[This is the eighth post in my series on my mission to Israel. You can read Parts I, II, III, IV, V, VI, and VII.]
The concept of an Israeli Kibbutz is likely foreign to most readers. Historically at least, these collective farms were operated according to the principles of socialism. Everyone worked according to their abilities on the farm. And everyone received food and shelter according to their needs. Now is neither the time nor the place to discuss the economic viability of these models. Needless to say, Kibbutzim (the plural of Kibbutz) became an important aspect of the Israeli pioneer culture before and after independence.
During our mission to Israel, we visited Kibbutz Nir Oz in the south of Israel about one mile from the Gaza Border. On October 7, about 25% of the four-hundred residents of Nir Oz were either killed or abducted. The Kibbutz is currently unoccupied. It looked like a ghost town. Everywhere you looked, there were burned-out buildings, shattered glass, and bullet holes. I visited the kibbutz shortly after I visited Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum. The horrific sights made me think of the Holocaust, but it was still fresh and raw.
