Kibbutz Harduf was founded in 1982 on a hill overlooking the Zippori stream and Ein Yivka spring in the lower Galilee, within the jurisdiction of the Yezreel Valley (Emek Yizrael) local council, by a group of young people and families, who wished to build a new Kibbutz-like community based on a new spirit inspired by Anthroposophy or Spiritual Science given by Rudolf Steiner at the beginning of the 20th century, which has since then been the source of inspiration for the renewal of a unique approach to varied educational, artistic, therapeutic, social and agricultural activity all over the world.  

Over the years there developed in Harduf a varied activity in the areas of education, social therapy and rehabilitation, medicine, arts, agriculture and organic food. Harduf's current population consists of ca. 600 people, of which about 150 are people and children with special needs, who live in the four rehabilitative homes operating in the Kibbutz.

For More Information Please Contact Us Here. 

If you want to book a tour around Harduf, please Contact us by mail at Organic Farm Experience or by phone: 052-725-00-00

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Demography and Absorption

 

The Harduf population nowadays (2015) has ca. 600 people, of which 172 are members, 20 candidates, 74 temporary residents, 150 members of curative homes, 20 soldiers and ca. 170 children. From the demographical point of view, ca. 15 families are being absorbed into Harduf every 4-5 years, and they are required to undergo a period of life in the Kibbutz as residents. Those absorbed to eventually become members are mainly graduates of anthroposophical trainings as well as returning sons and daughters of Kibbutz members.  

The current building model at Harduf is: the Kibbutz builds, the Kibbutz member finances the building.

Registration of private homes in the Land Registry, according to the acceptable standards in the Kibbutz Movement, is planned to take place within the next few years. 

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The Harduf Organic Farm

 

At the heart of the agricultural farm at Harduf stands the Organic Dairy Farm and the cow shed, which provides the compost to all the fields and is nourished by what grows in them.

The organic cow shed was built after many years in which we grew all customary vegetables and herbs suitable to our area, as well as plants which serve as fodder for the cows, vegetables for export and for the local market, and an olive plantation.

Our organic dairy farm is the first and only one in Israel. We acquired the knowledge necessary to manage such a dairy farm from excellent Israeli dairy farmers, as well as from working tours around similar dairy farms in Europe.

Our dairy farm is managed according to the Israeli standard for organically-run dairy farms. The cows in our cow shed receive improved living conditions, there is no numbering on their bodies and their horns are not removed. The cows receive alternative medical care and are given organic fodder.

Over the years, in an attempt to bring all the cow-dung to the field in a ready state, as well as from our intention to improve the cows' living conditions, we developed a method which cultivates the cow-dung whilst still in the cow shed, on a daily basis. This method was quickly learned and adopted by all the cow sheds in Israel, and to-date, there is not a single dairy farm in Israel that does not apply the Harduf model for cultivating the cow-dung into compost whilst still in the cow shed, thus vastly improving the cows' living conditions, as well as making it possible to bring ready-made cow-dung based compost to the fields whenever required.

On our farm we employ Harduf members and youth, as well as members of the local hostels for people with special needs and workers from other villages in the neighbourhood.

For more extensive information about the organic dairy farm and cow shed, and to watch a short movie about "The Gold Revolution" (the Compost Revolution) at Harduf, please visit our website.

 

 Organic Farming

Organic farming has been one of the main initiatives at Harduf since many years. Our organic farm works in collaboration with the organic dairy farm in a unique way, which enables us to create an organic ecological cycle: The cow-dung turns into compost, which serves as manure for the fields. Part of the plants grown on the fields are turned into hay, which serves as fodder for the cows on the dairy-farm, which then produces organic milk. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Home Garden

 

Our "Home Garden" was founded in 2007 in collaboration with the Hiram Curative Community, and employs about 12 co-workers. In addition to growing seasonal vegetables, fruit trees, berries and vineyards for the local organic market at Kibbutz Harduf, the home garden also grows plants that are used as fodder for the cows on our organic dairy-farm. The Home Garden strives to be a healing space which facilitates and encourages processes of healing, recovery and inner growth within the person and the environment.

As part of our "Organic Farm Experience", we offer guided tours for the entire family, as well as tours with emphasis on organic farming and the Harduf Community. For further details and bookings click here.

 

Water Purification Systems

 

The Harduf organic farm has two unique water purification systems operating according to the Reed Bed System method: one installed in our dairy farm, and the other near our Home Garden.

The systems consists of artificial ponds whose purpose is to imitate the purification processes taking place in natural wetlands. The tightly sealed ponds are filled with gravel and stones of various sizes, in which reeds have been planted. The gravel and the reed roots form a biological filter for the waste water, and this bedding becomes the breeding ground for a rich population of micro-organisms that is able to disintegrate the organic contaminants in the waste water from the cow shed. These bacteria are especially suited to the various contaminants and are used as a source of energy. All waste water from the cow shed are collected into a settling basin from which the water is pumped out and put successively through a system of three draining ponds, becoming gradually purer until reaching a pure state in a reservoir of purified water. This purified water is intended for use as irrigation water for the garden around the cow shed, after we receive the necessary permits.

The second Reed Bed System is situated outside of the Kibbutz and uses the same method to purify the local sewage. The waste water seeps through a layer of gravel of various sizes ca. 1.2 meters deep, giving rise to a growing population of varied bacteria and micro-organisms which feed on the organic substance in the sewage. These bacteria, in addition to cleaning the sewage, also break down and alter the molecular structure of the water to one that does not contaminate the environment irrigated by this water.

The plant used for the reed bed system is common reed (Phragmites australis), which grows naturally in swamps and wetlands. The reed has a special attribute of passing large quantities of oxygen into its root system, which makes it easier for the bacteria population to receive oxygen in the lower parts of the reed bed, thus fulfilling their task more efficiently.

This second system lies over an area of ca. 4.5 acres used as a park for growing wild plants as well as plants used as raw material for various occupational workshops operating as part of our educational and rehabilitative facilities.  

 

The Harduf Garden Centre and Nursery

 

The Garden Centre at Kibbutz Harduf is a rehabilitative nursery dedicated to growing wild plants for the ecological rehabilitation of wild areas and streams, and it belongs to the gardening branch of the Kibbutz. We specialize in collecting wild seeds, sprouting and growing them until they are of a size suitable for redistribution in nature for the purpose of conservation and enrichment of the biological variety. All the plant-growing in our nursery is done organically, without using fertilizers or pesticides. Our nursery boasts an accumulated knowledge of growing wild plants, and especially in handling and caring for stream-side plants after they are planted, until they are acclimatized to their new surrounding.

The Harduf Garden Centre and Nursery is an occupational and rehabilitative facility for people with mental health problems who are employed at the stage of sprouting and growing the seeds in the nursery. In addition to the people with special needs employed in the nursery, there is a skilled team of gardeners at the Garden Centre, who perform all gardening works, from preparing the area to planting, irrigating and every day maintenance.

All our gardening activities in all Kibbutz areas are carried out according to the principles of organic gardening, without use of pesticides or fertilizers. 

 

 

 

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Educational Initiatives at Harduf

 

Kindergartens, Lower and Upper Schools

 

In Harduf there are three regional kindergartens and a nursery working in the spirit of Waldorf education. Most of the children then move to the Harduf Waldorf School, which is the first Waldorf school in Israel. It was founded in 1989 and today there are at least 20 Waldorf schools in Israel, with more opening continually. The Waldorf school's work is based on an understanding of the child and his/her development in the light of Rudolf Steiner's educational teachings. It is a developmental educational path, in which an attempt is made to use both content and teaching methods which are suitable for the children's various physical, emotional and spiritual stages of development. Art, creativity and practical work all have an important and major role in this education. The emphasis is laid not on competitive achievement-oriented study, but on making sure that each boy and girl's personal development will be as harmonious as possible.

The school is state-recognized and formal, operating under supervision of the Ministry of Education. It has ca. 260 children in the lower and middle school, and ca. 300 in the upper school. In addition, the school includes several special education classes.

 

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Curative and Rehabilitative Initiatives

 

Kamah – Curative Community at Harduf

 

The Kamah Association in Kibbutz Harduf presents a unique model for social change. This approach proposes the full integration of people with special needs in a rural community. (The name Kamah stands for the Hebrew of "Curative Community at Harduf").

The Kamah model as a curative community is based on the philosophy of Anthroposophy and the principle of nurturing the healthy core in every person, while integrating and accepting those different from oneself in the tapestry of social and community life.

Kamah provides a rehabilitative, strengthening, and therapeutic home for adults with special needs and for at-risk children and teens. This allows the healthy community in which they live to experience giving, tolerance, and development, while creatively confronting the ever-changing challenges and conditions.

 

Beit Elisha

 

The Beit Elisha curative community was established in 1995 as a home for life for adults with a variety of special needs, disabilities, and behavioral and social difficulties, living in Harduf and in Tivon. Beit Elisha members carry out creative, productive work every day in various employment areas created especially for them – the organic vegetable garden, kitchen, bakery, a practical crafts center, and a coffee shop serving the general public, which is wholly run by Beit Elisha members. For more information about Beit Elisha see here.

 

Beit Tuvia

The Beit Tuvia therapeutic dormitory is a warm and rehabilitative home for children and youth from throughout Israel defined by the social services system as requiring out-of-home care and who were removed from their families. The Beit Tuvia boarding school is uniquely characterized by being especially family and community oriented. The children and youth live in the Kibbutz and participate in its various educational, social and cultural activities. The Beit Tuvia Community is involved with the Harduf community and strives to create an ecologically-oriented sustainable life, with emphasis on caring for nature and the environment and creating fruitful dialogue and good neighborly relations with the residents of the are. For more information about Beit Tuvia see here.

 

Hiram

 

Hiram is a rehabilitative facility for people before and after a mental health crisis. The purpose of this facility is to return the person to himself and to society according to his ability, with a view of returning to an independent life within 3 – 5 years. The Hiram rehabilitative home includes an individually adapted process of rehabilitation, providing board and lodging, professional personal and group support, artistic and leisure activities as well as rich and varied protected occupational workshops that provide their workers with a future vocation. Hiram operates as part of the rehabilitative program provided by the Basket of Health Services of the Ministry of Health. For further details please see here or call (++972)-(0)4-9059215. (The English page is still under construction).

 

Harduf Care and Cure in the Community

 

Harduf Healing in the Community is a hostel operating in accordance with the Basket of Health Services of the Ministry of Health. It enables people to come and live in Harduf independently, yet receive full therapeutic, rehabilitative, occupational and medical support. For further details please contact Eldad Ben David, 052-5989640, [email protected]

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The Harduf Clinic and Anthroposophically Oriented Therapies

 

In Harduf there is a clinic that works in the light of the Anthroposophical approach to medicine, integrating medical Anthroposophic medicine and complementary treatments stemming from this approach too. Those interested to know more about this medical approach and availability of doctors or therapists, may see here and/or contact the Harduf Clinic at +972-(0)4-9059200.

 

Anthroposophically Oriented Therapies

 

As part of the anthroposophical medical approach/world view, there is an impressive palette of complementary therapies available in Harduf, including music therapy, painting / colour therapy, curative Eurhythmy, oiling and rhythmical massage, and Anthroposophically oriented psychotherapy. For details and further references please contact the Harduf Clinic.

 

… and More…

 

Further independently-offered therapies and treatments in Harduf include: Chinese medicine, Biographical Counselling, physical psychotherapy, Classic Homoeopathy, Iridology, Shiatsu and Swedish Massage, Akumi method of Psychotherapy, Feldenkrais and Ilan Lev methods. For further information about individual therapists and practitioners working in Harduf please send a query through our contact form. 

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Cultural and Artistic Initiatives at Harduf

 

There is a rich cultural and artistic activity continually taking place in Harduf each year, including various artistic endeavours, such as theatre plays, Eurhythmy performances, choir, concerts, painting and sculpture exhibitions, and so on, as well as art studies in the form of several seminars for learning anthroposophically oriented arts. Another important part of our cultural life are the high-school plays performed each year by classes 10 and 12 of our Waldorf Upper School, directed by graduates of the Harduf Speech and Drama Seminar. These plays are open to the public. For further details please contact the Harduf School Office or visit their website here.

Most of our artistic initiatives also have a seminar for studying the anthroposophic approach to their particular art form. These include: the Hamila Theatre, Artways (Derech Ha-Omanut), the Udiana choir (formerly: Kolot Hasadeh), "Havered" Eurhythmy and Curative Eurhythmy School, Uncovering the Voice (Giluy Hakol) singing school, Zur Architectural Planning etc.

 

Seminars and Workshops

There are several seminars acting in the light of Anthroposophy in Harduf, offering a unique learning path which combines theoretical studies with artistic, personal and social group-oriented development. This approach stems from the holistic Anthroposophical world-view, which strives to develop the whole human being with its many different sides and aspects. The following seminars are active in Harduf: Foundation Year for Anthroposophy; Seminar for Speech and Drama; Artways Seminar; Introduction to Therapies Seminar; Art Therapy Training "The Colour as Healer"; Anthroposophically oriented Psychotherapy; "combinatory Selfhood" and "Therapeutic Stories" workshops.

There is also a variety of other workshops held at different intervals in areas such as Anthroposophically oriented music therapy, "Uncovering the Voice" method of singing, Oiling and Rhythmical Massage, Non Violent Communication, and more. 

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The books published by Harduf Publishing are many and varied, ranging from education and medicine, psychology, music and singing, to creative recorder teaching, healthy cooking, the Waldorf approach to teaching science, and many more. All books however have one thing in common: they were all written by people living or working in Harduf, and in connection with Anthroposophy.

Most of the books were written in Hebrew, but a few have been translated into English, including:

* Healing Illness and Karma: An Anthroposophic Approach According to Rudolf Steiner's Teachings by Dr. Avishai Gershoni 

* As Man Sings: On the Experience of Free Voice by Giora Rafaeli

* Jonathan and the Tree by Gilad Goldschmidt

* Toonsy and Mirley: A Story of Two Squirrels by Tomer Rosen Grace

 

 

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Unique Neighborly Relations

Over the years, many attempts and efforts have been made to cultivate neighborly relations of friendship and work with our neighboring villages Sawaed and Ka'abiyye.

 

Gate to Humanity : Sha'ar La'Adam – Bab Lil'Insan

Sha'ar La'Adam – Bab Lil'Insan (meaning "Gate to Humanity" in Hebrew and Arabic) is an international community center for educational, artistic and environmental activities, which strives to provide an answer to the complex reality between Jewish and Arab communities in the Galilee and to create a common Jewish-Arab culture.

Our aims at Sha'ar La'adam are to create a bridge between the Jewish and the Arab communities, to create a real and sincere partnership between the residents of the Galilee, and to create an egalitarian place of encounter, that provides a space for both discussion and action toward common goals, emphasizing the common identity amongst participants, and using the differences of identity as a tool for getting to know the different narratives of each community.  Sha'ar La'adam also strives to change a reality of inequality through educational activities and projects common to different institutional, public and private factors from various areas.

For further details see the Sha'ar La'Adam Website.    

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Special Buildings and Places in Harduf

 

There are several buildings and special places worth visiting in Harduf, especially The Brothers' Garden, Beit Miriam ("Miriam's House"), The Kamah Centre, Mishkan Hamila and Hamila Theatre, The Harduf Waldorf School (Lower and Upper School), and the Thatched Sports Hall. 

 

 

The Brothers Garden

 

 

  

 

Beit Miriam (Miriam House)

 

 

 

 

 

Beit Kamah (Kamah House)

 

 

 

 

Mishkan Hamila and the Hamila Theatre

 

 

 

 

The Harduf Clinic

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Harduf Kindergartens

 

 

 

The Harduf Upper School

 

 

 

 

 

The Harduf Lower School (Office Building)

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Thatched Sports Hall

 

 

 

 

 

 

Therapeutic Horseriding at The Beit Elisha Stables

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Horses at the Beit Elisha Stables

 

The Kibbutz Entrance 

 

 

 

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