I discussed the clan upbringing from the children’s perspective. But what about the parents? I have no doubt in my mind that parents would benefit just as much. However, since I left Egypt at the age of 20, I did not experience it first-hand. I can however make some intelligent observations.

Imagine being able to send your kid away for 3 months and get a chance to renew your romance. Imagine being helped by many people to carry out your duties as parents. Imagine not being blamed for everything that went wrong in the life of your children. Gratitude is in short supply in North America and, in many cases, a blaming game takes place. This is sad and it needs to be changed if we are ever going to have a sane and balanced society.

I would not want to leave my readers under the mistaken impression that the clan can always compensate for very poor parenting, or outright abuse. From my experience it can’t. There were toxic parents in Egypt just as there are toxic parents here in North America.

I have had opportunities to compare notes – regarding our respective childhood – with other Canadians of my generation. I also discussed it with my wife who was born and grew up in the U.S. The point was made by these people that their childhood was in many ways similar to mine. After listening to them, I conclude that it was not. The clan upbringing as it existed in Egypt, did not exist in North America. Yes, the society of the ’40s and ’50s was more caring. However, a real sharing of the responsibility of raising the next generation did not exist.

When discussing the children of the kibbutz, I had to leave out a lot of details. My book provides more details, but still come out short regarding the numerous aspects of my proposal. Much more research and thinking is required before we can determine if this is a viable proposition. A book, or indeed books, can be written by suitable experts.

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