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18 Friday, April 6, 1984
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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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of
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The
Pride of Israel
t
?
Soccer winnings for Israeli
. or for his kibbutz?
BY CARL ALPERT
Special to The Jewish News
HAIFA — The newspap-
ers headlined him as "the
richest kibbutz member in
Israel." The news of the
windfall fortune brought in
its wake not only rejoicing
but also several very serious
problems that have not yet
been resolved.
The sum of 14 million
shekels (equivalent to about
$130,000) which dropped
into the lap of 64-year-old
Moshe Keshet, of Kibbutz
Hahotrim, was a climax to a
story which could well make
a fascinating book.
During the Holocaust
period Keshet twice escaped
from an internment camp in
Hungary, but the second
time he was caught he was
sentenced to death. He was
spared only by a miracle,
and fell into the hands of the
Red Army when it overran
Hungary. For three years
he was a slave laborer in a
Russian coal mine, and
again survived by a miracle,
while all his comrades died
around him like flies.
In 1947 he returned to
Hungary, and a year later
came to Israel. In 1956 he
joined Hahotrim, a pleasant
little kibbutz on the coast,
just south of Haifa. He mar-
ried, and today has three
daughters, two of whom live
in the U.S. Because he was
in Hungarian concentration
camps he never qualified for
restitution from Germany.
One of Keshet's hobbies is
following the soccer games,
and each week he invests
part of his kibbutz pocket
money in purchase of pool
tickets. A few years ago he
won 30,000 Israel lirot, with
which he bought a hi-fi set
and a sewing machine for
his wife.
He continued with his
hobby, and recently he
made the Israeli headlines
when he correctly guessed
the exact results of 13
games and was proclaimed
the winner of IS14 million.
That is when his new
problems began. According
to kibbutz regulations, all
outside income earned by
members must auto-
matically go to the kibbutz
treasury. While the regula-
tion is not always strictly
enforced with small sums,
the prize in this case was too
large to be overlooked.
A survey of the members
of Hahotrim showed a di-
vision of opinion as to what
should be done. Some of the
veteran members insisted
there was no room for corn-
promise; all the money had
to be paid over. Other old-
timers, on the other hand,
felt the money was tainted
since it had been earned by
self-labor and the kibbutz
should not touch it. Others
rebuked Keshet for gambl-
ing. But the majority de-
clared they believed Keshet
should make his own deci-
sion.
He deliberated, changed
his mind, and finally came
to the following conclusion,
largely under pressure of
his daughterip: He would
give the kibbutz IS2 million
(about $9,000) and keep the
rest. Some of it he would
give to his children, and the
remainder he would use as a
fund to enable him to pay
periodic visits to his daugh-
ters in America.
The controversy con-
tinues to rage. It is no secret
that members of many kib-
butzim have outside bank
accounts and even own
property, usually registered
in the name of a relative.
Nothing is ever done about
such situations, but in
Keshet's case the informa-
tion became public knowl-
edge, and the kibbutz could
not ignore the matter.
Some of his associates at
Hahotrim agree with his
decision, namely that he
keep the bulk of the money,
so long as he does not flaunt
his wealth, for example, by
driving around in a private
car of his own.
According to present
plans he will go to the U.S.
at the end of May for a
four-month visit, following
which he will decide
whether to stay there, to
come back to the kibbutz, or
to return to Israel and live
outside the kibbutz. Much
will depend on what the
-kibbutz itself will decide.
The whole problem will be
thrashed out at a plenary
session of the entire kibbutz
membership. No date has
yet been set for that meet-
ing, the kibbutz secretary
told us. The whole country
continues to wait and
watch, wondering what the
final arrangement will be.
An important principle of
the kibbutz system is at
stake.
Some have recalled that
there was a similar instance
in 1969 when a member of
Kibbutz Hazorea (of
Hashomer Hatzair) won
100,000 lirot on a ticket he
had bought in Mifal
Hapayis, the National Lot-
tery. The kibbutz left it to
him to make the decision.
However, he began to re-
ceive so many requests for
financial help that he
turned the problem back to
the kibbutz and asked it to
decide.
The membership meeting
decided to accept the entire
amount. A portion of the
winnings were contributed
to the construction of a
soldiers' center in Tel Aviv
and the remainder was used
for kibbutz purposes.
There was one more chap-
ter in that story. The winner
received a great deal of
mail, including a letter from
a girl in another kibbutz
who praised his dedication
to kibbutz idealism. A
correspondence ensued and
she is today his wife. So he
won his prize after all!
Fighting bias
New York — The New
York Chapter of the Ameri-
can Jewish Committee has
urged Gov. Mario Cuomo to
request the State Liquor
Authority to deny liquor li-
cences to private clubs that
discriminate on the basis of
religion, race, national ori-
gin, or sex.