Kibbutz
A kibbutz קיבוץ (Hebrew, pl. kibbutzim) is a communal living arrangement that is organized through a form of town hall-style democracy and technocratic centralized control or bureaucratic management similar to that of contemporary large corporations. The kibbutz is a phenomenon unique to Israel and is strongly linked to Zionist and socialist ideologies.
Kibbutz members are not paid salaries, but their kibbutz is expected to provide for their material needs. Collective child care is common. Some kibbutzim also have military functions.
The word kibbutz is orginated from the classical Hebrew word kvutza, meaning "group". Kibbutzim is the Hebrew plural.
The kibbutz is a phenomenon particular to the state of Israel. The first kibbutzim settlements were founded by idealistic Jews motivated by Zionism and socialism to establish communal agricultural settlements in Ottoman Palestine. They were primarily funded by donations from American Jews.
The first kibbutzim were founded in 1909 around the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. The first kibbutz, Yam Kinneret, trained new settlers in agriculture and in the construction of new settlements. Among the famous people who were trained in Kinneret was the Israeli poet Rachel (רחל).
In the following years, more and more kibbutzim were established, mainly in the Galilee and nearby Gush Dan.
In the 1940s, new kibbutzim were established in the northern part of the Negev desert and, after the founding of the state of Israel, in Arava, the south-eastern part of the Negev, on the area of land taken over from Arabs after the establishment of the new state.
There is some skepticism about the ability of kibbutzim to continue in the future. Children growing up in these tightly knit communities tend to see the other children around them as ersatz siblings and prefer to seek mates outside the community when they reach maturity. As a result, they often abandon kibbutz life as adults. Despite these fears most people believe that the kibbutz movement will survive this crisis.
Etymology
History
Fears for the future of the kibbutz movement
List of famous kibbutzim
See also: Kolhoz