THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Kindness of Kibutz Touches Newcomer
By SCHIFRA
YAKIR-KHASSONE
(Editor's note: Miss
Yakir was born Adrianne
Hendrix in Columbus,
Ohio. She converted to
Judaism at Ohio State in
1973 and is now a citizen
of Israel, married to a
Jew of Spanish-Iraqui
descent.)
JERUSALEM — Today is
my wedding day. I am full of
excitement but I am also
pensive. For six years I have
been living in Israel, with-
out seeing any of the family
I grew up with when I was
Adrianne Hendrix in Col-
umbus, Ohio. But I have a
family here: my kibutz fam-
ily.
A kibutz is a communal
farm and industrial settle-
ment in which all the mem-
bers work together to sup-
port the settlement as a
whole, taking no salaries
and sharing in
i the labor,
child care, cooking, laundry
and other tasks. Families
live in individual apart-
ments and children are
cared for in "children's
houses" during the day (and
on some kibutzim at night,
too). Parents and young-
sters eat together in a com-
munal dining room or in
their apartments.
My thoughts flash back to
my first days in Israel, when
I was petrified because I
didn't know the Hebrew
language. After my arrival
at Ben-Gurion Interna-
tional Airport, two airport
attendants sensed my pro-
blem and helped me get on a
bus to Tel Aviv, where I
would board another bus for
Kibutz Ein Zurim. I was
met by Rafi, the director of
the ulpan, or intensive He-
brew studies program,
which I would be joining in a
few days.
After I unpacked my
things in my new room,
Rafi escorted me to the
dining room. Actually,
during that week we
would be eating outside
in an enormous thatched
hut, to celebrate the holi-
day of Sukkot, the Feast
of Tabernacles.
The following morning, at
6 a.m., I was awakened by
the sound of Rafi whistling
down the path to the ulpan
building, which housed 30
students from 18 different
SCHIFRA YAKIR-
KHASSONE
countries. Rafi had come to
introduce us to our house-
mother, Aya, and our ulpan
teachers, Hadassah and
Esther.
Aya fitted each of us with
work clothes, including
shoes. Hadassah and Esther
gave us a brief description of
what to expect from our
ulpan program. Rafi gave us
our work assignments.
We would attend Hebrew
classes four hours a day and
work in the kibutz four
hours a day. I would be
working in the kitchen for
two weeks, and then I would
be rotated to various other
parts of the kibutz, includ-
ing the orchards, laundry,
turkey coops, cowsheds, din-
ing hall and children's
houses. The members of the
kibutz are also rotated from
job to job. This ensures
equality among the mem-
bers. Everyone is expected
to do some "dirty" work.
In my second week on
the kibutz, each ulpan
student was assigned a
family, which would be
our adopted family dur-
ing our five-month stay. I
was "adopted" by the
Achitov family, which
has six children, ranging
in age at the time from
one to 18-years old. Hav-
ing only one natural
brother, I was excited
about having six
brothers and sisters.
The Achitov family is of
German-Polish extraction.
My being black seemed to
have no bearing on their
feeling of adopting me. That
Sabbath I understood why.
All of their 12 other adopted
children who chose to re-
main on kibutz came to visit
Falasha Unit Reorganizes
CHICAGO — "The plight
of Ethiopian Jewry is be-
coming more desperate and
we must increase mu- efforts
to meet the challenge," says
Nate Shapiro, the new
president of the American
Association for Ethiopian
Jews (AAEJ).
The organization has es-
tablished a new national
office at Cong. Bnai Torah.
The Chicago area syna-
gogue had donated office
space and support services
to the AAEJ.
A new national coor-
dinator, LaDena Schnap-
per, has been hired. She is
an ex-Peace Corps volun-
teer in Ethiopia, with
knowledge of Amharic, the
Ethiopian language.
Priorities for the AAEJ
include an educational
campaign seeking
broader support and in-
volvement from the
American Jewish com-
munity; working with the
U.S. Congressional Sub-
committee on Human
Rights; persuading
Jewish leadership and
the Jewish Agency to
make Ethiopian Jewry a
high priority.
For information or mate-
rials for programming,
write AAEJ, 2789 Oak St.,
Highland Park, IL 60035.
It is a foolish thing to
make a long prologue, and
to be short in the story itself.
—Apocrypha
them. They ranged from
blond-haired Swedes to
dark-skinned Yemenites.
The Achitov family tends to
be redheaded with freckles.
What a sight to see at a din-
ing table!
My attachment to the
Achitov family grew as did
theirs to me. Rafi and his
family, the Achitovs' best
friends, also becarhe part of
my extended family. After
the ulpan ended, I could not
bear to leave. I continued to
work as a volunteer, receiv-
ing room and board free.
It was with much diffi-
culty that I finally left
Kibutz Ein Zurim in order
to study at one of
Jerusalem's hospitals. As
often as I could, I returned
to the kibutz to be with my
family.
Blessings come in mys-
terious ways. While par-
ticipating in a work/
study program in res-
piratory therapy at a
Jerusalem hospital, I met
my husband-to-be. I took
him home to the kibutz
for my "father" to ap-
prove of him. That was a
very important moment
for me.
On this, my wedding day,
my kibutz, my extended
family and many other
kibutz members are coming
to Jerusalem to marry off
their daughter. They are
bringing with them all the
food for the wedding, and
the photographer. Even
Jerusalemites, who are
noted for their kindness and
"helping hand," are im-
pressed by what my kibutz
is doing for my wedding.
Not all kibutzim may be
quite like Ein Zurim. But I
know that most of them
Friday, December 10, 1982 31
Wedding, Rehearsal and Ceremony Assistance
Sharon Padzensky
share a deep concern for
those who come to them —
and who become part of
their kibutz family.
559-4757
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