{"id":146284,"date":"2023-12-26T12:49:55","date_gmt":"2023-12-26T10:49:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/?p=146284"},"modified":"2025-03-12T13:29:19","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T11:29:19","slug":"hoi_nir_oz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blognli2026.moonsite.co.il\/en\/hoi_nir_oz\/","title":{"rendered":"Nir Oz Will Blossom Again: The Story of a Legendary Kibbutz Gardener"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI\u2019ll just finish trimming the garden and call you right back,\u201d Ran Pauker, the 86-year-old evacuee from Kibbutz Nir Oz, answered when I called to speak with him about his life\u2019s work. It seems you can\u2019t take the gardener out of the garden, even when he\u2019s far away from home. Pauker and his wife Carmelit have been evacuated to Kibbutz HaSolelim in the Lower Galilee. Both were members of the first pioneering Hashomer Hatza\u2019ir\u00a0groups that founded Kibbutz Nir Oz in the 1950s. The couple was forced to leave their home behind after the awful attack on October 7. They happened to be staying with their daughter in Sderot that Saturday, and so were saved.<\/p>\n

Like many kibbutzim that were established along Israel’s borders, Kibbutz Nir Oz also faced many challenges throughout its history. If you had gone there in the 1950s and looked around, you would have seen wilderness and sand stretching from one end of the horizon to the other.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Kibbutz Nir Oz, around 1960. Photo: Ran Pauker, from the Kibbutz Nir Oz archives<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
“‘Nir Oz’, a New Kibbutz Near Nirim<\/em>”\u00a0\u2013 a report from Herut<\/a>, <\/em>September 30, 1955<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWhen we settled here, there were unbearable sandstorms in the area. I couldn\u2019t see a few meters in front of me,\u201d Pauker says. \u201cI remember one sandstorm when we needed to eat in the kitchen storeroom because \u2026 the dining hall had filled with sand and dust. The storeroom was small, so we ate in shifts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking back, Pauker may have been exactly the solution that the sand-swept kibbutz needed. Upon his arrival there, although he hadn\u2019t planned on doing so, he took it upon himself to manage Kibbutz Nir Oz\u2019s landscaping and be responsible for all the plants and vegetation in the public sphere. On a bus from Tel Aviv to the kibbutz, he bumped into an old friend, Meir Lavi (Mayor), who was the kibbutz secretary at the time, and told him, \u201cRan, we don\u2019t have a gardener. You\u2019re the son of a gardener, you\u2019re a graduate of Kadoorie [a well-known Israeli agricultural school], you\u2019re done being a farm coordinator and you have no job right now. Come work as a gardener for two or three months until we can find someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pauker agreed. \u201cThey say nothing\u2019s more permanent than the temporary. They\u2019re right. I\u2019ve been a gardener ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Cover of a book<\/a> published in 2015 to mark 60 years of Kibbutz Nir Oz. The photo features a well-known Hebrew slogan coined by Meir Ya’ari that has accompanied the kibbutz throughout its history and which can be translated as: “We are not road-weary, rather we are trailblazers<\/em>“<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
A sign hanging on the Nir Oz silo following the October 7 attacks, featuring the same slogan that appears on the cover of the book above. Photo: Moshe Yolovich.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The sandstorms made him realize that his role was much more important than he thought. It wouldn\u2019t only change his life but would also turn him into a guru of green, economical, and ecological planning.<\/p>\n

At the start of his journey, Pauker faced a challenge that was two-fold: How could he make life bearable in the hot, dusty desert while also saving money and water, as the expenses were costing the young kibbutz a fortune? Industrious as he was, Pauker figured out how: He carefully and cleverly planned his tree plantings and deliberately chose vegetation that was suitable for desert conditions. The green that dominates Kibbutz Nir Oz became its hallmark, and even after the October 7 tragedy, the plants still stand alongside the destroyed, burnt homes. Pauker says his secret is a combination of patience, a willingness to learn from mistakes, constant attention to conditions, and finding the right plants for the terrain.<\/p>\n

\"\"
One of the impressive Ficus trees that are spread throughout Nir Oz. Photo: Ran Pauker.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
A list of contributors to the book<\/a> published by the kibbutz\u2019s founders to mark its 60th<\/sup> anniversary. A number of these people were abducted on October 7. Some have been released, and we are waiting anxiously for the rest to come home.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Over the years, Pauker saw that his work methods offered additional advantages: By saving money, time and labor resources, he was able to work in a more ecological fashion, better suited to a planet that is gradually becoming warmer. His ideas and developments turned Nir Oz into a role model for cultivating natural space in a way that allows for a pleasant and comfortable life, but that also takes ecological and economic concerns into account:<\/p>\n

\u201cI realized that if I didn\u2019t gather the clippings [from the lawn mower] and if I used a recycler lawn mower [which leaves what was mowed on the field], I\u2019d save on sweeping expenses and fuel. I\u2019d also be leaving minerals in the ground and wouldn\u2019t need fertilizer. We brought in plants that are highly resistant to dryness; we created drainage collection basins throughout the relatively flat kibbutz, and we used water from the air conditioners to water the plants. This paid off financially and environmentally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Experiments with different grass varieties inside a flower-shaped plot in front of the dining hall, which is still there to this day. Photo: Ran Pauker, from the Kibbutz archives.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ran inherited his love of gardening from his father. He was born in Nahariya to parents who were among the founders of the city. His father also worked as a gardener and garden planner, and even as a child, just four-years-old, Pauker helped his father out at work. His dad gave him a small bucket of lime and sent him off to whitewash the tree trunks.<\/p>\n

When he began working on the landscaping for Kibbutz Nir Oz, he asked his father to come help him with the planning. The experienced, German-born gardener offered him orderly, methodical work practices. When Ran was first starting out as head of landscaping, he had a vision and clear plans, and he made sure to document his work so that he\u2019d be able to present his achievements to the community members, and later, to the wider public. Inside the lush, green kibbutz, Ran established a botanical garden named Nekuda Yeruka<\/em>, or \u201cGreen Point\u201d, which has become a plant research center visited by experts and students from all over the world.<\/p>\n

And how did he meet his wife, Carmelit? When the two were working together in the rose nursery, of course. They bred different species on the rose bushes, and their collaboration blossomed into love, which led them to a happy marriage and a big, supportive family.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Carmelit Menashe and Ran in Kibbutz Nir Oz\u2019s rose nursery in 1964. Photo from a private album.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On October 10, Pauker was set to celebrate the publication of his autobiography, Sipuro shel Tzabar BeHafrachat HaMidbar<\/em> (“The Story of a Sabra Who Made the Desert Bloom”). The book covers his significant contributions to the kibbutz as well as to the fields of gardening and environmental studies, as experts still come to the kibbutz to learn from him to this day. Along with all of us, Pauker hopes that one day, when all the hostages including those from the kibbutz are returned home and the community begins rebuilding itself, he\u2019ll be able to celebrate the release of his book.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The back cover of Ran Pauker\u2019s autobiography, set to be published soon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The botanical garden and the lush greenery of Nir Oz is a success story about making the desert wasteland flourish. When asked about the future, Ran says, \u201cThe kibbutz itself is destroyed, the homes are destroyed, but the plants still stand and the irrigation is still working, thanks to Na\u2019amit who is responsible for the landscaping now, and the amazing kibbutz members who have been coming to help. If they\u2019ll let us, we\u2019ll get all the landscaping back the way it was within a year. But the big question is the Nir Oz community; what will the community choose to do and how can we rehabilitate it? As for that, we\u2019ll need to wait and see.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Lush, green Kibbutz Nir Oz, seen from above, 2019. Photo from the Kibbutz Nir Oz archives<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

This article is part of our special series: \u201cLife on the Border: A Tribute to the Communities of the Gaza Border Region\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Click here to see all of the articles and stories<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the early days, members of Kibbutz Nir Oz suffered from terrible sandstorms that made it difficult to move, see and even eat. Ran Pauker, the kibbutz\u2019s legendary landscaper, was called to solve the problem, and along the way, Nir Oz became a green, ecological gem. When asked about the future of the kibbutz that suffered a fatal blow on October 7 – he says the vegetation will be restored within a year, as for the community: \u201cWe\u2019ll have to wait and see\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":376,"featured_media":146291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[217,1768],"tags":[2172,238,2173,5080,3068],"tags2":[3067,2684,2657,2691,5081],"class_list":["post-146284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-land-of-israel","category-meragesh-en","tag-gaza-border-region","tag-land-of-israel","tag-life-on-the-border","tag-the-kibbutz","tag-3068"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNir Oz Will Blossom Again: The Story of a Legendary Kibbutz Gardener<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the early days, members of Kibbutz Nir Oz suffered from terrible sandstorms that made it difficult to move, see and even eat. 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