We traveled north from Tel Aviv today to several Kibbutzim on our way to exploring the Golan Heights on Monday.
First we stopped at
Kibbutz Ein Shemer about mid-way between Tel Aviv and Haifa, not far form the large Israeli Arab town of Umm Al-Fahm.
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(Kibbutz Ein Shemer, Israel, map location)[/caption]
Founded in 1927, Ein Shemer is a fairly typical Kibbutz, about 650 people, with a variety of agriculture (dairy, cotton, etc.) as well as factories. Facing pressures facing many Kibbutzim, Ein Shemer voted a couple of years ago to allow limited “inequality” of income (up to 2.5 times what the Kibbutz pays members) for those with outside jobs in order to retain and attract younger residents.
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(Kibbutz Ein Shemer residential courtyard)[/caption]
We then went on to climb towards the Golan, stoping at the Mount Barkan lookout point, near
Mount Gilboa, which has a tremendous view of the Galilee region of northern Israel.
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(Mount Barkan Lookout Point, Israel, map location)[/caption]
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(Mount Barkan Lookout, Israel, view)[/caption]