A ‘kibbutz’ in Melbourne?

THE gum trees and burnished paddocks will add a touch of home, the summers might be hotter than Eilat, and the winters might just feel the slightest bit like Karmiel.

Beyond that, a small group of Israeli families living in Melbourne might have to use their imaginations, and a measure of nostalgia, to conjure up their “kibbutz” experience on a shared property they are planning for Melbourne’s fringe.

Organiser Avi Cohen is determined to push ahead with the lifestyle project, which he hopes will create a better quality of living for his wife and three children, alongside what he hopes will be 40 other families.

The group of Israeli families, which plans to set up a collective living project on the outskirts of Melbourne, convened its first meeting last week, but still has some planning to do before it invests in a parcel of hectares not too far from the big smoke.

They are a mix of professions¬† — engineers, doctors, teachers, computer programmers — all looking for a way to beat the suburban blues and dodge Melbourne’s astronomical real-estate prices.

Eilat-born Cohen, 49, who grew up in Tel Aviv and Arad, has worked in the building industry since arriving in Australia in 1987, so he has some insights into the types of housing the project might need.

Having lived on a moshav, Cohen wants a similar experience for his kids, who attend a Jewish school.

“They’re too much into electronic gadgets. I want them to have more of a social existence after school and I want them to grow up surrounded by greenery.”

He said other Israeli families interested in the idea are also looking to emulate an Israeli lifestyle, which is more spontaneous, social and group-focused. In fact, some Israelis have indicated to him they would like to move here from Israel if they could live in such a development.

Cohen is emphatic that the shared living experiment is not a socialist utopia in the classic sense of the kibbutz movement.

“Nobody who is interested in this wants to be told how to eat and dress,” he said. “It’s not how kibbutz life is lived in Israel anymore and it’s not what we’re looking for here.”

In fact, the community will need to be within commuting distance of Melbourne, as the intending residents plan to keep working in their professions.

“We want to build our community in an area not that far from the Jewish community — they don’t necessarily have to be Israelis, they can be Jewish Australians,” said Cohen, who has placed a notice in a local Israeli community newspaper.

The group is currently researching subdivision laws to see how feasible their ideas are and plans to farm on their land.

“We want to farm organically, not as a commercial activity, but enough to sustain the residents,” said Cohen.

There have been previous attempts to build a “kibbutz”-style project near Melbourne, and some 600 similar enterprises are operating in the United States.

Enquiries: ayeshuv@gmail.com

PETER KOHN