North. We slept in tents, hadparties until 5 a.m. and we learned how to becounselors.

When we go into schools in our [blue] shirts,everyone knows who we are and gets excited tosee us, says Omar Hamoudeh, 17. Our goalis to change society, end racism and educatechildren, to teach them patience and strength.

His brother, 15-year-old Muhammad, is alsoin the movement. They will both participate ina new project involving both the Tel Aviv and

Jaffa groups, in an e ffort to destroy boundarie sand stigmas.

And next year, for the first time in Jaffa,five high school graduates will participate innational service offered to Arab and religiousyouth. While living at home, theyll work inschools and run movement activities. Thereare tons of kids who want to take part, saysDror Israel counselor Jonathan Kershenbaum,22. Some dont know its open to everybody.

Counselors came to my school and explainedwhat the movement is, says Mariana Jahan, 13.I was convinced to try it out. I got to know newkids, and now I come two to three times a week.

Because there is only the one smyouth activities have to be carefully timovement has been in discussions witfor two years to get a larger meeting sstill has no answer.

Back on Jerusalem Boulevard, Shamhe worked in Jaffa for several years. Whear them speak, it might not be clare real hardships here poverty anand parents arent always supportivchildren. But these kids want to be Israel, and its like we open a door for say, Come in; be Israeli. Be a part of us

YIFAT KARLINSKY, 39, joined NOAL grader in Kfar Saba. Today, she occupieof Dror Israel manager in Tel Aviv-Jaffa

We no longer wait until people kibbutz. Kibbutz comes to them, she take part in t he formal educational stwell. We work in every single schooincluding Dov Hoz School for at-riswhere the students have all droppethe regular framework. They get 12schooling plus a vocation like comcomputer graphics. When they go army, they often work in their field.

While shes at work, Karlinsky leavesin Dror Israels childcare facilities, lJaffa on the g rounds of a former s chooaccommodates 0-2 year olds and is ad

Jaffa NOAL, (left to right) Gaia, Omar, Mohammed, Mariana, Soundos, Jonathan. (Courtesy)

Shimon Peres visits Dror Israels Rabin Memorial Tent. (Courtesy)

5/24/2018 Change of address -The Kibbutz goes urban |Jerusalem Post |June '14

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the preschool, which is open to non-movement 2 to4 year olds. Her older child attends their afterschoolprogram.

Were not 60s hippies, she says. Were normalpeople who choose to live together. The strength oftogether is stronger than the individual. We seeourselves as very much part of the community. Ourpresent living conditions are hard on us.

ARCHITECT EDEN BARRE, principal of Barre LevieArchitects and Urban Planners, has worked withDror Israel since 1999, when he first worked on aproject for Kibbutz Eshbal, in the Misgav RegionalCouncil near Karmiel.

From then, I had a crush on them, says Barre,who is careful to explain he doesnt represent them,but is simply saying what he sees.

I help them translate their way of life intoliving spaces and public spaces. During numerousmeetings and workshops, Ive gotten to know them.I see them as the true continuation of the kibbutzmovement. Theyve taken upon themselves theconcepts of community, society and values, and thebasis of everything is education. And the educationthey present is less How can I earn more? or Howcan I raise my standing in society? but more aboutpersonal leadership and How do I function within

my community?The design for the Tel Aviv kibbutz was basedon a hierarchy of private-to-public spaces. Forinstance, there is a persons private room. Thenseveral of these rooms are situated around a livingroom, which is also a meeting space just like afamily home. Then you have a lobby, which is anadditional meeting room for a larger group. On theground floor and in the basement parking area,when you remove the cars, there are more andlarger meeting spaces.

We tried to straddle the fine line betweenresidential and public. And we tried to insert thelanguage of modern Bauhaus, which is at the root ofIsraeli architecture.

The building will house 40 kibbutznikim.Residents of Shapira are in the lower socioeconomicbracket, but the neighborhood is in the earlieststages of gentrification. Barre says the kibbutz is

undergoing the exact opposite. On a plot wheresomeone might build a three-story private home,Dror Israel is planning a home for 40 people.

Barre draws a parallel between the residents of thekibbutz and the historic mulberry tree on the cornerof the lot, which has been preserved in the buildingplans. Theyre the mulberry tree, he says. Thecommunity will be able to come and eat of theirfruit.

AMONG OTHER ROLES, Gilad Perry, 36, of KibbutzEshbal and Gary Levy, 40, of Kibbutz Ravid,function as Dror Israels directors of internationalcollaboration.

Their job is to initiate contact with Jewishorganizations, publicize the movements programsand create partnerships of all kinds. For this reason,both are knowledgeable about Dror Israels wide-ranging activities.

We try to reach every single child. Never mindtheir background, we come with the same basicvalues: leadership, democracy, Zionism, love of manand the land, social justice, says Perry. We have anetwork of schools called Dror Batei Chinuch (DrorHouses of Education). Theyre regular schools butthey have a special approach. Its less about presentinginformation, and more about posing questions thatthe children can answer and learn from.

Two weeks ago, Education Minister Shai Pironrecognized one of our schools as a school thatexemplifies meaningful learning. It will be includedin a new program called Halutzei Haaracha(Evaluation Pioneers).

In the Education Ministry they talk a lot aboutthe concept of meaningful learning where kidslearn by going through some kind of process, Levysays. What they learn stays with them, gives themtools for the future, self-confidence. That is exactlythe way we teach.

Dror Israel programs include bringing sexeducation to Kiryat Gat schools, arranging shared

activities for Israeli children and children ofrefugees and foreign workers in Tel Avivs Hatikvaneighborhood; and providing Jewish teachers ofEnglish to Arab schoolchildren as a way of breakingbarriers and building trust. And, Dror Israel iscurrently in the process of organizing a UnitedStates tour for a traveling exhibition honoring thelife and work of Yitzhak Rabin.

By definition, Dror Israel kibbutznikim live amodest lifestyle. They scrimped and saved to purchasethe Shapira plot at a cost of $1 million. Today, thebuilding permits are in the final stages of approval,and theyre seeking additional financial support.

Just as many towns have student housing or housing

for the elderly, we can see 20 years from now city will have an Educators Kibbutz, says Levthere are 270 kibbutzim. They were establishKKL-JNF, the Jewish Agency, by others. Andseem strange to anyone that they exist. We whave 270, but we could have 27

Levy reminds us that weve seen all advances in technology Google, cellpho

that drive themselves and makes an anthe social sphere, its hard to imagine similchanges. It always comes down to the leadethey use the people or serve the people? from a place where we want to serve.

Israel is thought of as the Start-up Nhi-tech, Perry says. The question is, can Start-up Nation from a social standpoint? can; I think we have to be.

The idea of the kibbutz started here in can take that idea and renew it, and adjuour modern lives. We can build communitthere are meaningful objectives and a sharThen Israel will have that to be proud of, t

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Shapira corner lot. (Courtesy)

Architectural rendering of Tel Aviv kibbutz. (Barre Levie Architects & Urban Planners)

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