Open day at religious-secular kibbutz on Gaza border draws 20 families wanting to join
Kibbutz Kerem Shalom, where members fought terrorists in deadly battles on October 7, is a ‘microcosm of Israeli society’ where decisions are reached by ‘listening to one another’
Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter
Around 20 families have expressed interest in moving to a mixed secular-religious kibbutz, Kerem Shalom, which lies immediately adjacent to the Gaza border and just a few hundred meters from the Egyptian border and is next to one of the main crossings into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
While slightly more religious than secular people attended an open day on Friday, the kibbutz keeps to a strict division of two-thirds secular, one-third observant.
The community will interview applicants to decide on their suitability.
“They came from everywhere,” said kibbutz spokeswoman Geula Rabi. “They talked about the importance of religious and secular people living together and about the Zionist significance of moving to the Gaza border after October 7.”
A few of the applicants are mixed religious-secular couples, she added.
During their October 7, 2023, rampage, thousands of Hamas-led terrorists slaughtered 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and abducted 251 to the Gaza Strip.
Pitched battles in Kerem Shalom led to the murder of two fathers and civilian security team members — Amichai Witzen, 32, and Yedidia Raziel (Rosenberg), 31.
They died trying to kill the terrorists attacking the home of a young social worker, Amichai Shindler, 33.
Shindler was badly maimed when terrorists burst into his home in the kibbutz and tried to blast their way into the safe room where he, his wife and his six children were hiding. He is still in rehabilitation.
Another two kibbutz members were injured more lightly that day.
The kibbutz was privatized several years ago and today has 45 families. Following the Hamas attack, half moved to temporary accommodation in Ashalim in the Negev, and the rest spread out over the country.
They are not yet allowed to move back permanently for security reasons. Also, renovations are being carried out. The Shindlers’ house was badly hit. Others suffered broken windows and damage from gunshots and other weaponry.
Members will return gradually over the summer.
Rabi said of those who might decide not to, “We will give legitimacy to each family to decide what’s best for them.”
The community, which includes some highly observant families, agreed from the start of privatization that all public areas before the change would remain so. As a result, the pub and swimming pool are open on the Sabbath. There is also a synagogue.
Decisions are reached through discussion.
“If there’s a difference of opinion, we invest time hearing each other out and decide together,” Rabi said. “With goodwill, we usually manage to find a solution.”
The kibbutz is a “microcosm of the state,” she went on, with a broad spectrum of political opinions, and a mix of Ashkenazi and Mizrachi/Sephardi members that, she said, is “just not relevant.”
She elaborated, “Nobody tries to change the other. We look at the person, not a category.”
Kerem Shalom has been able to hold some activities on the kibbutz to bring its dispersed members back together.
Asked why people would want to move to a place so close to Gaza and Egypt, Rabi said, “It sounds surreal, but it’s a Garden of Eden in which to live and raise children. It’s a unified community. We look after one another during good times and bad. And it’s exciting to know that you’re doing something significant, living with people different from you and being a model for Israeli society.”
The Times of Israel Community.