Kibbutz - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

**goyincognito** · 02-01-2006, 02:12 AM

I might be moving to a kibbutz in a few weeks with a couple of buddies...has anyone in here ever done one?

Everyone I've talked to has said it's just an amazing experience...tons of awesome people and you always stay busy working and partying...

I already have all the info on it and just have to go sign up and do it, but I am just wondering if anyone out there has done this before

Spill the beans damnit!

**space virgin** · 02-01-2006, 08:52 AM

I'm pretty sure WWM has been to a kibbutz before... I'd love to do that some day! Have an amazing time!!

**Rozza** · 02-01-2006, 03:16 PM

whats a kibbutz? is it like a commune?

xanthuos · 02-01-2006, 04:19 PM

awesome devon...
now you're goykibbutzim

doing the kibbutz thing is definitely on my "to-do" list and yes, Rozza, it's a commune basically.

**kingcrazylegs** · 02-01-2006, 07:45 PM

Sounds cool, certainly worth trying out

**bellelass** · 02-01-2006, 07:53 PM

Sweet. Its on my list of things I have to do in the next five years. Let me know what you find out.

chelseafc05 · 02-01-2006, 10:16 PM

so wat do they do at this commune thing? is it the same as a hippie commune?

**space virgin** · 02-01-2006, 11:57 PM

^.... not exactly.....

**goyincognito** · 02-02-2006, 06:00 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bellelass@Feb 2 2006, 05:53 AM
Sweet.* Its on my list of things I have to do in the next five years.* Let me know what you find out.

[snapback]100905[/snapback]

From the info I got, there's one office that coordinates all kibbutzim in Israel...you go to this office (it's in downtown Tel Aviv) and they make calls to find open kibbutzim (there are new openings daily) and then they give you info on how each open one is set up and what kind of work they need...then you hop on a bus with your luggage and move to your new home for the next 2-6 months...or sulk back to your hostel and wait for a better opening.

I met a traveler from America who is doing just that...she has 90 days guaranteed to her on her birthright trip so she's using it staying in a hostel and constantly checking for openings at the place she wants every day or two.

My friends are shooting for one with an ulpan (hebrew language intensive), or one in Haifa near the beach. I speak hebrew the best out of my little group of friends so I don't really care about hebrew classes, especially since working at a kibbutz presents tons of opportunity to practice hebrew with or without classes...but my friends do, so whatever, yea?

Anyway, there are kibbutzim for all kinds of things--some do services, some industry, many have discos and parties as part of the services (haha..jeez - being a bartender as part of your volunteer work

good luck beating down the rest of the volunteers to snag a job like that...it's probably close to impossible), and even some have spas--WTF right? haha...but most of it is agricultural work, either in fields or in greenhouses.

I'm shooting for field work, personally.

You work 8 hours a day, 6 days a week and in return get full room and board, plus a stipend. You really give more than you get, though. The idea is that you meet some AMAZING people every time and it's a true communal experience with direct democracy and everyone contributing to the maintenance of the society, and if you wanna learn hebrew and study at a kibbutz ulpan, you'll be pretty much fluent after you finish since you can use it at your work everyday.

Yea so, that's the basic info...feel free to ask if you wanna know anything else (logistics, money, websites with more info, etc)

chelseafc05 · 02-02-2006, 07:12 PM

so you dont get payed to work?

**space virgin** · 02-02-2006, 08:29 PM

^ As he said, you get room and board and sometimes (depending) a small stipend.

chelseafc05 · 02-02-2006, 09:13 PM

wats a stipend?

**space virgin** · 02-02-2006, 09:36 PM

Good grief, boy!

**goyincognito** · 02-03-2006, 03:11 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by chelseafc05@Feb 3 2006, 07:13 AM
wats a stipend?

[snapback]101141[/snapback]

Jail time.

chelseafc05 · 02-04-2006, 12:26 AM

stipend

n : a sum of money allotted on a regular basis; usually for some specific purpose

**space virgin** · 02-04-2006, 01:14 AM

^ Dude.

chelseafc05 · 02-04-2006, 09:50 PM

^ what?.... thats wat it said in the dictionary link

**worldwidemike** · 02-05-2006, 09:24 AM

Goy, my time at Kibbutz Shoval in the HaNegev Desert near Beersheba was one of the most amazing, formative, important growth times of my life. I highly, highly recommend you doing this. Everything you said is right about the process, except they will likely "interview" you. Basically, just snow them like you would a job interview...tell them how you admire the Israeli people reclaiming the land, think that the kibbutzim are integral part of the social fabric of modern Israeli society, blah, blah, blah.

Anyway, when I worked there, we only had 6-hour shifts, 6 days a week. And each month we accumulated "days off." You'd sandwich two days off around Saturday (your day off) and take a little weekend trip to Jerusalem, the Red Sea, wherever.

And the community among the foreign volunteers was great. A lot like here on Travelpunk, I'd say! You had some who were doing it for a handful of months, like me, others who were there on an organized stay of X Number of weeks, and still others that were chilling out and had basically kicked back from life and the Rat Race and general. Kibbutz life is very comfortable. You will find the time whizzes by there, and some folks find themselves staying much longer than they'd imagined...

Good luck, Goy, and keep us posted. You're an inspiration to Tpunkers back home, being over there in the "dangerous" Middle East, seeing it all with your own eyes...

worldwidemike