Zion in the Desert: American Jews in Israel's Reform Kibbutzim »

William F. S. Miles is Professor of Political Science at Northeastern University and the author of many books, including Bridging Mental Boundaries in a Postcolonial Microcosm: Identity and Development in Vanuatu and Imperial Burdens.

The first book about the only two Reform Movement Kibbutzim in Israel.

List of Illustrations

Prologue To Studying One's Own Tribe

Chapter 1 From Long Island to the Negev Desert 1

Chapter 2 A Desert for Reform Zionists 17

Chapter 3 Why They Came to Yahel 37

Chapter 4 Why They Came to Lotan 55

Chapter 5 Coping with Crisis: Economic, Marital, and Midlife 71

Chapter 6 Aging, Envy, and Death 89

Chapter 7 Why They Stayed 105

Chapter 8 Praying-and Not-in the Wilderness 121

Chapter 9 Sibling Rivalry (The Lotan Difference) 145

Chapter 10 Children of the Dream (Kibbutz Kids) 163

Chapter 11 Significant Others: Nonmembers of the Community 177

Chapter 12 Leaving the Reform Kibbutz 193

Chapter 13 "Today I Am a Man" 219

Bibliography 233

Index 237