On a rainy, foggy morning in November 1943, a group of pioneers founded Kibbutz Kfar Blum in the Upper Galilee. This was a time when the Hula egg could still be found at the kibbutz, malaria and Anopheles mosquitoes would confine members to their beds, and the kibbutz kitchen would cook hard boiled eggs for the healthy and chicken soup for the sick. Black bread was baked in the bakery, milk and cream were brought from the barn, omelets were made with eggs from the chicken coop, cucumber and tomato salad was cut straight from the vegetable garden, and any leftovers were scraped into a bowl in the middle of the table known as the "kolboinik". The food was clearly cooked from the heart, the smile radiating from the eyes, and heat came mostly from the fireside.
Guests, activists / workers, groups and entrepreneurs who came to the kibbutz while it was still getting established were housed in tents and at the cottages of the kibbutz members, until Mrs. Sue Breischer, an American friend of the kibbutz, decided to make a donation for the building of six guest rooms. These soon became a successful guest house, and as time went on, grew into what is today the Pastoral Hotel.
Since then, much water has passed through Jordan River, adjacent to the hotel. A Chamber Music Festival, which first took place in Kfar Blum in the 1980s, opened the door to a world of culture, hospitality and music, serving as the basis for a cherished vision that, to this day, drives the energetic activity and development that characterize the Pastoral.
Between the green spaces, the singing of the birds and the flowering gardens, the hotel also boasts elegant suites and guest rooms, a conference complex boasting nine halls and meeting rooms, and a spa offering dozens of body and cosmetic treatments.
Throughout the year, the hotel hosts renowned artists, musicians, intellectuals and conversationalists, filling our rich cultural centers with performances, concerts and shows. Culture, the constant development of the rooms and suites' infrastructure, the extensive conference campus and the meticulous grounds are all part and parcel of the Pastoral's vision: to create a first-class hospitality experience, where nature, relaxation, renewal and elation are brought together within the Israeli cultural and musical experience.
Photo courtesy of the Kfar Blum Archive.
Guests, activists / workers, groups and entrepreneurs who came to the kibbutz while it was still getting established were housed in tents and at the cottages of the kibbutz members, until Mrs. Sue Breischer, an American friend of the kibbutz, decided to make a donation for the building of six guest rooms. These soon became a successful guest house, and as time went on, grew into what is today the Pastoral Hotel.
Since then, much water has passed through Jordan River, adjacent to the hotel. A Chamber Music Festival, which first took place in Kfar Blum in the 1980s, opened the door to a world of culture, hospitality and music, serving as the basis for a cherished vision that, to this day, drives the energetic activity and development that characterize the Pastoral.
Between the green spaces, the singing of the birds and the flowering gardens, the hotel also boasts elegant suites and guest rooms, a conference complex boasting nine halls and meeting rooms, and a spa offering dozens of body and cosmetic treatments.
Throughout the year, the hotel hosts renowned artists, musicians, intellectuals and conversationalists, filling our rich cultural centers with performances, concerts and shows. Culture, the constant development of the rooms and suites' infrastructure, the extensive conference campus and the meticulous grounds are all part and parcel of the Pastoral's vision: to create a first-class hospitality experience, where nature, relaxation, renewal and elation are brought together within the Israeli cultural and musical experience.
Photo courtesy of the Kfar Blum Archive.
