In short: A community pub that lasts is built on three things: a volunteer team that connects around meaning, management that keeps a financial balance, and a space that brings generations together. That is how the pub in Mazkeret Batya has hosted about 150 people every Thursday night for almost three years, and through our nonprofit we accompanied 11 communities in the Western Negev that set up similar spaces.
We told people they could bring chairs from home. They showed up with beach chairs.
In that moment we understood that something different was happening here. This was not one more community event that people attend out of politeness; people simply wanted to be there, and they brought their own chair because they did not want to miss being together.
I joined the community pub project in Mazkeret Batya as part of a thinking team, and very quickly found myself on the leading team. The truth is that opening a pub was an old dream of mine, and suddenly there was an opportunity to try doing it in a way that is a little closer to the community.
Today, almost three years later, the pub is open on Thursdays thanks to an amazing team of volunteers. On a regular evening about 150 people come, and at events we get to host a few hundred more. This process taught us an important lesson in social entrepreneurship.
How do you build a place people simply want to come back to?
Instead of asking “how do we retain customers”, we tried to understand what makes a neighbor want to come again and again.
One of the important questions we asked was: how do you get young people to come to a place where their parents are, and sometimes even their grandparents?
These are the insights we gathered along the way:
A team that connects around meaning
Managing volunteers is a deep lesson in humility. When there is no financial lever, the only engine left is personal commitment, good chemistry and a sense of value. We learned that the best way is simply to make room – to give each person a stage and the ability to make an impact in their own area. Building a “mission crew” like that is an amazing school for understanding what participatory leadership is.
Financial sustainability: a stable base for doing good
It was clear to us from the first moment that we had to keep a financial balance and a minimal profit. A community pub is not a for-profit business, but it must be run with business tools. Profit is not the goal but the means – it is the “oxygen” that lets us invest back in the place, upgrade the equipment and make sure the venture does not collapse but stays stable for the community for years.
Breaking down barriers and bringing generations together
The secret to attracting the younger generation was not “trying hard to be cool”, but creating a space where boundaries melt naturally. When soldiers, young parents and long-time residents sit together, an atmosphere free of formality is created. Young people come because they feel the place is theirs no less than it is the adults’. The affordable prices, the professionalism at the bar, the right music and the atmosphere help everyone feel at home, whatever year they were born.
The Western Negev: the pub as community glue
Communities that were evacuated from their homes after October 7 found themselves meeting in hotel lobbies, and it was there, of all places, that a lively and meaningful space emerged. The question that came up from the field was simple and painful: “Where will we meet when we go back home?”
As part of our work at the nonprofit New Land Now, we had the privilege of accompanying 11 communities in the Western Negev that set up these spaces for themselves.
Our role was to provide the support structure – from financial training to bartender training – but the spirit came from the people themselves. They did not wait for a big plan; they simply needed a place to meet.
Summary
Starting a community pub is much more than a beer at the end of the day. For me, it is an experience in building community and social resilience, and in creating a “glue” that connects people around doing something together. When the community feels the place is its own – every generation and every age – it looks after it. The combination of amazing volunteers, responsible management, a professional standard and community values is what turns a place into a home.
You are welcome to watch and read the coverage of the Western Negev initiative (in Hebrew) on Channel 13 and in Maariv.
