I Visited the Torah

We returned from our week-long Egypt trip last night, and it was quite fantastic. However, before I discuss Egypt we need to go over a few Israel visits on the way.

We left early last Sunday morning by bus to drive to a kibbutz near Eliat in the southern part of Israel, about 45 minutes from the Egyptian border. On our way to the kibbutz we stopped at Tel Be'er Sheva, the Wilderness of Zin, and Avdat. For those of you who are unfamiliar, we'll have a quick Old Testament review: Beer Sheba was the southern most city of the Biblical land of Israel; Isaac built an altar there, it was the location of Jacob's ladder vision, and Elijah hid from Jezebel in Beer Sheba. The Wilderness of Zin was a long stopping point for the Israelites during the Exodus from Egypt, they probably stayed there for at least a year and if I remember correctly, it was the location where they were all bit by firey serpents and the Lord told Moses to put a brass serpent on a stick for them to be healed. The Wilderness of Zin is also where David Ben-Gurion and his wife are buried. Observe for a moment the few of the valley from our lookout point. I don't know about you, but if I had to spend a few days in this wilderness, let alone years, I would murmur as well. I think sometimes we tend to criticize the Israelites and think they were ungrateful, and to a certain extent that is true. However, after seeing this particular landscape I cannot say that I wouldn't have murmured either.

Our last stop prior to the kibbutz was cool too. Avdat is a whole bunch of ruins from what was once an excellent trading post apparently; it was right on the trail from Petra to Gaza and people frequently stopped there. We were able to see things like where they would smash grapes to make wine, a baptismal font, and explore various caves. It was really cool.

After our Biblical stops we ate dinner and spent the night at a kibbutz. That was one of the most interesting places I have ever seen. We had a guide take us around so we were able to see various things like the dairy, the infirmary, the school, the cafeteria. Our guide told us that everyone on the kibbutz rotates positions, so you spend a while as a cafeteria worker and then you might become the treasurer for a while, and then you would be on the night watch, etc. The kibbutz covers all living expenses such as food, housing, electricity, and medical (among others) and each family gets a small allotment of money each year in proportion to the size of the family, so a family of six would get more money than a family of three. The little apartments they live in are also determined by the family's size.

It was interesting to see the communal way these people live. It is the best functioning socialist society I have ever seen -- not that I have seen many socialist societies, but we did study them often in school, and they all seemed to have many more problems than this kibbutz does. Our guide told us that in the time he has lived there (some 30 or so years) they have only kicked out two members, one of which was permitted back in later, and currently only have two who are somewhat problematic. Difficulties with only four people in 30 years is rather impressive. I doubt anything like a kibbutz would be possible in the US, or in any European capitalist country for that matter. Israel itself is capitalist, but the kibbutz (and others like it) does not have any problem surviving. I was very impressed by the people there and the way in which they choose to live.

Monday morning we ate breakfast and were off to Egypt!