Friday, Sept 28th. We visited Ari and Racheli (friends of friends) at Nir David kibbutz. In the early Zionist days of Israel, young Jews immigrated to Israel and established communal farms all over the country.  People worked together, raised children together and shared in whatever profits their activities yielded.  It seems that much of what is modern Israel was built on this pioneering, cooperative spirit.  With increasing modernity and the rise of capitalism, this way of life is diminishing.  But as one 70 year old kibbutz-nick (on a different kibbutz) said to me:  “This was OUR dream – our children need to follow their own dreams.”

Nir David is the northeastern part of Israel in the Beit She’an valley in the shadow of the Gilboa Mountain (mentioned in the bible). Racheli was born on the kibbutz and Ari moved there as a young man in the early 70s. The main products of the kibbutz are agriculture (fish farming, orchards and grains).  They also have a paper and adhesives company.  Because their location is so beautiful, recently tourism has become a major source of income and they have lovely guest cabins that lie along the Asi River that flows through the kibbutz.

Dinner with Ari and Racheli

Ari gave us a nice tour of the kibbutz on Friday evening and then we went to dinner at a hilltop restaurant on the side of Gilboa Mountain.  On Saturday, he showed us Sachne Springs, a hot spring (28 degrees C) and the source of the river Asi which flows through the kibbutz.  The spring feeds a series of limestone-lined pools and a small waterfall.  In the early days the waterfall powered a grain mill.  The water is a very unusual turquoise green color.

Sachne Springs – the source of the Asi River that flows through the kibbutz

Sachne Springs