A group of Utah Mormon Republican lawmakers walk into a Jewish socialist kibbutz in the middle of the desert.
It’s not a joke.
A delegation of Utah water officials, state lawmakers and other policy stakeholders ventured into the Negev Desert to learn about agriculture in some of the planet’s harshest conditions. Members of the kibbutz welcomed them with open arms, inviting them to lunch and showing them around their greenhouses.
“There’s a term in Hebrew called ‘tikkun olam.’ Which means preparing the world, making the world a better place,” Jared White, who serves on Ramat HaNegev’s Regional Council, told the delegation. “It’s a basic Jewish value.”
A kibbutz is a cooperative community, where many things are shared. Some kibbutzim have similarities to the early-Mormon concept of a “United Order,” where everything is put into a common pot and it is doled out according to “needs and wants.”
Read more at deseret.com