ICSA Conference 2010 - Emek Yizrael, Israel

By Bill Metcalf

Early Monday, 28 June, about 130 ICSA members assembled at Emek Yezreel College, Israel, for our tenth conference. We had come from Norway, Australia, Spain, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Italy, Mexico, Poland, USA, UK and, of course, Israel.

The boring process of registration and orientation was frequently interrupted by warm greetings from old friends and colleagues – and soothed by excellent coffee and cakes. ICSA President, Professor Michal Palgi, had arranged everything so efficiently that we were soon doing what we all do so well: talking and listening about a wide range of communal studies issues.

We spent our first day in one of two parallel sessions with titles ranging from “Cooperatives” to “Women’s Changing Perceptions of Motherhood”. In the evening, our ICSA conference was officially opened, after which awards were bestowed upon Professors Donald Pitzer and Yaacov Oved, the founders of ICSA in 1985. Awards were also bestowed on ICSA past Presidents, Professor Pearl Bartelt, Dr Saskia Poldervaart, Dr Bill Metcalf, Professor Tim Miller, Professor Dennis Hardy and Dr Michal Palgi. A Special Service Award was presented to Ruth Sobol, our long-serving and universally respected administrator. Ruth has a special place in the heart of every past president.

Yaacov Oved, Bill Metcalf and Dennis Hardy then formed a panel and briefly addressed members, recounting humorous accounts of their experiences with ICSA over the past 25 years. After so much talk we were relieved to be entertained by members of the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, and a witty video presentation.

Then, at long last, we sat down to a superb dinner with excellent wine, and were able to catch up with old friends and make new ones.

The second day, perhaps due to the effects of all that excellent wine of last night (!), started off slowly, again with parallel sessions. Titles ranged from “Facing the Challenges of Ecology” to “Kibbutzim & Higher Education” and “Conflict & Participation in Partnerships”. We then went to Merhavia, a very important historical site, where we toured the grounds, and were entertained by ‘Shani’ an excellent Arab-Jewish girls’ choir. We dined outside in Merhavia’s courtyard. The food was not so good as the first night nor was the wine either as good or as plentiful — so we went home with clearer heads.

The final day of our conference again saw us in sessions with titles ranging from “Leadership and Political Thought” to “Judaism & Communes” and “Old Dreams — New Horizons? Kibbutz Women Revisited”. Anton Marks and Jan Bang led an innovative session devoted to Community Story Telling, which was enthusiastically received.

The conference concluded with a plenary session “The Relevance of the Communal Idea in Today’s Society”, chaired by Professor Eliezer Ben Raphael.

Panelists Yaacov Oved, Bill Metcalf, Jan Bang, Nomika Zion and Graham Meltzer pointed out ways that communal ideas are more relevant than ever in our contemporary world. By then, however, most of us were just about talked (and listened) out.

The next morning we set off, by bus, on a post-conference tour organised by James Grant-Rosenhead, of Kibbutz Mish’ol. We started at Kinneret Courtyard, a crucial site in the development of the kibbutz, then to Degania, the first kibbutz and now 100 years old. Our final stop for the day was at Kibbutz Lavi, an Orthodox Jewish group who adhere to traditional kibbutz ways and appear to be prospering. We were shown around by members, then dined with them in their luxurious Hotel Lavi. This huge hotel is one of their main businesses.

On the second day we started off at Kibbutz Beit Ha’emek where long-time ICSA member Professor Henry Near welcomed us. A panel of kibbutz members told us about their privatisation process, with some being enthusiastic, others with reservations and some seeing it as disastrous. We were deeply affected by the strong emotions which privatisation evoked at Kibbutz Beit Ha’emek. Enthusiastic proponents of ‘privatisation’ do not like that term, preferring instead the Orwellian newspeak term of “renewal kibbutz”.

We dined in an Arab café in Sachnin, then visited nearby Kibbutz Eshbal, a recently formed group of young people engaged in education and support for ‘at-risk’ young people. Far from the comfortable, almost luxurious ambience of kibbutzims Degania, Beit Ha’emek and Lavi, Eshbal showed us the hard-edged reality of being a rural kibbutz pioneer in the 21st century.

Our tour ended at Kibbutz Mish’ol where we were addressed by several members, then joined kibbutzniks in their Shabbat ceremony and meal. Kibbutz Mish’ol was a very welcoming and appropriate conclusion to our post-conference tour.

As always, the ICSA Board met during the conference under the convenorship of President Michal Palgi. We decided to hold our next conference in June 2013 at Findhorn Foundation, Scotland, with Dr Graham Meltzer responsible for conference organisation. ICSA’s new President is Jan Bang, of Norway. The ICSA Board welcomed new members Olive Jones (from New Zealand), Professor Marisa Gonzales de Oleaga (from Spain), (Professor Maria Foelling-Albers (from Germany) and Shlomo Getz and Yona Prital (from Israel).

For me, our conference and post-conference tour were successful not because I learned new information about intentional communities but because I reconnected with old colleagues and friends, and made new connections. My good memories are not based on seeing yet more examples of communal living but because I once again shared the passion of communards.

I thank Michal Palgi and Shlomo Getz and their team at Emek Yezreel College, as well as the four Kibbutz research Institutes: The Institute for Research of the Kibbutz and the Cooperative Idea, University of Haifa, Yad Tabenkin, Yad Yaari and Oranim, for organising the conference so efficiently. I also want to thank James Grant-Rosenhead for organising the excellent post-conference tour.

I look forward to being at ICSA2013 at Findhorn Foundation and hope that you will join me.