Dror Kfir. Illustration photo for the book “The Return of Dror Kfir.”
Below is the transcript of the interview granted by Dror Kfir to this publication.
ASIIP: You left Israel with very little money and an uncertain destination. Why?
DK: The reason I left Israel was to fulfill my dream.
I always dreamed of leaving my country, and eventually I made it happen after a long childhood in which I was raised under a very strict system. Because of my personality, I constantly sought a way out of that structure. Since I was very young, I dreamed of discovering the world, and in the end, I achieved what I wanted.
ASIIP: You were born in a kibbutz. How much did that experience shape your life?
DK: Being born in a kibbutz is an experience with many different sides. At times it can be beautiful, and at other times difficult.
A kibbutz is an agricultural community based on a communal system. There is no police force there; the community itself establishes the rules of coexistence.
Another aspect is that children in the kibbutz are separated from their parents, and in general they are raised collectively by members of the community.
It is a beautiful place in the countryside, free from traffic and concrete everywhere. It is an agricultural society deeply connected to nature.
Agricultural work in an Israeli kibbutz.
On one hand, it is wonderful because you grow up surrounded by nature — almost like paradise. But on the other hand, it is also a system with strict rules, where everyone works for everyone else.
You cannot go against the system’s rules, and if you fail to follow them, you are rejected and turned away. Violating those rules is considered unforgivable.
The separation of children from their parents creates a trauma that remains in the mind of every child, leaving a scar for life. It is not natural for a child to be born, nurtured by their mother, and then separated from their parents.
The affection that should come from parents is instead provided by others assigned to that role. That leaves a deep emotional wound. Yet despite all this, it remains, in many ways, a beautiful system.
Dror Kfir as a child alongside his father at the kibbutz where he was born.
ASIIP: How different is today’s world compared to the era in which you traveled?
DK: My youth — during the years I served three years in the military and grew up in the kibbutz — was a time when I wanted to explore everything and experience anything possible. My dream was always to escape the system.
The years in the army and the agricultural community felt too strict for my personality. I never adapted to a rigid way of thinking where everything was fixed and predictable. I simply wanted to live in the moment during my youth.
Today everything is completely different. Many years have passed, and this is now the second part of my book. The world is no longer the same. Traveling in the 1980s was a completely different reality.
Today people travel with credit cards and modern conveniences. I began my adventure with only 200 dollars in my pocket. They are two different worlds, two different eras, two completely different ways of seeing life. I have two parts to my life: the life of yesterday and the life of today.
Image of the “death trains” that transported millions of Jews to Nazi extermination camps. Dror Kfir’s father was among the survivors of the Holocaust.
ASIIP: During those experiences, did your life ever face real danger?
DK: Absolutely. That adventure was extremely dangerous. I believe the way I left my homeland with only 200 dollars was highly unusual.
At that time, 200 dollars was worth more than it is today, but it was still very little money.
I first traveled to Greece, which is close to Israel, carrying only a one-way ticket. There, I worked wherever I could, including agricultural labor on a farm. At my age, it was incredible because I wanted to explore everything. To me, it was fascinating.
But generally speaking, when someone leaves their homeland for an adventure like mine with so little money, danger becomes unavoidable. In my book, there are episodes that move between life and death, moments of survival while traveling through many different countries.
Part of the book is about the struggle to discover the world, and through that struggle comes enormous experience. You learn languages, cultures, how to interact with people, where you can go and where you should never enter. Some countries have extremely dangerous places, cities with areas where survival itself becomes a challenge. Yet the entire adventure becomes a profound education.
Far right: Dror Kfir in Italy, during one of the episodes recounted in his book. Archive photo.
ASIIP: Did you ever think about returning permanently to your homeland?
DK: I always knew that eventually I would return, but I did not want to remain there permanently because I was searching for other opportunities. Economic life in Israel is not easy for ordinary people, just as it is in many parts of the world.
But no one can erase your roots. Your language, your culture, the people you love — all of that lives inside you. Whenever a person leaves a country, they carry their homeland within themselves forever. Nobody can take that away.
If someone says otherwise, I believe they are lying. My homeland is part of who I am. I am part of that nation. The years I spent living this adventure were difficult because of the economic hardships I faced, but I never surrendered my goal.
ASIIP: Out of all your experiences, what were your greatest lessons?
DK: That is a very good question. When you travel the world as I did, difficult situations appear constantly, and many doubts arise about whether to continue.
But I believe that when a person truly wants something, has faith, and remains focused without becoming distracted, eventually that dream becomes reality.
There is a God above who is always with us. If someone genuinely wants to accomplish something and stays faithful to that vision, in time it materializes.
Left: Dror Kfir in Riobamba, Ecuador, during another chapter of his journey, alongside Alonso Moreno Sáenz.
My experience became a lesson because I did things that seemed impossible. I relied on my inner strength to achieve them, and in the end, my dream came true and I survived.
After all the harsh experiences, I succeeded because of my faith and determination.
ASIIP: Your name translates to “freedom.” What does freedom mean to you?
DK: In my experience, freedom can be understood in two stages: at the beginning of my adventure, during my time in the kibbutz and military service, and now in the present.
At that first stage, freedom meant escaping the communal system — no longer being controlled about when I arrived, when I left, or what I had to do. Freedom meant liberating myself from those strict rules that governed my life in the military and the kibbutz.
Today, after everything I have experienced, I believe freedom means love for others.
Freedom will exist only when evil leaves the human heart — envy, jealousy, lies, and all the darkness we carry inside us. Only then can love for others truly emerge, and I believe that moment must come soon.
As long as evil remains inside us, true freedom cannot exist.
A person may work hard and attempt to achieve some kind of freedom, but real freedom only exists when there is love for others. Until the darkness leaves the human heart, no one can truly be free.
Dror Kfir during the interview. Image captured from video footage.
ASIIP: What inspired you to write a book?
DK: I always wanted to give people a message. The book tells a beautiful adventure.
When someone leaves their country with nothing, forced to learn new languages and adapt to foreign cultures, they learn a tremendous amount about people and about survival itself.
I believe the story contains many fascinating elements, which is why I always wanted to bring these experiences to light. I hope readers will learn something meaningful from my book, because it carries a powerful message.
