Kibbutzniks in the Diaspora (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Kibbutzniks in the Diaspora Nancy E. Berg Kibbutzniks in the Diaspora, by Naama Sabar, translated by Chaya Naor. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2000. 189 pp. $16.95. This volume is a translation of Sabar’s work Kibbutz L.A. (Tel Aviv: Am Oved, 1996), based on a series of interviews she conducted in the late 1980s with kibbutzniks living in Los Angeles. Concessions to readers of English include background material about the kibbutz, glosses for terms such as yored, metapelet and Nahal (twice), and presentation of theoretical discussions. Informed by many of the theories regarding immigration and socialization, Sabar is not beholden to any one of them, and lets the stories of her 46 informants form the core of the book. A selection of the conversations is reported almost verbatim (edited for length, relevance, and protection of privacy). Most of the respondents discuss their kibbutz upbringing, reasons for leaving, life in Los Angeles, and future plans. Because the interviewer’s questions are largely unrecorded, it is not clear to what extent the [End Page 133] commonalties are elicited or arise spontaneously. She divides the subjects into four categories according to their level of integration and satisfaction, but she draws few conclusions from this. The text itself reminds us of major aspects of emigration: ambivalence, liminality and dyschronia. The author does not shy away from expressing her own ambivalence. While she is sympathetic to her subjects, she shows no hesitation in using the loaded terms of yored and yeridah. “I couldn’t stop wondering (as with many of the interviewees) what is he doing there?” she asks (my emphasis). “It was hard to come to terms with the idea that these young people sitting before me, baring their hearts, their past and their secret longings, were living in an environment that seemed to me foreign and alienated, in which I thought they would never belong and which would always reject them.” Furthermore, the only individual representing the “contented” category is also the character who has clearly dubious qualities and is presented as the capitalist oppressor. The kibbutzniks in Los Angeles are in many ways similar to other American immigrants, whether Israeli or not, living in the valley or elsewhere. It is in their differences, however, where the interest lies. Sabar reports that they have created their own community, a kibbutz-like island in the Los Angeles sea. Yet while there are occasional cross-references among individuals, the exact nature of the community they have created, its institutions and workings, remain beyond the scope of the text. We are told, however, that this community protects the former kibbutzniks from the processes of desocialization and resocialization. They are mostly unbothered by the language barrier, but so too they are kept from achieving fluency and integrating into the larger community. Compared to other Israelis who move to the U.S., kibbutzniks are generally less proficient in English, less experienced in financial issues, and less likely to have specialized training or advanced education. Combined with the kibbutz work ethos, these characteristics help explain why so many (of the men) are employed in physical labor and have earned a reputation as hardworking. Parenting is a significant issue in the book (although not all of the respondents have children). Leaving the kibbutz affords mothers and fathers more control over their children’s upbringing (even as the kibbutz itself is changing to allow the same). The style of parenting is much more involved than what the interviewees had experienced themselves on kibbutz, and more communal than that of the Americans they live among. Unlike other immigrant families the parents do not lose status; the father is able to maintain (or begin) his role as wage-earner, and they are protected from most other indignities because of their insular lives. The author expresses her surprise at the traditional structure of most of the families in her study despite their supposed egalitarian education. Yet the lack of equality in [End Page 134] kibbutz society itself was established more than a generation ago. 1 So too, leaving behind the framework that was created to enable sexual equality undermines whatever egalitarian ways were indoctrinated. Additionally, more of...