Judith Brin Ingber

The Wedding Dances at Kibbutz Ramat Yohanan: The Original Experiments of Lea Bergstein

The very first month my husband and I arrived in Israel in 1972, we were bussed from our language center, Ulpan Ben Yehuda in Netanya, some five hours to the northern border to Kibbutz Baram, along with our entire Hebrew class of newcomers, in order to see the daughter of our teacher get married. In true kibbutz fashion, there were several couples marrrying at once so there would be a manifold joy for the kibbutz and all the families involved and no doubt less strain on the kibbutz budget. The bus ride was so long that when we arrived and I saw the brides walking around outside on the green lawns in lovely white dresses, and the grooms in their casual opennecked white short-sleeved shirts, I was sure tht we had missed the entire event. After all, the food was all set out and everyone was milling around eating and greeting each other; only the music and dancing had not begun. Later I realized that the idea of a reception apparently was not relegated to the end of the ceremony. And I learned that buses sent to central places in the city to bring family and friends are a feature of bridging the literal distances between cityfolk and kibbutz life. I also remember going to Kibbutz En-Harod for a wedding in May 1973, at the Lag ba-Omer holiday, getting a tour of the kibbutz in a special tractor for pulling the guests around, and ending up in the large grassy area in front of the dining hall. There was a parade of decorated tractors and sturdy rolling playpens, with children in clean white shorts and shirts waving little pudgy hands and flowers. The bride was a teacher in the nursery school and before the ceremony began her whole class performed simple dances especially for the couple.1 In many communities of Jews, elaborate wedding dances have developed, no less among the Jews on Israeli kibbutzim. In fact each kibbutz, like many different villages, has different traditions, ranging from no celebration whatsoever (couples simply move in together) to very elaborate ceremonies. The most well-known of the wedding dance celebrations performed consistently for fifty years and the most referred to is the Simhat Kelulot [Rejoicing of the Wedding] created by Lea Bergstein and Mattityahu Shelem at Kibbutz Ramat Yohanan. This ceremony will be discussed in detail in this article.