5007 Providence Road
Charlotte. NC 28226
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Permit No. 1208
The Charlotte
JEWISH
/ *
I Vol. 20 N0T2
Shevat-Adar, 5758
February, 1998
Community Campaign
Crests $1 Million Mark
Super Sunday Set for March 15
By Cary Bernstein
The FederationAJJA Com
munity Campaign is off and run
ning with a current total of over $1
million dollars. The goal for the
‘98 campaign is $1.7 million.
“It is an ambitious goal, but one
that is dictated by compelling
needs throughout the Jewish
world” said Don Bernstein, who
chairs this year’s effort along with
Jill Newman.
“While it does not come as a
surprise, it is nevertheless accu
rate to say that the needs of Jewish
people in Charlotte, in Israel and
throughout the Jewish world are
growing. Therefore we have to
raise more money each year to
meet these needs.”
The current success of this
year’s effort can be attributed to a
strong show of support by the
community’s Major Givers who
have increased their giving this
year by 12%.
Jill Newman also states that the
dedicated team of volunteers who
solicit for the campaign deserve a
lion’s share of the credit. “We are
very fortunate to have a strong
group of solicitors who have been
effective in telling the Federation
story to our solicitors.”
The Women’s Division
Campaign, chaired by Meg
Goldstein and Stacy Gorelick has
already raised $295,000. The goal
for the women’s campaign for
1998 is $350,000.
“We are extremely pleased with
our progress thus far,” said Ms.
Gorelick. “This year has seen an
unprecedented growth in our cam
paign. We are also pleased that a
large number of women from our
cabinet attended a ‘face to face’
solicitor training session which
has helped them to be more effec
tive as they solicit.”
Ms. Goldstein attributes much
of the credit to the hugely success
ful “Main Event” which attracted
over 150 women and raised
$210,000. “It was a terrific
evening and gave the women’s
campaign a tremendous amount of
momentum.”
The campaign will end with
Super Sunday scheduled for
March 15. This year’s Super
Sunday chairs are Debra and
David Van Glish and Jennifer and
Jonathan Lahn.
“We plan to capitalize on the
success of last year’s effort.” said
Mr. Van Glish. “Last year we were
able to raise $90,000, this year we
are shooting for over $100,000.”
A group of enthusiastic and
motivated solicitors volunteer dur
ing 2 hour shifts to assist with
reaching out to the community on
this special day.
If you are interested in volun
teering, please call Cary Bernstein
at 366.5007, ext. 209. ^
The Future of the
Kibbutz
By Cynthia WrocUnvski
(W23*S) Visit one of Israel's kib
butzim tl^se days and you'll find
some peculiar incongruities: mem
bers own private cars and cellular
telephones, carry credit cards,
work outsit the kibbutz, pay for
meals in the communal dining
room (if one still exists) and even
hire laborers to wcmIc on their farms
and in their factories. For the past
decade, kibbutzim have imple
mented changes their founding
fathers would have shunned as
bourgeois and taboo.
The secret of the success of the
kibbutz lay in its ability to adapt to
change," maintains Nitai Keren,
director of human resources and
organizational consultant to the 85
member Kibbutz Artzi movement.
"Tension has always existed
between collectivist and individual
needs on kibbutzim," he adds. "But
today, a consensus of rules and reg
ulations governing daily life no
longer exists."
The move towards individualiza
tion, free choice and personal
responsibility challenges the col
lective framework. Can the kibbutz
retain its unique collectivist char
acter while embracing individual
ism? Or will the traditional kibbutz
evolve into a mere community,
defined as such by the geographi
cal proximity of its residents?
While no kibbutz has taken steps
to divide communal property, all of
them are reformulating the princi
ples of their shared lifestyle and
testing the boundaries in which the
communal paradox can exist
The Causes Of Change
Researchers point to both eco
nomic and soci^ factors that set the
wheels of change in motion in the
late 1980's. The new reality stems
from two different factors: causes
outside the kibbutz, to which the
kibbutz must ad^t, and internal
causes related to the changing
needs of kibbutz members.
Throughout the 1970's, the
Israeli government and banks
encouraged industrialization of
kibbutzim by granting loans based
on the mutual guarantees of other
kibbutzim in the federation and not
based on the economic viability of
each venture. This policy Iwought
economic prosperity to the kib
butzim. Televisions, cars and other
luxury goods became legitimate
necessities as living standards rose.
In 1985, the government drastical
ly raised interest rates to curb ram
pant inflation. The measure
exposed the weak economic base
of many kibbutzim, leaving them
with little hope of repaying an
overall debt of close to $6 billion.
Many kibbutzim lost faith in the
system and their populations
deflated as members left who felt
the kibbutz could no longer fulfill
their professional and ideological
aspirations A kibbutz that can't
retain it's second and third genera
tion meml>ers will have difficulty
being a viable community.
Imide this issue...
" 'S''"
As Israel turns 50, one of it's most noble experiments, the Kibbutz, faces challenges brought about
by the move toward individualization, free choice and personal responsibility.
Privatization
One revolutionary change affect
ing the day life of the kibbutz
member is privatization, which
involves transferring control of
communal budgets related to con
sumption of services and goods,
from kibbutz committees to the
individual.
The traditional paradigm was
based on the ideology that the "sys
tem" must supply all the members'
needs. In practice, committees dic
tated who would receive what ben
efits when, such as study or travel
abroad. Critics argue that the
arrangement result^ in over con
sumption, dissatisfaction with deci
sions made by others, and loss of
personal initiative due to over
dependency on committees.
Advocates of privatization pre
dicted that individuals will becomc
thrifty consumers when they see
the direct monetary consequence of
their consumption. According to
the secretary of Kibbutz Kalya, a
settlement overiooking the swelter
ing Dead Sea region, elecuicity
bills plununeted after privatization
of the electricity budget. "I used to
have my air conditioner on 24
hours a ^y," testified one meml>er,
"until I started paying my own
electricity bills."
The greatest controversy within
the kibbutz movement surfaced
when some kibbutzim carried the
notion of privatization to the work
sphere by granting differential
"salaries" to their members. The
first kibbutz to do so was Ein Zivan
in 1993. Instead of allocating equal
personal budgets to all members,
the kibbutz established pay scales
whereby an economic value was
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attached to each job description.
The controversial move led to the
exconununication of Ein Zivan
from the United Kibbutz
Movement but it was later reinstat
ed after Kibbutz Snir and Beit Oren
implemented the same change.
Although the majority of kib
butzim still won't cross the line to
differential salaries, many are start
ing to offer monetary incentives for
extra hours worked. It was reported
that members of a northern kibbutz
who were exempt from certain
work duties for medical reasons,
suddenly "recovered" and volun
teered for those exact jobs when
their kibbutz voted to monetarily
compensate members for extra
hours.
Entrepreneurial Ventures and
Outside Work
Two trends have evolved that are
intended to encourage economic
growth on the kibbutz. One is a
move toward business-oriented
m.inagoiitent and the other i« ply
ing the (Kius of earning a living on
the shouldeis of the individual.
In the cla>^ic kibbutz, work
*l!raicd
TT!^ to the tuT labiTrei^ r.i par
"Lhc TaU’r-ij
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W. >rk iiHti it a valuf'