The second Alyiah consisted of mostly young socialists. They established the first Kibbutzim. The word קיבוצה (meaning group) becomes קיבוץ (Kibbutz), which is what we call them today. In 1906, at the age of 20, David Ben Gurion made Alyiah. "Settling the land. That is the only real zionism. Everything else is only self deception, empty verbiage, and merely a pastime." Also, he believed that there shouldn't be employers and employees, but that there should be a few leaders on top and everyone else has equal roles.
The cemetery of Kinneret expresses the hope and despair of the chalutzim. The graves that we visited belonged to Rachel, Lotus, Natan Icar, and a few others. Rachel is one of the most influential poets of modern Hebrew. She died at age 40 from tuberculosis, and requested to be buried by the Kinneret. The first grave in the cemetery was that of Lotus, the first baby born on the kibbutz. The grave was just a small and simple rock. The kibbutz wanted to communally name the baby Adam, but the parents didn't want to give him that name, so they chose the name themselves. Lotus died at six months. Because there were no experienced parents on the Kibbutz, he was given meat, which made him sick. It was at the hospital in Tiberias that he was given medication to treat his illness. Unfortunately, the doctors miscalculated the dosage, and he died. The second grave in the cemetery is another baby, which prompted the Kibbutz to hire a professional nanny.
The lives of the chalutzim were very difficult. Their actions were admirable, even in their failures. They were very brave to start new lives in a foreign country without the support of their families and the guidance of their elders. Having learned about the chalutzim, would you have decided to make Alyiah?
 |
| View of the Kinneret |
 |
| Kinneret Cemetery |
Sonja Botnik
Nichole Haynes
Caroline Mellow
I don't know if I would have had the chutzpa to have moved to Israel with the chaluztim. The kibbutz life was unprecedented and the work was very hard. It is difficult to move to uninhabited land and start a new civilization. It is especially difficult to work out politics and handle a family in such new and mysterious conditions. Hence, no.
ReplyDeleteMost likely I would say no. To follow on almost blind faith that things will work out sounds risky. Leaving home for four months is tough, picking up and moving anywhere sounds scary to me. At the same time, Israel has always been important to me. I do not know if I would feel the same connection with the barren desert and swamps it held in the early 1900's. With these conflicting ideas, I must say no.
ReplyDeleteAt the time, I would not have made Aliyah unless it was unsafe in the place I lived. I just like to settle down in one place and stay there. The hard work of settling also does not sound appealing. I would not want to move unless I was threatened where I currently was. However, this was the case for many people at that time which would mean I might have made Aliyah.
ReplyDeleteI think the decision to make Aliyah would be one that I don't know what I would've done. I think if I had the passion and drive, and felt that it was an opportunity that I couldn't pass up, then yeah I can see myself taking the leap of faith and going for it, but It's a huge commitment. Even considering making aliyah now is very controversial in my head, but when the time comes I think I'll feel ready to take that leap of faith.
ReplyDeleteMaking Aliyah at that time, I dont know if I would have done it. It was such a big shift in life for them, I dont know if I would be able to handle the Malaria crisis. But now that all of that is over and done with, I think I would make Aliyah, but at some later point in time.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if I would have made Aliyah, the land and places they were going were not developed, or ready to live on. Along with no place to just go and live, they had problems with the others in the area like the Turks, who were not to happy to see them. At that time I don't think Aliyah would have been for me because there was not much of a reason to leave Europe yet and go to a unknown place.
ReplyDeleteI do not think I would have made Aliyah. Nothing was developed and I do not think I would want to work to make the land a place to live on, to be honest. Also, if I was already settled somewhere I am not sure I would want to risk it to maybe have a new place to live that probably will not fully work out until I am gone.
ReplyDeleteI do not think I would have made Aliyah. Nothing was developed and I do not think I would want to work to make the land a place to live on, to be honest. Also, if I was already settled somewhere I am not sure I would want to risk it to maybe have a new place to live that probably will not fully work out until I am gone.
ReplyDeleteI would not have made Aliyah. I would be too nervous about the current state of the country, specifically the rampant poverty and utter lack of a modern infrastructure. I would most likely have tried to stay where I was at all costs, but if I had to move, I would have moved to America.
ReplyDeleteI would not have made Aliyah. I would not have wanted to work the lands and live without the comfort that I was probably living in. I would have wanted to stay wherever I was unless I was absolutely forced t move out and then I would have still tried to move to a developed country, which Israel was not at the time.
ReplyDeleteI'm not entirely sure what I would have done then, but if I were to make out a similar scenario in todays world, where things aren't looking so good for Jews, I think I would make Aliyah, knowing that there is a place being cultivated for my people, a place where I wouldn't face threats even close to the severity of where I would currently be staying.
ReplyDeleteI'm not entirely sure what I would have done then, but if I were to make out a similar scenario in todays world, where things aren't looking so good for Jews, I think I would make Aliyah, knowing that there is a place being cultivated for my people, a place where I wouldn't face threats even close to the severity of where I would currently be staying.
ReplyDeleteI think that I would not have made Aliyah. I think it would have been too risky and there were many threats and there were no assurances that you would have been financially successful.
ReplyDelete