Student Spends Year on
Kibbutz Near Jerusalem
by Bob Gold
In June of '74, after one
• freshman year at Guilford, I
found myself with twenty-five
• other American students,
• preparing to begin a year
living, working, and studying
on Kibbutz Ma'ale MaCham
• isha, near Jerusalem. The
• kibbutz, we had been told, is
one of the hallmarks of Israel's
unique society, a living
• expression of the maxim,
• "from each according to
ability, to each according to
his need." And we solid
• Americans would have the
• opportunity to contribute to
this community and add to its
' strength.
. The program is called the
College Academic Year. It is
" sponsored primarily by the
Union of American Hebrew
Congregations (the Reform
Jewish Movement) and the
"Hebrew Union College
..Jewish Institute of Religion.
About the only real require
ments to the program are a
desire to participate and good
•academic standing at your
college. It is a program
® designed to give the American
• college student the opportu
. nity to live in Israel as an
4 Israeli does.
The goals of the program are
the acquisition of Hebrew
• language skills, an introduc
tion to modern Israel, an
. - acquaintance with Israel's
•history and, finally, integra
• tion into Israeli society. Thus,
i - the kibbutz would afford us a
.♦home, family and community
to which we could thoroughly
belong, and the college
..studies would enable our
liberal arts educa
tion.
Studies consisted of Hebrew
language and literature, the
" Bible, archeology, sociology,
, history, and political science
to wake a total of 39 academic
credits, all related to Israel.
" That year was divided into
tffour very unequal quarters:
> the first began in October, the
! second in October, the third in
February, and the fourth in
April. Before I left this country
I asked, "How hard would I be
Jjworking in Israel?" The reply,
iover the telephone, after a bit
°f hemming and hawing was,
"Probably eight hours a day,
six days a week and after
those eight hours of work
during the summer (June to
October) you will also study
two hours a day." J laughed at
this reply, did I laugh!
How ridiculous! What Ameri-
can works and studies that
kind of hours? It was true. For
me, a usual day began with
breakfast at 6:30 a.m. (in
order to get to work by 7:00)
and ended at five o'clock.
With a schedule like that, and
homework, I was kept pretty
busy.
My job on the kibbutz was
really something special. I
worked in one of the two
orchid houses in Israel. This is
one of the better kibbutz jobs
available to volunteers. For
most, with work such as
picking fruit, collecting eggs
(we had thirty-five thousand
chickens), or washing floors,
little individual thought or
skill is needed, however, in
raising orchids, I had to learn
some elementary botany and
chemistry in order to
understand the results of our
weekly plant analysis. Europe,
our market, has high
standards for these beautiful
flowers.
I'll never forget the first
morning on the kibbutz. We
all work up at 5 in the morning
to tremendous screaming and
yelling. It sounded like a riot
just outside our windows. We
all immediately knew for
certain that another Arab-
Israeli war had started,
because we couldn't under
stand any of the words being
shouted. As it turned out it
was merely the chickens
waking up, our house was
located right next to the
chicken coops: Imagine the
delightful aroma of thirty-five
thousand chickens when the
wind shifts your way
Throughout the summer we
attended lectures and made
organized trips to historic
sights, not to mention our own
individual trampings. Our
lecturers included Golda Mier
who, although out of public
office, is still actively trying to
help strengthen Israel.
One day, I set out with my
kibbutz father to clear some
waist-high weeds from some
land. The process for removal
was the same used by
rebellious Arabs between 1936
and 39; that is, taking long
poles dipped in gasoline and
sticking them into the dry
grass and then throwing more
gas on the small fire. This is
fine as long as you watch it
and make sure it doesn't get
out of hand. However, by the
afternoon, the dew had long
since dried and a nice breeze
had begun. Nice that is if
you're hot, not nice if you
want a small fire. All it took
Tbe GuHfon&m
was one gentle gust of wind to
take a small fire and make it
into a tremendous blazing ring
I stood amazed at the
swift spread of the inferno,
until I heard my kubbutz
father yelling and pointing,
I saw If was out of hand
completely. It spread in every
direction, up hill to the cow
sheds where the cows were
already nervous, downhill to
the orchards where our fruit
trees were, and straight ahead
to the volunteers' houses. The
only thing I had to fight the
fire with was a foot-and-a-half
long, two inch thick piece of
black rubber attached to a
broom handle. The idea was to
bring this fly swatter down
slowly and surely to the
ground over the fire and thus
stamp it out. But in my
excitement, I had not quite
perfected the method, and
came down too quickly, and
with every stroke, the rubber
flew off the broom handle. I
would then reach into the fire,
pick up the rubber, jam it back
on the handle and come down
again, pick the rubber again
off the ground and jam it again
back on the handle, obviously
a slow process for putting out
the fire.
I stood within the circle of
the fire and slowly worked my
way around the ring, my
ribbutz father doing likewise
on the opposite side of the
ring. About 15 or 20 minutes
later the fire was out, and
about four to four and a half
acres of land had been
completely burned. All the
hair on my exposed legs was
burned, my face singed, and
the soles of my shoes had
melted. It took me a while to
recover from the realization
that this was an ordinary
occurence in a land that for six
months of the year receives no
rain. I also realized that
Israel's biggest problem was
not her Arab neighbors but
lack of water.
*******
This is the first of a series of
articles to appear about one
Guilford college student's
experiences living in Israel.
Intramural Tennis-On the Courts
Interamural tennis season is
once again in full swing. This
week, with the mens* and
womens' singles out on the
courts (Mrs. Clark has asked
that all contestants please try
and finish their rounds before
Wednesday, the 17th and
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Every one of these people missed the soccer game last Friday.
Where Are All the
Soccer Fans?
by Mandy O'Briant
What is it with you peopleout
there? Was it the weather?
Or, was it sheer ignorance?
Guilford has a soccer team and
they need and want your
support at their games.
Friday was a lousy day for a
game; it stormed and all that.
Maybe the gray skies scared a
lot of people away. The game
against Greensboro College
was advertised around the
school, however. Guilford was
defeated 5-3 and the game
Intramural Equipment Available
An announcement to all
students wishing to use the
gym department's equipment
for practice for intermurals or
just plain enjoyment; the
method of checking out the
basketballs, volleyballs and
other pieces of equipment
(available depending on the
season's sports) differs this
year from the arrangement in
the past. When you want to
report the results in to t'.ie
gym office) there should be a
good bit of action, sports fans!
If you have any question about
anything to do with the
intramurals, specifically ten
nis and flag football at this
time, please direct them to
Page 5
continued despite the rain.
Football attracts many
spectators, but don't let it get
you in a rut. Try a soccer
game, or two, or three. You'll
never know if you like soccer
until you give it a chance.
The playing field is behind
the Frazier Apartments. You
can't miss our fellows decked
out in red and white.
The next game is against
Belmont-Abbey. Look for
posters announcing when. The
soccer team deserves a larger
audience than lasft Friday's
turnout.
check something out, bring
your ID with you, and present
it to the person on charge in
the student activities office
located on the first floor of
Founders'. If you have any
questions, please direct them
to Mrs. Clark, the faculty
coordinator of the intermural
program. She has her office in
the gym.
students Mike Buckley or
Frank Wolff or to the gym
office. And don't forget, if you
haven't yet signed up for a
team, but you are interested in
joining in a sport, see Mrs.
Clark in the gym right away!