Village Profile: Dave Hamalian; In Memoriam: Arthur Herz

Every Friday morning I wake up around 6:30. I shave Jeffrey and brush his teeth. He tells me what he dreamt the previous night and, after a quick glance outside his bathroom window, his predictions for the day’s weather. I can call myself a “caretaker” during this brief moment.

I then proceed to prepare breakfast for eight housemates. It is a balanced meal of oats, yogurt, granola, fruits, and tea. Although this breakfast is a simple combination of ingredients and takes little time to prepare, I call myself a “cook” during this time. I wash the dishes after breakfast and call myself a “dish washer.” After some down time, I dress in my work clothes and head down the hill to the garden, where I call myself a “gardener.” In the afternoon I clean and cook dinner. I am now a “homemaker.” Before dinner, on some Fridays, I give a presentation for adult education: I’m a “teacher.” I sit down to play the piano after dinner. At this moment I am a “musician.” The last project of the day is soap making, where I am a “chemist.”

Camphill offers the possibility to live holistically. I can simultaneously be a cook, a gardener, a musician, a teacher (adult education), a chemist, a caretaker, and so much more. There is neither categorization nor separation of self, and there is no hierarchization of my various abilities or hobbies. In fact, “abilities,” “hobbies,” and “occupation” become one in the same.

There is something at work that is much bigger than my own personal development. When I care for Jeffrey in the morning, I am providing him with the healthy teeth that he needs to eat the nutritious breakfast that I prepare for him. This nutrition gives him the vitality to carry on his work on the farm. His work allows the village to have fresh milk every day. It also allows the outside community to have fresh milk, which spreads the word about the Camphill movement. When I wash the dishes, I provide my entire household with sanitary conditions that we all need to live healthy, productive lives. My work in the garden provides every individual in the village with delicious food. After I make soap, I distribute bars to the entire village.

Each of us is part of something much bigger than ourselves. Each of us is a part of a complex web of interactions that contributes to the living organism of Kimberton Hills. My existence here has little to do with the multiple skills that I can build, or even with my “multiple selves,” but has everything to do with how those abilities and those selves can best benefit the community as a whole.   -- Dave Hamalian

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In Memory of Arthur Herz

Recently we learned of the passing of Arthur Herz, our dear friend and father of villager Eva Herz. Arthur and his wife, Hildegard, have been dedicated parents and supporters of Camphill Kimberton in many ways, including through their devotion to the Human Concerns Committee, as members of the Board of Directors and as innumerable wise and loving counsels.

Arthur’s wisdom perhaps comes from living an extraordinary life: one of early grace, then immense hardship, then hard work and diligent study and work. His humane outlook, twinkling humor and loving graciousness were great gifts to those of us who had the privilege to know and work with him.

His obituary stated that Art was a refugee from Nazi Germany, an Army Combat Photographer during WWII, Senior Research Scientist at Kodak for many years, and an active global citizen. What it didn’t state was that he was the son of a prominent Berlin publisher and an extraordinarily gifted mother. Following his mother’s internment at a Berlin prison because of the Nazi regime, the family was able to flee Germany via Cuba and then to Rochester, when Arthur was a young man.

All of us at Camphill Kimberton extend our deepest sympathies to the members of the Herz family.