There is nothing lonelier than living in a big city.
Various writers have come up with this line or something similar, and sitting in a hotel room in Tel Aviv, with the streets below teeming with couples, families and gap-year kids, I am beginning to appreciate the sentiment.
The plan was for my daughter (also a gap-year kid) to join me this evening from Jerusalem, but schedule changes and hair-washing got in the way. This is a shame as I was already eyeing up dinner options as I was walking along Nahalat Binyamin with my takeout Greek yoghurt and granola in hand this morning. (Did I mention that Israel is all about the food?)
Instead, I find myself sitting on my hotel bed, eating a sabich meal for one, flicking between the trials of the Kardashians (Kim’s bar exams, Kourtney’s complex relationships and Khloe debating about whether or not to expand her family – all of them looking preternaturally flawless throughout) and another American TV channel, where each programme is competing to show the most gruesome medical procedure possible. (I quickly discover that this is not the best choice for a TV dinner.)
So, while Tel Aviv is the second most populous city in Israel (Jerusalem takes the top spot) with around 490,000 people – not much bigger than the borough of Barnet, but a lot noisier – tonight, it feels like a lonely place.
This is partly because I have just spent an eye-opening four days on a “crash course” of Israel’s peripheral communities, courtesy of JNF UK.
As well as eating what must have been the best falafel this side of the northern and southern borders (I did mention that Israel is all about the food), what I learnt was that despite some profound political, social and cultural divisions, there are pockets of Israeli society who are “doing community” really, really well.
So, while much of the UK might not be prepared to eat an Israeli avocado, they could do a lot worse than adopt some of the country’s strategies for building better communities.
Everyone has a role to play
In Be’er Sheva, at Dekalim B, a SEND high school, the head teacher describes special educational needs “not as a barrier, but as an opportunity to flourish”. The syllabus is focused on tapping into pupils’ skills – be they art, music, dance or something else – so they can leave the school with a level of independence and being able to contribute to society.
Start young
At Kibbutz Holit, where, on October 7, around 18 people were murdered and nine were taken hostage, they are hoping to attract more young families by opening a brand-new kindergarden, as it is here, at the “school-gates”, where new relationships will be built.
The importance of Gen Z
On Kibbutz Nahal Oz, which also suffered big losses, young Israelis are spending a gap-year volunteering, bringing their youthful energy and enthusiasm to efforts to revitalise the community.
A bottom-up approach
One of the most tangible examples of community building in Israel is Osim Shechuna, which literally translates as “making a neighbourhood”. The organisation is giving disenchanted youth the chance to identify run-down community spaces in their neighbourhood and the skills to improve them – reducing crime-rates, while also increasing a sense of pride. The plan is to reach all 195 disadvantaged districts in Israel.
It’s not the space but what happens in it which counts
In Dishon, a moshav just 1km from the Lebanese border, all the residents returned after being evacuated for over a year due to war. “Because the elderly residents had got really used to there being a lot of activities in hotels, the first thing we did was to provide a lot of clubs for adults. This ensured that they were busy and less afraid,” said Yakira Levy, the moshav’s head of education and culture.
Being alone doesn’t mean being lonely
It was on Be’er Milka, Israel’s newest moshav and surely one of the most remote – in view of the Egyptian border – where the sense of community, with just 300 people, was unexpectedly profound. Resident Mitch Sohmer put it best when he said: “This is why Ben Gurion wanted us to come here. To challenge the Jewish people to make the desert green – and to build people.”
Gaby Wine is the JC’s community editor. She was visiting border communities supported by JNF UK
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