Page 19 - Kol Bogrei Habonim - Winter 20

I gulped, feeling very nervous, and did as he When Aryeh appeared, I introduced myself,
said. He pulled down the tarpaulin to
completely cover the back of the truck and
then plodded off through the mud to the
kibbutz. After about 10 minutes, when the
sound of Shlomo’s footsteps had faded away,
a corner of the tarpaulin was lifted and the
face of one of the Arab villagers appeared
looking in. I don’t know who was more
startled him or me, but when he saw me, he
quickly dropped the flap and ran away. This
happened twice more, with my blood-
pressure shooting up each time. When just
over a half an hour had passed, I was
overjoyed to hear the chug-chug of a tractor
approaching. As they drew near, I looked out,
and with a dash of bravado shouted the only
Ivrit I knew – “hakol beseder”.
The tractorist, with the help of Shlomo,
attached a towline between the two vehicles,
and 10 minutes later, we arrived at the site of
the new kibbutz. I climbed out of the cabin
and looked around, while Shlomo said he’d
find Aryeh Ziv, the kibbutz secretary.
The whole area around the kibbutz was
completely barren, with the river Jordan
flowing a few hundred metres away. There
were as yet no permanent buildings, only a
line of what were to be brick houses, in the
early stages of construction. There was a
large wooden hut, used as a dining-room and
kitchen, a few smaller huts used for offices, a
clothing-store, a laundry, a clinic and maybe
a couple of other things that I’ve forgotten.
There was a cow-shed and milking station, a
stable with some horses and a donkey. And
there were a group of bell tents in which the
chaverim slept.
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saying Shimon Applebaum had suggested
that I should see a new kibbutz in the making.
“You’re welcome,” he said. I gave him the
parcel of cigarettes and his face lit up.
“Players”, he exclaimed with delight. “The
chaverim will be pleased. We can only afford
the local brand, “Latif” and they taste like
s**t!” He pulled a face.
Then, when I gave him the kitbag full of
clothes, his delight knew no bounds. He
exclaimed:
“You are very welcome to stay as long as you
like, but all the beds, a maximum of 3 iron
sochnut (Jewish Agency) single beds in the
tents, are taken or occupied by a married
couple or by 3 singles. You’ll have to be a
‘primus’, that is the 3rd person in a married
couple’s tent.”
So, I spent the week sleeping in the tent of
Margalit and Yossel, who were very nice and
very tactful when it came to getting dressed
and undressed.
I met with several of the chaverim and asked
about their work in the kibbutz. There were
also a chaver and chavera from India, and a
Jewish deserter from the Polish Anders Army
stationed in Egypt. One young man of about
my age, called Moshe Velne, originally from
Czechoslovakia, offered to show me around.
He spoke English not too badly. One day,
when he was free, he saddled up two horses
and we had an exhilarating gallop around the
Hula valley. When I left at the end of my stay,
I was assured I would be welcome any time I
came for a visit.