Beer Sheva and the Future

June 19, 2009

Miri and Noam invited us to visit their urban kibbutz in Beer Sheva. A group of about 20 people, now in their late 20s to mid 30s, many of them friends from their army service, have made a commitment to help develop Beer Sheva. Although considered the capital of the Negev, there are many social and economic problems that have drawn young people to Beer Sheva, intent on helping to develop the periphery. The group shares an apartment that they use for meetings for study and social events, but live in their own accommodations otherwise. For example, Miri and Noam (along with their adorable 19 month old, Hallely), rent a house in a neighborhood quickly developed in the early 90s to help with the absorption of Russian immigrants. Unlike much of Israeli construction that is concrete, their house was clearly built with speed in mind, using wooden framing, some type of siding, and some type of drywall/inner wall. Not only is there no insulation, but the wooden materials are waiting to be devoured by termites! There is not supposed to be a housing bubble in Israel, but Miri informed us that this hastily constructed 900 sq. ft. house was available for about $100,000 five years ago and they did not feel it was a good investment. Today, it is apparently worth $150,000!

Our first stop was at Ben Gurion University. Heavy government and private investments in the campus have created a beautiful jewel in the desert, designed to serve as a critical mass of learning and research for developing the Negev. The main purpose of this afternoon excursion in oppressive heat was to visit the Ringleblum St. Café. The café is a project of the NGO that Noam runs that focuses on enhancing the skills of high-risk youth, around high school age. Young people who cannot make it in school for various reasons are given the opportunity to work in the café, earn some money, and avail themselves of counseling and non-traditional educational activities. The café also serves as a gathering spot in this low income community surrounding the university. One large wall is covered with a collage of photographs of people from the community, a technique that draws people in to find their own pictures and have a cappuccino while they are there. Most of the equipment, menus, and similar needs have been donated by businesses people in Israel. Perhaps the most important contribution was the content of the menu, by a well-known Israeli chef who wanted to help make a difference. And a difference he indeed made, because the variety of salads, humus, and other items were delicious.

As yet another example of the cross-roads that Israel seems to be, we knew that Yasha, the son of Olga, Rachel’s long-time violin teacher and now family friend, is volunteering at a kibbutz. Rachel called him, only to learn that his kibbutz is only a 30 minute bus ride from Beer Sheva. He could have been far north or east, but as seems to happen to us so many times, the circumstances just seem to work out. He joined us at the café for lunch and for the rest of the weekend.

By about 5:30, the descending sun was merciful enough to make another outdoor excursion feasible, so we drove about 10 minutes to the Palmach Memorial on a hill overlooking Beer Sheva to the west and villages and Negev to the east and south. The memorial is a series of large and varied concrete structures, each designed to tell a different aspect of the Palmach and the heroic efforts of its members to defend and conquer the Negev during the War of Independence. The names of each of the fallen soldiers are etched in assorted sights, bringing the general down to the personal level, as is so often the case in Israel. Linda and I realized that most of the people we have met, either have a child in the IDF, or have a niece or nephew in the IDF, not to mention the men who serve about six weeks of reserve duty (miluim) in two stints every year until the age of 45. Miluim, the word for “reserves” used in Israel, comes from the root for “fill” or “complete, ” found in Exodus 25:7 when the Israelites were instructed to build the sanctuary with offerings from “everyone whose heart compels them to give” with precious stones for the ephod and breastplate. The miluim, the reserves, not only “complete” the army, but are essential for the defense of the country.

At around 7, members of the kehillah began to gather at the home of Miri and Noam. Tables were set in their small backyard, where unbelievably, here in the desert, there is a lawn, protected by a tarp for shade that covers much of the yard. As the sun set, about 15 of us were seated with many delicious smelling casseroles and salads waiting for us. We began with a version of a Kiddush, although this was basically a secular group. Then, the Kiddush cup was passed from one person to the next around the table to allow each person to describe a good experience during the previous week—a swim in the sea, a grant application completed, time with a friend and others—to which the group responded, in a chorus of “Shabbat shalom.” The discussion was lively as we learned about the activities of many of these kehillah/kibbutz members. One, for example, abandoned her career as a chemical engineer to run the derivatives trading desk for a large international firm, able to conduct her work from an office in Beer Sheva. Not exactly what one would expect from a pioneer, but she is able to be with her friends in Beer Sheva. Another, Orr, is a psychologist, about to finish a 4 year internship in clinical psychology at the Soroka Medical Center, while also completing his dissertation for a Ph.D. Amit, left his career in the high tech world to start law school at Tel Aviv University, so that he can pursue his interests in public interest law. Yet another runs the business side of the NGO that operates the café.

Amit articulated clearly the idea that Israel and Jewish are not entirely congruent. He considers himself an Israeli who happens to be Jewish and is proud of his Judaism, but Israel is made up of “many colors,” especially the 20% of the population that is Arab. He is disinclined to see the government of Israel engaged in international activities on behalf of Jews alone, because the state of Israel is more than just Jewish. He was describing a kind of separation of church and state, in this case in the international domain for Israel. He is posing a counter argument to the position that Israel, with its growth in wealth, should play a more active role in assisting and sustaining Jewish communities and Jews in need, outside of Israel.