Here’s why love and strength trump hate and fear

I taught the Robert Frost poem “The Road Not Taken” to my class this year. As the poem depicts, when a person stands at a crossroads, a decision needs to be taken. Same goes for a community.

When a community undergoes what this community did – there are two ways it can go. It can wither and die or it can fight and grow and thrive.

Kibbutz Nirim has chosen the second option. Here’s why:

We live less than two kilometers from the border. We have less than 8 seconds to take cover when the incoming rocket alarm (Red Alert) is sounded. A tunnel was found less than a five-minute jog from our homes. Two of our members were killed on the last day of the war. A third lost both his legs.

And yet:

This past summer we absorbed 20 new members. More young families are vying to move here. The community is investing heavily in reconstructing the communal dining room, members’ lodge and central meeting place. Gadi – the member who lost his legs – went on to recuperate and win his bid for mayor of the Eshkol Regional council. We, as a community, have consciously chosen to survive.

Today we saw how love and strength trump hate and fear. Love and strength of our community, our members, and people from all over the country demonstrated today that “Red South” (Darom Adom) wins over “Red Alert”. Approximately 1,500 visitors graced our green lawns today, to help us celebrate the welcomed sun, and life on the border. If you weren’t among, them, this is what you missed.