The kibbutz or communal settlement is identified with rural life. Each unit consists of a group of people dedicated to mutual aid and social equality or progress. Property is jointly held. There is mutual cooperation in production, consumption, and the education of the young people. The number of people living in kibbutzim totals approximately 130,000, about 2.5 percent of Israel's population. A focus of this article will be to explain the concept of a kibbutz and its strong potential for application outside of Israel.
Today's kibbutz represents the cooperative efforts of three generations. The founders were motivated by strong values. They created a society with a unique community. Their children were born into the kibbutz framework. They worked hard to consolidate its economic, social, and organizational strengths. The present generation is applying its knowledge to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
The kibbutz is both a lifestyle and an integral part of Israeli society. Before the State of Israel was created, the kibbutz assumed central functions in areas like settlement, immigration, and agriculture. When these functions were incorporated into the government, the interaction between the kibbutz and society decreased.
Children in the kibbutz grow up appreciating the high importance of work. Everyone must participate for the community to move forward. From the primary grades, the schools teach cooperation in daily life. Youngsters are assigned duties and make decisions with regard to their peers. Young children perform routine chores. Older children assume more responsible jobs in the kibbutz. By high school , youngsters devote a day each week to working in a sector of the kibbutz economy.
Kibbutz Beit Hashita is one of Israel's largest kibbutzim, with outreach into industry and agriculture. Kibbutz Beror Hayil has extensive field crops and vegetables, citrus groves, animal husbandry, and a Deco vegetable dehydration plant. Kibbutz Dafna is a lovely green paradise in Upper Galilee adjacent to the Dan River. The fields have apple, avocado, and grapefruit orchards.
In the early 1940s, Shmuel Mestechkin became the chief architect with the planning and development department of the Kibbutz HaArtzi movement. Mestechkin introduced small private areas for kibbutz residents. He made improvements, such as multi-wing dining rooms, open courtyards, and a movable roof to consolidate different areas of the building for public events. Mestechkin understood that the dining room was an extension of the household.
Article comments
1 - barbara barnett
Interestingly, in Israel, successive generations have left kibbutz life. Many of them struggle to stay alive today. My great-grandparents were founding members of Kibbutz Afikim, which at one time was one of Israel's most productive and largest Kibbutzim. It was an idealistic dream of the socialist-democratic founders of the Stat, many of whom saw kibbutz life as the perfect realization of Karl Marx's ideals. Not too sure it would fly here, even in small communities.
2 - Dr. Joseph S. Maresca
Over the past 40 years, the kibbutzim communities have hovered from 229- 270 with the population at about 100- 125T residents. The idea of a kibbutz community could be helpful in the United States if it reduced unemployment by 1-2% points over time. In addition, the flow of government contract money to small communities would be a strong incentive for continuity. When the Truman Adminstration introduced the Victory Gardens, small communities responded and thousands of gardens came about throughout the United States. In addition, the actual price of some foodstuffs dropped in response to the increase of supply.