(Sergio)
the first-ever established religious kibbutz in Israel.
(man)
We all wore the same basic blue kind of clothes.
(Sergio)
aka "Danny the Digger," a famous Israel archaeologist
and a private tour guide who calls this kibbutz his home town.
I, as a child, Sergio,
I had to come here every morning for morning prayer
and before going to Shabbat.
- (Sergio)
and you are leading the prayers.
(Sergio)
to show us the peculiar lifestyle as he grew up here.
We'll go into the communal lunchroom,
we'll take a sneak peek at a fascinating synagogue.
And, as a bonus,
we are going to see some of the most fascinating archeological discoveries
in this area.
Discoveries so big
that some of them were taken into the Museum of Israel,
while others, the originals,
are still hanging on the walls, right here, for all to see.
(Danny)
on a hill just facing the kibbutz,
they will find an ancient building
with a menorah in the mosaic floor.
(Sergio)
as we explore Israel's first religious kibbutz: Tirat Zvi.
TIRAT ZVI ISRAEL'S FIRST RELIGIOUS KIBBUTZ
(GPS)
♪ (music) ♪
(Sergio)
I'll park right here.
- (Danny)
- How are you? - (Sergio)
- Hi, Rhoda. How are you? - (Rhoda)
This is really exciting, okay? This is the kibbutz where I grew up.
- I've known these fields for years-- - That's awesome.
and we're gonna look at all of this now from an archaeological perspective.
So, let's do it!
(Sergio)
This is a kibbutz called Tirat Zvi,
and they're famous for making meat and all kinds of products,
and he's taking us for lunch in the kibbutz.
I've never had lunch in a kibbutz before. This is exciting!
♪ (music) ♪
(manual car brake clicks)
All right. So, how was it like growing up in a kibbutz?
(Danny)
-
(Danny)
but you didn't have any cars driving inside the kibbutz,
so you could go wherever you want.
We used to play soccer a lot.
We had a swimming pool,
and there's no admission fee or anything.
You know, you go to the pool as much as you want.
I'm surprised I don't have skin cancer,
because we used to spend so many hours in the swimming pool.
(Sergio)
and how is it different from a regular village or town in Israel?
A kibbutz is a collective community.
It was started by the Jewish immigrants in the early 20th century
who bought lands from the local dwellers and founded the kibbutzim.
Originally, the main concept of the kibbutz life
was socialism, Zionism, and agriculture.
The founders believed that there should be no employers nor employee at all,
and that there must be a better way to live.
A way in which personal wealth does not exist.
(Rhoda)
Let's say somebody wants to join a kibbutz
who has a possession, assets, maybe his wife has a lot of gold jewelry
or I don't know what.
Do they have to give their assets to the kibbutz or can they keep them?
In my time, you handed over to the kibbutz.
(Rhoda)
But people who went to the kibbutz in the first place
- usually didn't have much to offer anyway. - Okay.
- That's why they came to the kibbutz. - All right. It makes sense.
But in theory, if you join the kibbutz,
first of all, you don't automatically get accepted.
- Mm. - You go for a period of trial.
Are you socially fit for us, and so on.
And if you do, then everything that you own
- is now kibbutz' property. - Mm-hmm.
ISRAEL STATE ARCHIVES
(Sergio)
There was no personal wealth, everything was shared,
and everything belonged to everyone.
So, those who wanted to become kibbutz members,
had to give up their property and possessions.
But, in reality, people, especially Americans,
would come with their stereo, they would keep it.
- Mm-hmm. - I don't know about jewelry,
but I do remember that some small possessions
that Americans, especially, that joined the kibbutz,
that they could keep it, but in their home.
You would not have a car.
- You would not have a motorcycle. - Okay.
- Everything on the outside will be equal. - Okay.
(Sergio)
Over time, the structure had changed,
allowing a much greater independence for the members of the kibbutz
while keeping the cultural integrity of the community.
(Danny)
-
even as a kibbutz member.
But, on the other hand,
- anyone is invited to come for a meal. - Oh, that's good.
Danny is inviting us for a lunch at the communal dining room,
a place where food once used to be free.
But after allowing the kibbutz members to accommodate personal wealth,
they started charging its members the cost of food.
Still, a relatively low price to pay for a delicious meal.
(Danny)
- (Sergio)
Yes. That was two benefits in the kibbutz.
I told you, there wasn't much wealth, but two benefits:
the swimming pool, go as much as you want,
and a soda machine.
(Sergio)
are now allowed to dine here, and for a marginal price.
(Danny)
Things have changed a bit.
But, is there a limit how much you can drink?
- Nope. As much as you want. - That's unbelievable.
- Here, I'm gonna demonstrate.
- No. - Okay?
We're gonna fill the whole pitcher and drink as much as we want.
- And it's still here? - It's still here.
- (Sergio)
It's very cheap.
(Danny)
- It's very, very plain. - Plain.
♪ (music) ♪
(Sergio)
This is like 50-plus shekels,
and you can get refills as much as you want.
You've got unlimited soda.
(Danny)
It's a pretty good schnitzel.
- (Rhoda)
I'll tell you what. I could eat this every day.
(Rhoda)
and the potatoes.
(Sergio)
Awesome!
♪ (music) ♪
(chuckles)
"No cutting paper on Sabbath"
(Sergio)
Founded in 1937,
it is the first religious kibbutz in Israel.
That's right. Not only is it a communal social living,
it is also religious.
A quite rare combination.
Out of 250-some kibbutzim in Israel,
only 16 of them are religious,
with Tirat Zvi being the pioneer.
(Danny)
was a very secular movement.
It was trying to be Zionist,
meaning, claiming it's our land, by the Bible,
- but separating the Bible from the religion. - Oh.
Trying to argue it's only a historical document,
and we are the people of that document, so we have the right to live here.
This kibbutz is one of a few, just a bit more than 10 kibbutzim,
which were trying also to maintain the religious lifestyle.
Mm-hmm.
This is fascinating.
Because, next, Danny is taking us to an institution
one can rarely find in a kibbutz...
a synagogue.
Or in Hebrew, "beit ha-knesset," meaning "the House of Assembly."
(Danny)
I had to come here every morning for morning prayer
and before going to Shabbat.
(Sergio)
- Ah... they don't like it. - Oy vey?
If the rumor spreads around,
your teacher comes to you, your parents come to you,
- and you better show up. - (laughing) Okay.
(Danny)
-
♪ (music) ♪
(Danny)
(Sergio)
- (Danny)
- (Sergio)
behind that curtain, is where the Torah scrolls are kept.
(Sergio)
(Danny)
It's written in the same style as it was 2,000 years ago.
That was proven with the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls.
And on Monday, Thursday, and Shabbat,
you take it out and you read a portion there in the middle.
- (Sergio)
(Sergio)
and everybody sits around him?
Yes, I used to sit with my dad right here...
- Wow! - for 12 years.
And when it was my Bar Mitzvah, Sergio...
I led the Friday evening services standing here,
and the whole crowd was following my leading
of the Friday evening prayers.
And the next morning, I read the Torah.
(Sergio)
-
(Sergio)
Yes. I'm reading, and the public is replying to my call.
(Sergio)
(Danny)
- there's a little archeological display,
- Ooh! - which I couldn't care less as a child.
But now as a grown-up, as an archaeologist,
I always love watching these items.
It includes even two milestones.
(Sergio)
is the incredible archaeological item
that is hanging on the outside wall.
(Danny)
they settled here because the land was purchased by the Zionist Movement.
They had no idea that in 1956,
on a hill just facing the kibbutz,
they will find an ancient building
with a menorah in the mosaic floor.
I think it's the actual one.
(Sergio)
(Danny)
that they didn't just settle in this land because it was purchased.
They settled in this land because it was their
And what proves it better than finding an ancient synagogue
in the fields of the kibbutz?
Okay? This is one of those moments
when you see why the Jews have struggled to cultivate this land,
because it's really returning to biblical and ancestral land.
Nothing gets better than this.
(Sergio)
But this isn't the only gem in this kibbutz,
as Danny is taking us just across the street
to show us more ancient and monumental finds.
Whoa!
(Danny)
by having a mark every
every 1,000 double steps.
- It's called a milestone. - This is the milestone?
- (Danny)
Rhoda and I heard about these for years,
but we've never seen one in real life.
I've never seen one!
It's so amazing thinking...
people did these and carved them
and worked on them in the ancient times.
(Sergio)
made from granite, marble, or whatever local stone was available.
They were widely used by the Romans to mark distances between cities.
In the center of Rome they erected the Golden Milestone
that marked the center of the Roman Empire.
And even though the Golden Milestone has since been lost,
numerous other milestones have been found throughout the empire,
including one that stood right here, in Tirat Zvi,
marking the sixth mile from Beit She'an,
a city that is also known by the name of Scythopolis.
(Danny)
from Scythopolis.
- (Sergio) (gasps) - What is Scythopolis?
- Beit She'an. - Beit She'an. Okay?
So this is telling you the information,
but most of it is imperial propaganda,
presenting Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Pius Augustus,
all the descendants of Augustus and all their victories.
They remind you who's the boss.
So, wherever you are on the roads, Marcus Aurelius is the boss.
I've almost got goose bumps. I've never seen a milestone.
I was reading about them. I know where they were supposed to be.
-
It's the actual one.
They went over the paint, but it's the actual one.
- Yes. - Is it? Okay.
Okay? But forget that.
In Tel Shalem, in 1976, an American tourist,
who was the brother of the nurse in my dad's clinic,
found a bust,
half a body, in bronze, of the Emperor Hadrian.
(Sergio)
This is an amazing, amazing discovery.
I remember, as a child, when it was on display right here.
- The real spot was here? - And it was moved to the Israel Museum,
and it's on prime display, to this day, at the Israel Museum.
- (Sergio)
Okay? Who knows what else is hiding in the vicinity of this kibbutz.
Right? Somebody needs to excavate this.
Somebody needs to come here and continue the work.
Totally.
(Sergio)
a synagogue, and step into the kibbutz life.
A life which might not be suitable for everyone,
as it takes away some of your freedom and individuality,
but it was done for the sake of the community.
Some might even argue that this lifestyle, and this very place,
was essential for the establishment of this country.
And despite the hardships that the parents had to endure,
this place offered something utopian for the children that grew up here.
(Danny)
There was no wealth.
We all wore the same basic blue kind of clothes.
But there was a lot of joy.
There was a lot of good childhood memories here.
(Sergio)
And while this episode is coming to an end,
we are not done here.
Next time, Danny is taking us behind the borders of the kibbutz,
into the countryside, in a search after a very unique place.
- You can't even see the water. - (Sergio)
A place so hidden that most people don't know it even exists.