The Outhouse War and Other Kibbutz Stories

During The Late 1940S In San Diego, My Grandmother Kept A Map Of Israel On Her Bedroom Wall. Each Time A New Kibbutz Was Founded, She Pushed A Pin Into Her Map. When The United Nations Decided To Divide Palestine Into Two States, Arab And Jewish, My Grandmother Celebrated With Her Fellow Zionists, Dancing A Hora In The Street In Front Of Our Local Synagogue. I Was Twelve Years Old. I Had Never Seen My Grandmother Dancing In The Street (Nor Anywhere Else). I Watched The Unusual Goings On: A Gawky Boy, Sitting On The Steps Of The Synagogue, Puzzled, Yet Enveloped In The Excitement. And On That Day, I Vowed That When I Grew Up, I Would Live On A Kibbutz, Dance Horas, And Defend Our New Country.Fifty-Two Years Later, Back In America, I Ponder Where My Adolescent Vows Have Taken Me: To A Pioneer'S Life On A Kibbutz, To Living In The World'S Greatest Experiment In Equality, To Wars Fought In The Defense Israel. I Invite You To Join Me For A Glimpse Of Life On A Frontier Kibbutz Where People Search For A Normal Life In Extraordinary Circumstances.Shimon Camiel