The cultural events on Degania included: parties for the Sabbath and the Jewish Holidays, national holidays and internal events such as Kibbutz anniversaries, end of season in the agricultural branches, members’ jubilees, lectures on different topics, concerts, plays and movies.
The cultural committee was responsible for both the content and for the logistics, from the festive meals to the last technical detail.
Up until the 1980’s the cultural committee was elected, and its members functioned after work hours.
In addition to the activities in each settlement, the regional council brought plays and concerts for all of the Jordan Valley residents. These performances were subsidized by the kibbutz with the aim of encouraging the public to participate in them. Over the years the cultural committee continued working on a voluntary basis but the committee’s supervision became a full time job: the demands for proffesionalism in the cultural events brought about the advent of the purchased culture along with an increase in the activity of the Regional Council, which became a major provider of many diverse cultural events. Many of them are funded by a culture fee that the kibbutzim are charged with, allowing the members to enjoy free performances. This is in accordance with the process of privatization, in which the consumption of cultural events has been transformed from a collective to a personal basis.
Nowadays the kibbutz continues to maintain only the Jewish holiday festivities. There is no permanent culture committee, and each holiday or event is carried out by an ad-hoc committee, chosen for that special purpose.
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Purim - 1986 |
The "Sherale Dance" in a wedding |
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Rope pulling - Shavuot Holiday |
Dancing at the dining room |
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Bicycle Riding Class |
Eli Liss Singing |
Committee for personal events
This committee assists in carrying out weddings, Bar-Mitzvah parties and Brit-Milah parties. With the deepening of the privatization process, all events are budgeted.
The privatization of personal events has brought about a substantial change in the social fabric of the collective: in the past “all the kibbutz” would be invited to participate in personal festivities; nowadays only those who are invited attend these events.
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