Day 2: Exploring Kibbutzim

July 25, 2014
By: Noah Guttman


Dear Parents and Friends,

Today, the 25th of July, our group traveled to Kibbutz Lotan, Kibbutz Ketora, and went to the desert to fly kites. At Kibbutz Lotan we had a tour, and they explained to us how they achieve sustainable gardening and living on the kibbutz. They make their lives on their kibbutz sustainable by using insulation from hay bales to decrease the need for heating or air conditioning. For sustainable gardening they use a “lasagna technique” to keep their soil fertile so they can continue to farm in the desert. After learning about how members keep their community running, they showed us another small community they have there. This community is for students and volunteers who come to Lotan to learn. The houses there looked like they came from the Star Wars world of Tatooine, and the kicker was  they even had a little R2-D2 in front. That made me sure they came from there.

After we left Kibbutz Lotan, we went to Kibbutz Ketora. At Kibbutz Ketora they take a different stance on what the job of a kibbutz is. Instead of being an agricultural kibbutz they focus on unique plants to grow in the desert and become more industrialized. One of the ways they have become more industrial is through an algae that can be fed to salmon to keep the fish healthy. They have created a solar farm to power their complex and are soon creating a new one which will be able to power one third of Eilat when operational. On their kibbutz they also grow endangered species and have a large collection of very rare plants. When we left Kibbutz Ketora we went flying kites. . . or most people did.  I had trouble getting my kite in the air and when I did, it hit another kite and both fell down. I didn’t get mine up again but it was still great!