Kfar Tikvah ( he, כפר תקוה, in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
means: Village of Hope) is an Israeli institution near
Kiryat Tiv'on
Kiryat Tiv'on ( he, קִרְיַת טִבְעוֹן, also Qiryat Tiv'on) is a town in the Haifa District of Israel, in the hills between the Zvulun (Zebulon) and Jezreel valleys. Kiryat Tiv'on is situated southeast of Haifa, on the main road t ...
, where the disabled live together in the style of a
kibbutz
A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...
.
History
Kfar Tikvah was founded in 1963 under the leadership of
Sigfried Hirsch by a group of Israelis on the top of a mountain near Kiryat Tiv'on. With the help of German volunteers from a German association and with the help of some German donors, they started to implement the vision of the founders in the same year. The establishment was inaugurated in 1964.
Idea
Sigfried Hirsch and his co-workers founded Kfar Tikvah on the site of the abandoned Kibbutz
Givat Zaid. Here Hirsch's idea was to become reality. A place where
disabled people
Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...
can live like other people. This idea culminated in the saying Dr. Hirsch's on the Day of Inauguration of Kfar Tikvah: "They should live like us!". Thus Kfar Tikvah today sees itself as a "kibbutz" of a special kind, also or precisely because one does not belong to the
kibbutz movement
The Kibbutz Movement ( he, התנועה הקיבוצית, ''HaTnu'a HaKibbutzit'') is the largest settlement movement for kibbutzim in Israel. It was formed in 1999 by a partial merger of the United Kibbutz Movement and Kibbutz Artzi and is made ...
. The disabled people of the
village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
understand themselves as members (Haverim) of this "kibbutz" and assume, as far as possible, tasks and duties for the
community
A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...
. Since the construction of the village on the site of the former
Kibbutz
A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...
Givat Zaid, which took place in 1963 with the help of German volunteers, Kfar Tikvah has become something of a sign of
German-Israeli relations.
Structure
Basically, the structure of the village corresponds to that of a kibbutz. The management consists of parents or ward representatives, employees and representatives of the disabled. This is the main difference from other disabled facilities. In Kfar Tikvah, the disabled people who live here as members of this "kibbutz" have a right to speak, also on leadership level. The elected representatives of the disabled have the right of co-determination and co-decision, for instance in the occupation of workplaces, in projects, or in the reception of new members. Changing work and responsibility for others and the group, that makes Kfar Tikvah so special.
Work
Kfar Tikvah offers about 200 disabled people a job. In addition to the daily work that is necessary in such a facility, Such as gardening or laundry and housekeeping, the leased business enterprises located on the site of the village offer additional jobs.
Business operations
On the Kfar Tikvah site there is a winery, a
dog
The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...
breeding and a
candle
A candle is an ignitable wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a fragrance. A candle can also provide heat or a method of keeping time.
A person who makes candles i ...
factory
A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...
. These farms are leased under the obligation to secure Haverim jobs. Especially the wine from the Kfar Tikvah winery is well-known. The current project is the ceramic workshop. The German Embassy in
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
, has made the construction possible through its donation. Production has been running for a few weeks, and some jobs have been created for the disabled people.
Learning
Kfar Tikvah was the first disabled facility to convince the
University of Haifa
The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming Is ...
to offer its educational programs for the disabled. Since then, the university has been using the program for the training of students in social professions and offers the ''chaverim'' and their families the opportunity to work out an individual learning program together. In this way, a unique project that benefits both sides, the university and its students in training and Kfar Tikvah, was created by the special support of its members.
German-Israeli cooperation
Without this cooperation Kfar Tikvah would not have been conceivable. They were German volunteers from the association, which in 1963 designed the buildings of the former Kibbutz
Givat Shaul
Givat Shaul ( he, גבעת שאול, lit. (''Saul's Hill''); ar, غفعات شاؤول) is a neighborhood in West Jerusalem. The neighborhood is located at the western entrance to the city, east of the neighborhood of Har Nof and north of Kirya ...
for the disabled. Since then, Kfar Tikvah has been an active and special sign of German-Israeli and Christian-Jewish
cooperation
Cooperation (written as co-operation in British English) is the process of groups of organisms working or acting together for common, mutual, or some underlying benefit, as opposed to working in competition for selfish benefit. Many animal a ...
. Here, German, Israeli, Jewish and Christian volunteers work together with the other ''chaverim''. This cooperation is repeatedly appreciated by the visit of the German delegations and the German foreign affairs
minister
Minister may refer to:
* Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric
** Minister (Catholic Church)
* Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department)
** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...
.
References
External links
*
{{Coord, 32.7013, 35.1150, display=inline,title
Villages in Israel
Kiryat Tiv'on
1963 establishments in Israel