Tag: kibbutzim

Kibbutz movement in crisis

A home in Kibbutz Erez. (photo by Larry Barzelai)

Spending a night in late March at Kibbutz Erez in southwestern Israel was an unforgettable experience. Visiting friends, it was somewhat eerie. Most residents have not returned since the Hamas terror attacks on Oct. 7, and the absence is profound. 

The area is like a Canadian suburb. A group of houses surrounds a large grassy area, which has children’s playgrounds and lemon, orange and kumquat trees. This type of living is a rarity in Israel, where most people live in apartment buildings.

While the environment was scenic and comfortable, explosions could be heard in the distance and puffs of smoke periodically arose from Gaza, the border of which is less than a kilometre away. The Israel Defence Forces were entrenched nearby.

Kibbutz Erez fared better on Oct. 7 than many other kibbutzim and towns in the region because they received advanced warning from a neighbouring kibbutz that an attack was underway. Their neighbours had seen hang gliders from Gaza soaring overhead.

The security team of Kibbutz Erez quickly assembled to try to prevent the invaders from entering the kibbutz through the main gate. First, they called the IDF to make sure that the army wasn’t conducting an exercise. Receiving confirmation that it was a terrorist attack, the kibbutzniks asked how long it would take for the army to come – they were told they were on their own. 

A firefight involving rifles, grenades and RPGs ensued. According to one of the kibbutzniks, “we fought like lions.” This was no ordinary military engagement, but a battle to protect their children and other family members from the Hamas terrorists. If they failed, they knew that Hamas would hurt their children.

Amir, one of the kibbutzniks, whose wife was expecting their first baby, was killed in the encounter. Danny received a bullet to the neck and Uri suffered wounds to his head and leg.

Liora, a nurse described as having nerves of steel, recognized that neither Danny nor Uri would survive without immediate medical attention. Both were bleeding profusely, and their level of consciousness was decreasing. With the help of a friend, she packed them into a car, drove out of the kibbutz amid a hail of bullets and got them to a nearby hospital, where they received lifesaving treatment. Both survived in relatively good physical shape.

After a fight of close to two hours, the terrorists decided that Kibbutz Erez was too difficult to overcome, and moved on to wreak havoc on the next village. The IDF did not arrive until later that day.

The whole kibbutz was evacuated to Mitzpe Ramon. Many of the families moved into hotel rooms there. After several weeks, makeshift schools were established and members of the kibbutz achieved some measure of normality, as much as it can be normal living in a hotel, totally dependent on caring neighbours, a supportive community and government help. Since then, some of the kibbutzniks have relocated to Kiryat Gat, which is much closer to their home. Some, including my friend, have returned home. 

What is the future of Kibbutz Erez? People are slowly trickling back. The telling test will be in the summer, if families return in preparation for the start of the school year in September. 

Kibbutz Hatzerim and Kibbutz Be’eri

Earlier in March, we visited extended family who live on Kibbutz Hatzerim, and heard about their experiences on Oct. 7.

People on Kibbutz Hatzerim awoke that day to sirens and multiple WhatsApp messages from friends and relatives, letting them know that Israel was under attack by Hamas terrorists, who were infiltrating the settlements close to the border. Were the attackers coming to Kibbutz Hatzerim, 20 kilometres west of Beer Sheva? Rumours circulated that they were on their way to Tel Aviv. People were reluctant to turn on their TVs, to protect their children from seeing the horrors that were happening. People received no directives from government sources or from the army. It was an information vacuum.

Some visitors at the kibbutz, who had arrived for Simchat Torah, decided to return to their homes in central Israel, but was it safe to drive there? Nobody knew.

Would the kibbutzniks be able to defend themselves? They did not have many weapons and the kibbutz could be easily infiltrated from several locations. But people on Kibbutz Hatzerim ended up being the fortunate ones. The terrorists were planning to move in that direction but didn’t make it that far. Apparently, they had killed and kidnapped enough people by then – 364 people killed and 44 kidnapped at the Nova music festival alone, mainly young people.

After Oct. 7, life returned to some degree of routine on Kibbutz Hatzerim. However, there were frequent missile attacks, necessitating trips to the bomb shelters. People were called up to do army service (miluim). The IDF was fighting in Gaza and soldiers were being killed. The plight of the more than 240 hostages was on everybody’s minds.

The death and destruction of some of Kibbutz Hatzerim’s neighbours is indescribable. Of special note is Kibbutz Be’eri: approximately 70 terrorists entered the kibbutz. Of the 1,000-plus residents, 97 kibbutz members were killed, 11 people were abducted and one-third of the houses were severely damaged.

Kibbutz Be’eri and Kibbutz Hatzerim have a lot in common. Hatzerim is famous for having developed the drip-irrigation technique and has a large production facility at the kibbutz. Be’eri houses one of the largest printing companies in Israel. Both kibbutzim resisted privatization, which many others had adopted as additional sources of revenue.

Hatzerim and Be’eri were both established in 1946 and both were comprised mainly of people on the left of the political spectrum. They looked forward to a peaceful future with the residents of Gaza. Many were involved in a program that transported sick people from Gaza to hospitals in Israel for advanced treatment. One of the residents of Be’eri, Vivian Silver, originally from Winnipeg, had learned Arabic to better communicate with her Palestinian neighbours, but that didn’t save her life on Oct. 7.

Currently, most residents of Kibbutz Be’eri are being housed in temporary locations, such as hotels in the Dead Sea area. They are safe and relatively free from missile attacks, but life is far from normal. Trying to reestablish a kibbutz lifestyle, while living in a crowded hotel with none of the amenities that glue kibbutzniks together, is challenging. 

photo - A house in Kibbutz Be’eri after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks
A house in Kibbutz Be’eri after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks. (photo by Tomer Persico)

A massive building project is now underway adjacent to Kibbutz Hatzerim. A whole new temporary kibbutz to house the residents of Be’eri is under construction. The plan is to have the temporary kibbutz finished by the summer, so that families can move in before school starts in September. 

Some facilities, such as medical clinics and administrative offices, will be shared by the two kibbutzim. Otherwise, the temporary Kibbutz Be’eri will have its own houses, schools and offices. Hatzerim will expand its present dental clinic, seniors lounge and grocery store to accommodate the increased needs from the larger population. In typical kibbutz fashion, members of both kibbutzim have met many times to jointly plan this project. 

The ultimate plan is to rebuild the original Kibbutz Be’eri, which was mainly destroyed on Oct. 7. It is hoped that this will be accomplished within the next two years.

Kibbutz Yiron

Look at the label on your kosher wine from Israel. Most likely it comes from Kibbutz Yiron. Next year will probably be different, as the kibbutz is on the Lebanese border and has been evacuated – no one is allowed into the area. As a result, according to one kibbutz member, the pruning of the vines, which usually takes place in the spring, did not happen this year. The same kibbutznik informed me that $20,000 worth of his favourite apple, Pink Lady, was left to rot.

Kibbutz Yiron is an oasis in the desert. We have visited because we have friends who live there, but people come from many other places in Israel and elsewhere to enjoy the mountain scenery, go for hikes and rest in a peaceful environment. Lebanon is visible in the background, but the border was quiet. It is heartbreaking to see this piece of paradise abandoned.

photo - Spring pruning hasn’t been possible at Kibbutz Yiron’s vineyards because of the evacuation
Spring pruning hasn’t been possible at Kibbutz Yiron’s vineyards because of the evacuation. (photo by B. Negin / flickr)

The jewel of Yiron was its Pinat Chai, a literal oasis consisting of a zoo with multiple animals, including a python, which would be taken out on non-feeding days and draped around the necks of unsuspecting visitors. Peacocks, ducks and geese roamed freely. Deer would run around their enclosed area, frequently escaping into the wider area, trying to evade recapture. A lake in the middle of the zoo was a star attraction. Row boats and paddleboats navigated the small artificial lake in a region with no natural lakes.

Kibbutz members looked forward to the day when Pinat Chai would serve as a meeting place for children and families of different origins. They anticipated a day when Lebanese children would enjoy themselves at Pinat Chai together with Israeli children.

But the zoo is now gone. The government also ordered them out of the kibbutz. The animals have been relocated to other places in Israel, and even to other countries.

The evacuation was part of a larger one that included all settlements close to the Lebanese border, like the city of Kiryat Shmona, with 22,000 inhabitants; and the town of Metulla, home of Canada Centre and one of only a few skating rinks in Israel. This area of northern Israel has special significance to the Jewish community of Vancouver, as our partnership region. Since the mid-1990s, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver has worked closely with Etzba HaGalil (the Galilee Panhandle).

Kibbutz Yiron was not attacked on Oct. 7. However, the northern border has heated up since then. Hezbollah has been firing many missiles into the region, sometimes 30 per day, killing several Israelis.

Villages, especially in the Gaza Envelope, are receiving government compensation and many have relocated so that they are all living as a group, whether in Mitzpe Ramon or Eilat or the hotels at the Dead Sea. People in the north have not received the same compensation, so they are widely scattered. The kibbutznik with whom I spoke is living in a village close to Haifa. When I asked him when he’s going back to his home, he said anywhere from six months to maybe a couple of years.

There are many in Israel, including government ministers, who think that a war with Hezbollah is imminent. Hezbollah’s arsenal of weapons is much larger than that of Hamas, so a war with them could be even more destructive. The IDF has been stationing additional troops in the north, as tensions rise. Many people are strengthening their bomb shelters.

Looking to the future 

Oct. 7 changed Israel in dramatic ways. Stories of neglect, abandonment and destruction are legion. At the same time, Israelis have shown incredible resilience to plan and rebuild for the future.

For many years, kibbutzim have defined Israel’s borders and acted as a protective barrier, both in the north and surrounding the Gaza Strip. But will the kibbutzim be able to rebuild their lives with some semblance of security? Can they ever again trust a government and an army that so dramatically let them down?

People are slowly returning to the kibbutzim surrounding Gaza, but many may never return. For the people along the Lebanese border, the situation in some sense is more dire. They have been exiled from their residences for more than seven months. The agricultural and industrial bases of the kibbutzim economies have been shattered. When will they be able to return? Will the small-scale conflict in progress along the Lebanese-Israel border become a major war?

It’s a very challenging time to be an Israeli, especially a kibbutznik living close to Israel’s borders. Hopefully, their future will include some degree of peace and normality. 

Larry Barzelai is a semi-retired Vancouver family physician, who travels to Israel frequently to visit his three grandchildren there. He is presently co-chair of the Jewish Medical Association of British Columbia.

Reflections on April mission

JNF Canada, Har El and Beth Israel mission participants in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. (photo from Lorraine Katzin)

About 20 volunteers – from Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto – went on the JNF Canada Bearing Witness Mission to Israel April 1-8. Organized by Jewish National Fund Canada, Congregation Har El and Congregation Beth Israel, the trip was led by BI’s Rabbi David Bluman and JNF Edmonton executive director Jay Cairns. On his Facebook page, Cairns thanks JNF Pacific executive director Michael Sachs, BI Senior Rabbi Jonathan Infeld and Bluman “for spearheading this important mission.” Among the volunteers were Har El members Lorraine Katzin and Karen Shalansky, who shared some of what they experienced with the Jewish Independent.

Some first impressions
(Lorraine Katzin)

Stepping onto the El Al plane from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv reminded me of the olden days of flying – a blanket, pillow, headphones and a bag with a toothbrush, toothpaste and eye mask. Two meals were served and, during the flight, you could help yourself to snacks, sandwiches and drinks.

Walking through Ben Gurion International Airport, you see photos of the hostages still in captivity. When we went through the foreign passport area, it was chilling – we were literally the only people passing through passport control. There were no tourists. Our hotel was quiet as well.

Walking on the promenade in Tel Aviv to Jaffa on our arrival, it felt as if there were no war – people were out on the beach, swimming, playing beach bats, foot volleyball, and jogging.

Tuesday, April 2, was our first full day of touring. We started at Kibbutz Kissufim in the south. We heard stories of the murders and saw the devastation made by the Hamas terrorists. One of the stories that haunts me is that of the chief fireman whose only child, his daughter, and her husband were shot to death in their safe house, then their home was burnt down. Searchers only knew by finding a nose ring and bracelet in the ashes that the bodies had been burnt. 

We were very close to Gaza and could hear artillery every now and again, which was scary. At the site of the Nova music festival, there was a memorial of photographs: 364 people were killed there by Hamas, 44 hostages were taken.

On Wednesday, we toured Adi Negev-Nahalat Eran, which is a village for children with disabilities, which JNF supports. Karen and I volunteered at the therapeutic farm, cleaning the goat pen and washing the tortoises. That day we were also taken to the car cemetery, where you see two burnt ambulances, as well as burnt and bullet-holed cars numbering more than 1,000. In Sderot, we saw where the police station used to be – the building was taken over by Hamas terrorists and then an Israeli tank destroyed the building, killing the terrorists inside.

photo - A burnt-out Magen David Adom ambulance in the car cemetery near the Gazan border, where burnt and bullet-holed vehicles numbering more than 1,000 are being kept for further investigation
A burnt-out Magen David Adom ambulance in the car cemetery near the Gazan border, where burnt and bullet-holed vehicles numbering more than 1,000 are being kept for further investigation. (photo from Lorraine Katzin)

The first few days of the mission, I found it difficult to sleep, the images and stories kept going through my head.

On Thursday, we picked lemons and went to Rachashei Lev Israel Children Cancer Centre, another JNF project. We also visited Hostages Square.

Friday included a visit to Western Canada House, a No2Violence shelter for women and children fleeing domestic violence, the building of which was funded by JNF Canada supporters in Vancouver and Winnipeg. [For more on Western Canada House, see jewishindependent.ca/a-new-refuge-from-violence.] We also went to the ANU Museum of the Jewish People, which had on display models of different shuls in Europe and the United States, a replica of the Codex Sassoon and an Oct. 7 exhibit. After stopping at the Carmel Market, we went back to Hostages Square for Kabbalat Shabbat, which was very moving.

Saturday, we went to the beach in the morning and walked around Tel Aviv in the afternoon. That night, we had a survivor come speak to us and it happened to be Shalev Biton, who had come to speak at Har El and elsewhere in Vancouver a few weeks prior. Amazingly, he remembered me!

On another night, we heard from Jacqui and Yaron Vital, parents of Adi Vital-Kaploun, who was murdered on Oct. 7. Jacqui, who is a Canadian, was in Ottawa visiting family when the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks happened. Adi, her husband and two children lived on Kibbutz Holit in the south and Yaron had come to visit; he was put up in a room in a vacant house opposite his daughter’s. Adi texted her husband, who had gone on a hike, warning him not to return home. Adi was killed, and her two children and a neighbour were kidnapped but let go at the Gaza border, by some miracle. Yaron survived, as the terrorists had determined which homes had how many people and who had dogs, which were shot first, but the room Yaron was in was usually vacant, so went unchecked by the terrorists.

photo - Karen Shalansky, left, and Lorraine Katzin tree planting
Karen Shalansky, left, and Lorraine Katzin tree planting. (photo from Lorraine Katzin)

On Sunday, April 7, we went JNF tree planting. We visited the Black Arrow Memorial, where, from the lookout, you can see Gaza. There, we were given a briefing by retired colonel Kobi Marom, whose opinion was that the Palestinian Authority should be enlisted to run Gaza. We then traveled to the Israel Defence Forces base at Nahal Oz for lunch with the soldiers – these 19-, 20- and 21-year-olds going into Gaza are truly amazing! The soldier I sat with, his name was Daniel and he was from Eritrea. We were so close to Gaza that we could see convoys of food trucks going through the Rafah Border Crossing.

Monday, our last day, we went to Jerusalem to two places that JNF supports: the Jerusalem Hills Therapeutic Centres, which provides services for at-risk children, and the Glassman PTSD and health centre at Herzog Hospital. We then visited the market and went for a walk down Ben Yehuda Street, the Kotel and the tunnels, and had dinner at Piccolino restaurant before heading to the airport. We were joined by Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver executive director Ezra Shanken and Rabbi Jonathan Infeld from Congregation Beth Israel.

Israel trip highlights
(Karen Shalansky)

I went to Israel to show my support in its time of need, as well as to hear the views of Israelis and their feelings toward the war. Through our many experiences, I felt I accomplished my mission.

Listening to the diverse perspectives of our guide, the young soldiers and guards on our bus, my 31-year-old cousin who made aliyah right after high school and is now fighting in the reserves, Lorraine’s Israeli friends, a retired colonel and others, I heard varying opinions on many topics. For example, should Israel invade Rafah, should there be a ceasefire, should the release of the Israeli hostages be the No. 1 priority, should there be an election, who should oversee Gaza after the war? While there was always more than one answer to every question, there were consistent feelings among everyone we met of resilience, strength and perseverance – that this war is another of many, and that Israel will carry on. As well, everyone we met was both amazed that we came during war and so happy that we had made the effort. That happiness alone made Lorraine and I feel that this trip was worthwhile. 

Some highlights of the trip for me were:

1) Visiting Hostages Square in Tel Aviv for Kabbalat Shabbat. This is a square that has Shabbat tables set up for both the released hostages (with blue tablecloth and wine glasses) and for the hostages still being held (with dirty water and stale pita). There was a wonderful band playing, with a singer, and, at one point, there was a chance for people to stand up and say something. Lorraine was our spokesperson and announced that we were on a trip from Canada to support Israel. Several Israelis came up to us afterwards to shake our hands and welcome us. When the band sang Lecha Dodi, a few people got up to dance the hora, including Lorraine and me. 

2) Visit to Shlomit settlement in the southern Negev. This was a religious settlement that JNF helped build. As an aside, JNF has been very active in rebuilding bomb shelters and kibbutzim that were destroyed on Oct 7. At Shlomit, we heard from Dana, a mother of six children, about how her husband and four other men went to a neighbouring kibbutz to fight the terrorists. While the men were successful in killing all five terrorists, her husband, unfortunately, was shot dead. Dana said she wanted her children to remember her husband as a hero, and to foster a sense of hope, not hate. In this inspirational talk, she kept emphasizing that we can’t live with hate, only with love and hope. 

3) A talk from a trauma psychologist at the Glassman centre. While post-traumatic stress has risen substantially in Israel, this psychologist told us a story of an army unit that recently returned from a three-month stint in Gaza. Prior to going home, the unit visited one of the soldier’s grandmothers, who was a Holocaust survivor. The attacks by Hamas on southern Israel have been equated to a second holocaust, but, upon asking the grandmother’s views, she said “no,” the attacks were nothing like the Holocaust. We have a country and a people that will fight for us now, whereas in 1940 we had nobody, she said. She concluded: we are never alone again, as long as there is an Israel. 

A long day in multiple ways

The car graveyard at Moshav Tekuma. The vehicles – recovered from along Highway 232 and the site of the Nova music festival – are being kept for at least a year, for investigators to scour them for further evidence. (photo by Adina Horwich)

At the beginning of April, I had a very long day, which is rare for me. I rose at 5:45 a.m. to visit the Gaza Envelope with 30 others. At 7:35, the bus left Jerusalem. Our guide boarded at Latrun. We proceeded toward the Re’im Junction, also known as Masmia, then headed south to Sderot.

At Sderot, we went to the site of the destroyed police station, where many police and staffers were killed on Oct. 7. The town is slowly returning to normal function, as many evacuees have returned and schools have reopened. A new police station has been built.

Despite being the closest community to Gaza, under nearly constant fire from Hamas for nearly 20 years, Sderot has become an attractive place for young families, joining the stalwart old-timers. I was there several times a dozen years ago, when my son was a student at Sapir College, and have always enjoyed spending time there. New neighbourhoods, including high rises, have sprung up.

From a lookout on the outskirts of the city, atop Kobi’s Hill, we could see the entire length of the Gaza Strip. The lookout was consecrated in memory of four soldiers who died in Operation Protective Edge in 2014. It was impressive, if that is the word, to see Gaza  from so close. Mere kilometres.

We visited the up-and-coming city of Netivot, which is nearby. There, too, we saw much real estate, which has attracted a mostly, though not exclusively, religious sector, with Baba Sali’s gravesite and shrine a major calling card. He was a beloved rabbi and sage, particularly dear to Jews of Moroccan background. We went inside a well-tended sanctuary, to have a look and offer prayers. The place was hopping. As it was Monday, a Torah reading day, it was a suitable time to celebrate bar mitzvahs, and we caught a festive first haircutting of twin 3-year-old boys.

Afterwards, we headed to Moshav Tekuma. We did not expect to be allowed in, as there was heavy security and restricted access, but we were granted permission. Within the guarded gates, we saw what looked like a huge car junkyard – except that it is a graveyard. All the cars were recovered from along Highway 232 and the site of the Nova music festival at Re’im. They are being kept for at least a year, for investigators and forensic experts to scour them for further evidence. Many cars are smashed up, as if they had been in bad accidents, others are pockmarked, having been sprayed with bullets. Surrounding these is a huge pile of rusty scrap and charred rescue vehicles, as well as pickup trucks and motorcycles used by the terrorists to infiltrate the area.

photo - Memorial to those who were murdered at the Nova music festival by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7.
Memorial to those who were murdered at the Nova music festival by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7. (photo by Adina Horwich)

We drove further along the road, past Kibbutz Sa’ad and Alumim, along Route 232, and stopped just outside Kibbut Be’eri (the public is not allowed in). We looked inside one of the roadside shelters, next to a bus stop, which normally accommodates roughly eight people. On Oct. 7, some 40 people stuffed themselves inside. It was into such structures that many fled from the Re’im festival, seeking refuge, but the terrorists hurled grenades inside. At one migunit, Aner Shapira managed to throw the grenades back at the terrorists, though, in the end, he was killed, along with other young people. Inside are memorial candles, stickers with the pictures and names of victims, letters and comforting wishes are written on the walls.

photo - Site of the Nova music festival
Site of the Nova music festival. (photo by Adina Horwich)

We traveled some more, reaching the city of Ofakim. That is where a very brave woman, Rachel Edri, appeased the five terrorists who barged into her home by offering them refreshments, including her now-famous cookies. She and her husband, David, both in their 60s, were able to manage the terrorists, engaging them in conversation, plying them with more food and singing songs, over 19 hours. Whenever she could, Rachel would go to the bathroom and signal from the window to the police outside, who had surrounded the house, gauging attempts to enter. The Edris’s son is in the police force and was instrumental in finally seizing back their home. Unfortunately, during the siege, the house suffered great damage and is a total wreck; only a shell remains. And, sadly, David Edri passed away about a month ago. Rachel has gone to live with her sister-in-law.

As we were looking around, another hero appeared in the small parking lot opposite. Shuki Yosef lives across the street with his wife. He invited us to come into their building’s shelter, where he recounted how he and some of the neighbours hid for several hours, all the while hearing gunshots and shouting outside. He secured a metal bicycle frame to keep the shelter’s door closed, holding it with his own hands for hours. Later, after the ordeal had ended, he designed and fashioned a wooden plank to better fit the door hinges, in the event of future need.

The bravery of these residents is remarkable. It is worth noting that their homes are not the closest ones to the highway – which one might think would have been attacked first – but the houses and people who took the brunt of the terrorist attack are tucked well within the city. The sheer gall and number of terrorists that infiltrated, going from house to house on a murderous rampage in Sderot, in Ofakim, in the kibbutzim, on the roadsides, gunning down so many, are mind-boggling. These communities all lie within minutes of each other in a pretty small area.

It was an unusually hot day for April 1, over 30 degrees Celsius. And it was an intense excursion. Visiting made the reality a lot more tangible, but still impossible to fully comprehend. It was moving to witness and I learned much. We left the Otef (Envelope/Wrapping), as it is called, and I arrived home just before 7 p.m.

More than six months have passed since Oct. 7 and we remain in the thick of things. It is taxing and draining, even on those of us who, fortunately, are not too closely involved. Everyone is touched by the terror attacks and the war. 

Adina Horwich was born in Israel to Canadian parents. In 1960, the family returned to Canada, first living in Halifax, then in a Montreal suburb. In 1975, at age 17, Horwich made aliyah, and has lived mostly in the Jerusalem area. She won a Rockower Award for journalistic excellence in covering Zionism, aliyah and Israel for her article “Immigration challenges” (jewishindependent.ca/immigration-challenges-2).

Drama & more at film fest

Yoav Brill’s documentary Apples and Oranges, about a moment in the history of the kibbutz movement, is mesmerizing. (photo by Avraham Eilat)

The 2024 Vancouver Jewish Film Festival takes place in person April 4-14 and online April 15-19. As usual, a diversity of offerings is included in this year’s festival and the Independent will review several films in this and upcoming issues. The Vancouver Jewish Film Centre also sponsors events throughout the year and some screenings take place before the annual festival begins. Full festival details will be online at vjff.org as April approaches.

Idealism remembered

Amid the euphoric aftermath of the 1967 war and the enduring popularity of the 1958 Leon Uris book Exodus (and its 1960 film incarnation), thousands of Jews and non-Jews descended on Israel to volunteer on kibbutzim.

They came to experience and emulate “the embodiment of man’s highest ideals – the kibbutznik,” as an apparently promotional film clip declares in Yoav Brill’s mesmerizing documentary Apples and Oranges. In just one particular spurt, 7,000 volunteers arrived in Israel en masse from around the world.

Through the recollections of aging Scandinavians, Brits, South Africans and others, and with nostalgia-inducing archival footage, the documentary shines a light on the socialist idealism and hippie adventurism that motivated these people to travel to the farming communities of rural Israel. Many returned, to Sweden, Denmark, wherever, and formed associations to support the kibbutzim and drum up more volunteers. So successful were they that the supply exceeded the demand. One group chartered a jumbo jet to go from Stockholm to Tel Aviv but the Israelis had to admit they had no use for 340 volunteers.

Generally, the spirit of the overseas visitors was welcomed, though the social impacts were not negligible. The temporary nature of their visits was disrupting. A middle-aged man reflects on his perspective as a kid on a kibbutz, welcoming all the strangers who became like big brothers and sisters, only to have his heart broken every time the groups departed from what he calls “the kibbutz fantasy.”

Strangers from another world – blond, exotic, sophisticated and drinking milk with their meals – descended on a cloistered society where all the teens had been together since kindergarten, introducing predictable social and hormonal disruptions. For their parts, many of the volunteers soon discovered they had no aptitude for the tasks to which they were set, although at least one Brit made use of his talents performing Shakespeare for an audience of cattle.

Many of the overseas youngsters were unabashedly out for sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll. As one woman interviewed in the documentary says, “If there weren’t female volunteers at [Kibbutz] Mishmar HaSharon, many of our boys would still be virgins.”

In one incident that apparently caused national outrage, a group distributed hashish-laden brownies to an entire community, including at least one 8-year-old child, a crime that is not the least bit funny – but, of course, is hilarious when recounted by octogenarians who experienced it. 

With their Cat Stevens and Bob Dylan LPs, the foreigners brought a little bit of Woodstock with them, and took away some Israeli dance routines. But the adventure, as the viewer knows more than do the figures in the old footage, would not end well. Terrorism, including a highly publicized attack in which a volunteer was murdered, would strangle the flow of future volunteers.

The documentary is a masterpiece of the genre, capturing the joy and exuberance of the experience for both Israelis and the visitors, but addressing the serious problems the interactions raised. The clash of cultures introduced existential issues, including around conversion, mixed marriages, secularization and, of course, the collapse of the traditional kibbutz. 

The apples and oranges of the title, we are to understand, are the people who came together on the kibbutzim, as much as the produce they harvested.

Critics of the volunteer phenomenon seem to place some of the blame for the collapse of the kibbutz system on the labour underclass they represented, which undermined the egalitarian foundations of the movement.

The kibbutz network has largely petered out, almost entirely in spirit if not completely in form, and some of the Jews and non-Jews who came during the heyday have remained and integrated to varying degrees in the society that Israel has become. In one instance, an aging, bearded former volunteer actualizes his idealism by leading a ukulele orchestra.

The collapse of the idealistic experiment that the end of the film documents is expected but no less depressing for that. The slice of history and the magnificence of the story, so vividly told in the film, will stay with the viewer.

Transcendence of song

photo - In Less than Kosher, the real star is the voice of Shaina Silver-Baird as Viv, an atheist turned cantor
In Less than Kosher, the real star is the voice of Shaina Silver-Baird as Viv, an atheist turned cantor. (photo from Menemsha Films)

In Less than Kosher, a number of fairly two-dimensional character sketches come together – but with a redeeming twist.

A feature film that began its life as serialized online videos has the feel of excellent amateurism. Wayward Jewish girl meets rabbi’s bad boy son. Overbearing Jewish mother, well-intentioned buffoonish rabbi, go-along-to-get-along intermarried stepdad and hyper-chatty high school friend flesh out the cast.

Sitcom-like circumstances turn the atheist young woman into unlikely cantor. But the outstanding component of the film, the real star, is the voice of Shaina Silver-Baird, the lead actor and co-producer (with Michael Goldlist) of this cute confection.

The unlikely cantor Viv, whose once-promising pop music career is on the skids, has the voice of an angel and the story is less about her family or her romance with the (married) rabbi’s son than about the transcendent power of song. When she opens her lungs, Viv ushers in a changed world – and Silver-Baird’s voice invites the viewer into it. Music video-style segments, which Viv is dismayed to have dubbed “Judeopop,” raise the film to a different level. Liturgical music goes Broadway. Amy Winehouse does “Shalom Aleichem.”

A tiki-themed shiva is truly the icing on the sheet cake. 

Mysterious case

photo - The Goldman Case is a dramatic reenactment of the case of Pierre Goldman
The Goldman Case is a dramatic reenactment of the case of Pierre Goldman. (photo from Menemsha Films)

He was guilty of much, but was he guilty of murder? Pierre Goldman maintained he was innocent of the latter charges and a based-on-a-true-story film explores not only a man’s possible guilt but the intergenerational impacts of Polish-French Jewish life in the mid-20th century and their potential explanations for some unusual behaviours.

The Goldman Case is a dramatic reenactment of a famous (in France, at least) case of the Jewish son of Polish resistance heroes, whose own life was impacted by an apparent need to fill the giant shoes of his parents. The son wanted to be “a Jewish warrior” and so became a communist revolutionary, traveling to Latin America, Prague and elsewhere in search of opportunities for valour. 

Charged with a series of crimes, including the murder during a holdup of two pharmacists, Goldman was convicted in 1974 and sentenced to life imprisonment, though he maintained he was innocent in the two deaths. Following the 1975 publication of his memoirs, the judicial system reconsidered his case and major French voices, including Jean-Paul Sartre, took up his cause. This film is a (massively condensed) court procedural of that retrial.

Goldman’s Jewishness was not on trial but, interestingly, his defence team built their case partly around his family’s experiences.

The case – and the film – end with a new verdict. But the dramatic story would continue. Audiences will no doubt race to Google more about Goldman and his crimes and punishments. Enduring mysteries, though, will make the search necessarily unsatisfying. This cannot be said of the film, though, which is a gripping enactment, enlivened by the extremely animated courtroom drama, which suggests the French judicial system tolerates a great deal more outbursts than we expect in Hollywood depictions of North American judicial proceedings.