If there is a paradise on earth, then it is Kishorit, a kibbutz in the northern part of Israel, where people with special needs live. The atmosphere is peaceful; the gardens are beautifully situated and well taken care of. Everywhere people are working and the passer-by receives a friendly greeting. 
An enormous plate with beautiful decorated sandwiches is brought in. Dita Kohl, public relations manager of Kishorit, apologises with a smile: “Instead of three people, Nir made a plate for twenty! He always gets over enthusiastic when he starts with something. By the way the tomatoes and the herbs are biologically cultivated in Kishorit. We also make the bread ourselves”! Nir Yaron, 28, is visibly happy. He is an example of what Kishorit offers! He was born in Karmiel, in a family with four children. His parents discovered already at an early age that he was different. Because a “normal” school was not possible, he went to a special one, of which the last two years were in Kishorit. He liked it so much that he decided to stay.
Kishorit has 150 residents, aged between 20 - 60 years. In addition there is the same amount of volunteers and accompanists. Most of the inhabitants are borderline patient or have another mental disability; “People with specials needs” as they are called in Kishorit. Dita; “Kishorit offers a home for the whole circle of life. Our aim is to look at the qualities of the residents and not at their shortcomings, whether that is autism, the Asperger syndrome or schizophrenia. Everyone who lives here has an aim in life. We help them to reach that. Not by adapting their behaviour to society, but by offering them a society that fits them”. Shuki, one of the founders and managing director of Kishorit:” We all have a mission on earth. I believe that people with special needs show us how we should live our lives. An example; we run the whole day, we are busy, too busy, we go to bed too late and cannot sleep because our heads are too full with thoughts. Here in Kishorit the people live according to their biological clock. When it is light the village wakes up and everyone gets up and starts the day. When it is night time everyone goes to bed. There is an inner stillness, a balance. That is the reason why I like to come here during the weekends with my family. One of our future projects, by the way, is to build a village near Kishorit where families of residents and people who work here can live. We can learn so much from each other”.
Kishorit was founded in 1997 by Shuki Levinger, social worker, and Yael Shiloh, textile designer. The desire to build something like Kishorit was created when a number of Israeli families, supported by their therapists, were looking for an alternative for their loved ones; something better then a lifelong dependency of an institute or family. Originally Kishorit was a small kibbutz in the Galilean mountains. When the kibbutz went bankrupt the houses were left empty. The idea to make it into a kibbutz for people with special needs was not something the Kibbutz organization and the Jewish Agency, the owner of the ground, liked. “They told us that such a concept did not fit the kibbutz ideology. Which was weird, because our principles are according to the very old kibbutz ideology; namely everyone contributes to his/her own abilities and receives whatever he/she needs”, says Shuki.
Eventually their enthusiasm won and Kishorit became such a success that today there is a very long waiting list, which is actually so long that they do not count it anymore. Also abroad people became aware of the uniqueness of this place. Eight percent of the total number of inhabitants is originally from countries such as South-Africa, United States of America, England, Belgium and France, and their families still live there. 
The rooms where the residents spend their free hours, the offices, or the house for the elderly people are all beautifully decorated with a lot of devotion and taste. Everywhere you find pastel colours, tasteful furniture and beautiful handmade tapestries (made by the residents). The corridors are spacious; it all gives a feeling that you are continuously walking through a home decorated with love. “We offer a home, a house; that means warmth and intimacy. And thus the tables in the dining room are decorated with every meal with a nice crockery set and flowers on the table”, explains Shuki. “Also hygiene and health get a lot of attention. Unfortunately most of the tenants have to use a lot of medicines. That is why it is so important that their quality of life is as high as possible; that is the reason that we started our biological horticulture”. Most of the tenants have a very difficult life behind them, where everything was planned for them by other people. In Kishorit they discovered their own power. One of the special methods that are being used for this is a kind of “this is your life” game. One of the residents invites various people whom are important for him or her. Under attention of a social worker the whole group talks for about 2 ½ hours only about the positive sides of the central person. Everything is being taped on video. Shuki;”When they have a bad day they can watch the video and it helps them regain their self-confidence.
The residents of Kishorit are being encouraged to live as independently as possible and also to take responsibilities. This means that they have a big voice in the whole system. One of the questions when they arrive in Kishorit is always how a person wants to live, alone, or with other people. Everyone has different wishes. Shuki:”New residents often say that they do not know how to choose. I always say: you know how to chose, you know much more then you think you know. And then I explain that we all have the right to make good and bad decisions in life. That is part of life, so make a decision and then we will see how it will work out. You can always change again, that is a different point of view to what they are used to. Also in the policy making of Kishorit we involve the residents and we recently decided to take two or three of the residents onto the board” Dita;”What is important for us is what they know, not what they do not know. Nir is a good example of this way of thinking. When he came here his functioning was very limited, today he is one of the permanent staff and responsible for the catering during festive meetings and when there are special visitors. When we discovered that his interest was in the kitchen, especially cooking and baking, we sent him, under supervision of our kitchen staff, for an education at the Tadmor Hotel School in Tiberias and after that for an education for pastry-cook.
Nir is a hard worker and he loves to take initiatives and after his schooling he decided to be in touch with Segev Moshe, a well known chef de cuisine in Israel. He had seen him on television. Segev invited him to his restaurant in Tel Aviv and taught him some secrets of his kitchen. All around Kishorit Nir is now selling his cookies and not so long ago he received his first big assignment from a kibbutz in the vicinity. “He was so proud to be bringing money to Kishorit”, says Dita. The residents of the community have very close ties.
During the Lebanon war in 2006, katusha rockets were also falling around Kishorit. But in contrast to the villages around it where everyone went south or to the centre of Israel, the residents of Kishorit stayed. Shuki:” We had arranged to leave and had found places for everyone in a quiet area, but they refused to leave. They all said this is our home, we are not leaving. We, the staff had no other choice, than to bring our families to Kishorit. By the way I did tell everyone... Ok, we can stay, but no fighting, everybody is going to be nice, no matter how long we have to sit in the shelters! Well, everyone behaved wonderfully, and it sounds crazy, but we had a very special time together”. Dita;” We also tried to absorb Arab residents. But we discovered that this was very difficult without their losing their identity. Still they also have the right for a place like Kishorit. The plans are ready and near Kishorit Al Manahra (.Arabic for light tower) will be built where Israeli Arabs with special needs can live. What we can do together we will do together, like school and work”. Nothing is free in this world and that is also true for Kishorit. Various ministries subsidize and there are donations from Israel and abroad and some of the activities do cover the costs or even provide a small profit. More then 75 % of the residents work within the different departments of the Kibbutz and with a lot of success. There is a workshop where they make nature friendly wooden toys, part of which goes to export. Kishorit also has the biggest biological goat farm in Israel. Biological greenhouses provide all year round vegetables, fruit and spices both for the residents and for the surrounding villages. 
There are biological chicken coops with a yearly production of 250.000 eggs. There is a riding-school that is being used both by residents and by visitors. Last but not least there is a dog kennel under the supervision of Kitty, originally from Holland. The dogs of Kishorit have already won prices all over the world. Kitty:” I push the residents who work with me as much as I can. I assume that they are capable of much more then we think. The choice of the shows that we visit is mine, but I leave it to them to arrange the tickets and the hotels”. On one hand the dogs are used for sale “winners of course bring higher prices”, on the other hand as a form of therapy. A number of residents have a dog living with them for company. When something is difficult to explain, the connection between man and dog can be used. Kitty explains:” One of the boys that works with me has a little dog. The two are inseparable. When he wears a dirty shirt I say to him “your dog said that you do not smell good” and then he goes and changes into a clean shirt”.
In the art centre there is a picture of sculptor Esther Zilversmit, who died at a young age. She is the daughter of Marion and Hans Zilversmit who live in Amsterdam, Holland. They visit Kishorit regularly. Marion:” Our son David is a kid with special needs. He is musically gifted. He has a beautiful voice, plays piano and composes. Thanks to excellent help here in Holland he can live on his own. But what Kishorit does for its residents goes even further. Nowhere in the world can you find such a special place. If anywhere abstract concepts like love or respect are made visible it is in Kishorit. The former head of PR Katrin Tchetchik who is a good friend of ours told us about Kishorit. When our dear Esther unexpectedly passed away, Katrin suggested building an art centre in her memory. That is how in Holland we started raising funds for this project. For us as a family it is important to know that death created life. The centre gives life to people who live there. There is a film and photography department and also Kishorit Television. There are also plans to enlarge the centre to add more branches, like weaving, ceramics, theatre and dance. We also want to build houses for artists, who in exchange will teach the residents”. This particular plan is very ambitious, but Marion is convinced that it will succeed. “The film department even makes documentaries for Israeli television, something that nobody ever considered possible”. The respectful manner, in which everybody in Kishorit is being treated, is for Marion maybe the most remarkable.
“The residents are treated as individuals with their own personality, who can ask for help whenever necessary. Here in Holland they are very good at saying what is right or wrong. You have to do this, you have to do that. In Kishorit they ask “what can I help you with”, which sounds totally different. It could be one thing today and something else tomorrow, because they are given that space. The spaces where nothing prevents a useful and productive life. Who doesn't want that?”.
For information: www.kishorit.org or fund.dita@kishorit.org.il
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