Utah officials learn how Israel does more with less water

A delegation of Utah water officials, state lawmakers and other policy stakeholders ventured into the Negev Desert to learn about agriculture in some of the planet’s harshest conditions. Members of the kibbutz welcomed them with open arms, inviting them to lunch and showing them around their greenhouses.

“There’s a term in Hebrew called ‘tikkun olam.’ Which means preparing the world, making the world a better place,” Jared White, who serves on Ramat HaNegev’s Regional Council, told the delegation. “It’s a basic Jewish value.”

A kibbutz is a cooperative community, where many things are shared. Some kibbutzim have similarities to the early-Mormon concept of a “United Order,” where everything is put into a common pot and it is doled out according to “needs and wants.”

“You have to put in everything that you can and you only take out what you need. There's about 270 kibbutz still left in Israel,” White said. “We're one of the last kibbutz that is still social in that sense, a socialism style of kibbutz where we don't ever see my paycheck and I don't own my house.”

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Photo: Screenshot from the video on Fox13

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