From Bed-Sty to Israel: black teens on a kibbutz - Bedford-Stuyvesant area of New York City

Commonweal, July 16, 1993 by Abigail McCarthy

For their part the students fit into their temporary Israeli families with ease, meeting welcome with clear affection. "In the dining room," an enthusiastic Israeli woman said, "there were always six or seven calling me 'Mom.'"

It is never explicit but it is apparent that the black teen-agers come from a culture where fathers are in short supply. Their response to their Israeli "fathers" is very moving. They are especially fond of George, the patriarch of the Kibbutz-Habasham. And they tell interviewers that their teacher, Bialer, is "like a father" to them.

Their response to early rising and the work tasks to which they are assigned is not so affirmative but they adapt, with groaning and grumbling and eventually with high spirits. Midway in their threemonths' stay, as was only to be expected, they were rebelling against the food and the confinement and "dailiness" of kibbutz living. But in the end they all left with regret.

They took away an appreciation of work and cooperation and an understanding of what supportive family life could be. But what is important lot us to know is that they brought much with them--vitality and a sense of fun and celebration which caused the Israeli teen-agers to mourn their going--"It will be so dull without them." They also brought, unsuspected even to themselves, a deep wellspring of faith. One of the most touching of scenes is that of their tearful response "to walking where Jesus walked," when they were taken on a tour to the Garden of Gethsemane.

Why did they have to go 5,000 miles away to find white acceptance? Why do we need this film to learn to know and love them?