At the entrance to Kibbutz Bahan, you will see a colorful and impressive botanical garden with an orchid park and a huge maze of vegetation – this is called “Utopia Park”. The park is not owned by the kibbutz. The kibbutz is not really owned by the kibbutz. And in recent years the kibbutz hasn’t been much of a utopia.
Kibbutz Bahan went through many upheavals, a serious economic crisis, and was on the verge of dissolution. Many new residents bought houses on the kibbutz in the extension neighborhood, dreaming of a shared community with the older kibbutz member. They all faced one of the most complex community challenges imaginable.
Visit Kibbutz Bahan
A local committee was elected to manage the community (with the number of the original kibbutz members making up only about a quarter of the total population), the kibbutz managed to avoid dissolution, and together the young and old Bahan residents set out to reinvent their kibbutz.
Today the kibbutz is run more like a community settlement. There are no branches of agriculture or industry in the kibbutz, but, after years of struggle, a strong and vibrant community has emerged. There is an education system, extensive social activities and cultural events and parties on holidays whose reputation reaches far and wide.
Although Kibbutz Bahan doesn’t have local attractions or initiatives that open the gates of the community to visitors, the kibbutz hosts unique Zionist initiative – the Kol Ami preparatory school. The prep school “Mechina”, in collaboration with the Jewish Agency, brings together Israeli youths with Jewish youths from abroad who come to experience and connect with Israel and also brings them together with a community that has gone through struggles and challenges on the way to inventing their own utopia.
