Every year, some 1,200 young people arrive in Israel to volunteer on a kibbutz for several months. During their stay, they live and work on one of the country's many kibbutzim, they travel and become acquainted with Jewish history and the history of our nation. Melissa-Jane Meliv is one of those young people, but she is unique in that she represents a second generation of kibbutz volunteers. Meliv, 22, hails from Johannesburg, South Africa. She began volunteering at Kibbutz Ein Gev, near the Kinneret, some two months ago. Her mother, Sharlene, her uncle Mark and her cousin Nicole have all also volunteered at Ein Gev over the last 18 years. After having worked for three years as an assistant in a law firm in South Africa, it became clear to Meliv that she wanted to uphold the family tradition and come to Ein Gev as well. Having heard the stories of the "banana groves on the Kinneret and the dining hall and the Shabbat duty at the famous seafood restaurant" she became smitten with the idea and decided to experience it for herself. "I came to Israel and fell in love," Meliv declared. She described working at the kibbutz laundry (at kibbutzim, all the residents' clothes are often laundered together) and rapidly making friends. The view of the Kinneret and the "warm, inviting people" are what won her over. Meliv even got a chance to participate in some kibbutz-sponsored ceremonies in the two months she has been volunteering in Ein Gev, including the communal Passover seder and the ceremony commemorating fallen soldiers on Memorial Day. But Melissa's link with Israel doesn't stop there; she also has a very close friend from South Africa who is currently serving in the Israel Defense Forces as a lone soldier. Meliv was raised as a Christian. When her father passed away, she moved in with her mother, who had converted to Judaism after volunteering in Israel. She said that she didn't know if she herself would convert, but that she was definitely considering remaining in Israel beyond the nine-month volunteer program, perhaps even one day making aliyah and gaining Israeli citizenship.
Girl meets kibbutz
After her mother, uncle and cousin all volunteered at Kibbutz Ein Gev, 22-year-old South African Melissa-Jane Meliv decided to uphold the family tradition • Though raised a Christian, Meliv is considering making aliyah and becoming an Israeli citizen.
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