Israeli Kibbutz transformed from farm to resort
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The central building at HaGoshrim Guest House and Resort, a kibbutz in Northern Israel. -
One of many pieces of sculpture at the Hagoshrim kibbutz in Israel.
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HAGOSHRIM, Israel -- As a teenager, Hannah Levi left behind her mother and sister in Bolivia to live in a country where her Jewish culture and religion were celebrated.
"For six days and five nights, I rode the train to Buenos Aires," she recalled, adding that Jewish officials there helped her immigrate to Israel in 1956.
"I left Buenos Aires with $5 and five other children," Ms. Levi said.
After two months on a ship, they arrived in the port of Haifa.
"I did what I dreamed. I came to Israel," Ms. Levi said, adding that she was 14 when she arrived.
She fell in love with the country's Mediterranean climate as well as "the vegetables, the sky, the mountains, the snow."
For a few months, she lived in a tent in a settlement camp but eventually arrived at HaGoshrim, a kibbutz in northern Israel's Hula Valley.
In its traditional form, a kibbutz was a utopian community, based on agriculture, where property was held in common and residents shared the profits equally. Today, Israel has 256 kibbutzes; some are still agricultural while others are high-tech or industrial.
At HaGoshrim, Ms. Levi said, 25 members "had the will to build something."
Look now at what they have built:
HaGoshrim Kibbutz and Resort Hotel is spread over 1,173 acres. Its large campus of guest houses offers 170 rooms, a swimming pool, a country club, a charming bar and a lobby typical of what you might find in an American ski lodge. In a wood-trimmed dining room with large windows, a breakfast buffet includes all the typical fare plus rows of fish, cheeses, vegetables, salads and tempting desserts.
With hopes of building an even better resort, the kibbutz began work last year on a major expansion to add five-star accommodations. Construction is to be finished by April. Now in her early 70s, Ms. Levi is the kibbutz's marketing director. She speaks Hebrew, English, German and Spanish.
HaGoshrim, where we stayed for two nights, reminded me of a large, country inn. On cool evenings, there's a self-serve hot cider station in the lobby and a fire burning in the fireplace.
Our room was smaller than far pricier hotels such as the Dan Panorama, where we stayed in Tel Aviv, but it was clean and included a comfortable bed, bath, coffee and tea service, a television, a desk and chair and sufficient closet space.
The kibbutzim (plural of kibbutz) played a key role in settling Israel while irrigating the arid desert land, transforming it into fertile fields of citrus groves and dairy farms. Decades before Israel became a state in May 1948 and afterward, kibbutz members fiercely defended the country's borders. Members of an elite fighting force called the Palmach often came from kibbutzes.
Initially, HaGoshrim members raised carp and they continue to raise avocados, lemons and oranges. But the kibbutz's primary income is not from selling fruit. Tourists, they have found, are the ultimate cash crop.
In 1967, when the kibbutz opened its first 10 guest rooms, Ms. Levi asked to work in that section. It was one of the first to focus on tourism. In the past 20 years, many kibbutzes have adopted a capitalistic approach. Now roughly 80 percent of them are for-profit. Ten percent have remained communal collectives using the old socialist model, and the remaining 10 percent are religious.
Today, HaGoshrim has 225 members and 100 children. Members are paid salaries, but there is no communal dining room or laundry for the workers.
"It's hard for older members to accept this change. I'm sorry capitalism didn't come along 40 years ago," Ms. Levi said.
About 65 percent of the people who stay at the kibbutz are vacationing Israelis; the remaining 35 percent are tourists from all over the world.
Ms. Levi welcomes changes in the community where she and her husband raised a son and a daughter. When she arrived, HaGoshrim was still a traditional kibbutz.
"A kibbutz is a community. The only thing they didn't share was their wives. We didn't think about money or luxury," she recalled.
During the work day, her children were raised in a communal home by educators a good distance away from where she lived. She did not see her children as much as she would have liked. Today, children attend school on the kibbutz grounds and live with their families.
"Parents of kibbutzim live here, too," Ms. Levi said, adding that her mother, who wound up living in San Francisco, spent the last 10 years of her life at HaGoshrim before she died in 1993.
Unlike in the past, Ms. Levi owns her home. When she dies, it will go to her children, but they can only sell it to the kibbutz.
HaGoshrim Kibbutz can be contacted at www.hagoshrim-hotel.co.il or 972-4-681-6000. Fax is 972-4-681-6002. Room rates vary depending on the season.
First Published January 22, 2012 12:00 am
