From Iton Habonim Volume 1 Edition 8, November 2008

Sounds Good

by James Grant-Rosenhead, Kvutsat Yovel

Friday night. Shabbat shalom. Outside it is dark, but our machaneh is lit up. The moon is shining bright and stars are twinkling in the clear night sky. The warm yellow light of the bonfire is reflected in the faces of our kvutsa members, who are sitting around it in a circle. Uri’s homemade cable of light bulbs is hanging from a tree, powered by the battery of the Renault Kangoo from our kibbutz car pool.

I am lying on my back inside our tent, listening to the sounds of our tiyul campsite:

Nearest, I can hear the music which Jon and Dawit are playing on their mobile phones in the adjacent tent. Our adopted boys are listening to music from Eritrea, from where they fled, leaving behind their friends and families, in order to avoid fifty years of compulsory military service. After walking and hitchhiking across Sudan and Egypt, they have found temporary refuge with us here in Israel;

Behind them and to my left, I can hear the constant sound of running water – the trickling of the stream as it flows onwards into the Jordan river;

To my right, above the crackling of burning wood on the fire, I can hear my chevrai kvutsa, energetically singing songs from the shiron, accompanied by the strumming of an acoustic guitar;

Jackals are howling in the near distance, but their cries are drowned out by the laughter of our children, the discussions of my wife and kvutsa mates, and the music around our medura;

And it occurs to me, whilst lying here, that these are the sounds of my life.

Sounds good.