Page 18 - Issue 30

Core Beliefs for Intentional Community – Introduction

During the years 2012-2014, the Intentional Communities
Desk (ICD) of the kibbutz movement held a series of
discussions on core aspects of intentional community.
These discussions appeared in the ICD publication,
CALL: Communities at Large Letter, as articles during
the years 2012 – 2014. We have seen it fit to republish
these articles adapted and slightly revised, as an
educational resource for Habonim Dror.

Five meetings of the desk were devoted to the project of
core values in intentional community. Each meeting had
a particular focus. The foci were: Faith, Human Nature
and Free Will, Community and the Human as a
Communal Being, Shlichut - the idea of “mission” and
“Tikkun Olam”: Intentional Community for World
Mending and Transformation.
The next two issues of Iton Habonim Dror will include
articles on the subject of faith.

FAITH.

First and foremost, the ongoing personal decision to live
in intentional community is a matter of individual faith.
The belief that there is a purpose to our existence over
and above satisfying our individual material and
psychological needs as well as those of our immediate
family is a matter of faith. It cannot be proved or
disproved. This distinguishes faith from belief. People in
ancient times believed that the Earth is flat.
They believed that the sun revolves around the earth.
They believed that illness was a matter of fate.
The ICD discussion on the question of faith utilized the
writings of two philosophers, Paul Tillich and Aaron
David Gordon. The next issue of Iton Habonim Dror
will present the views of Paul Tillich.