Changing shape of kibbutzim

CAROLYNNE BURKHOLDER

For 100 years, the kibbutz – a unique Israeli communal community – has been based on three principles: equality, co-operation and brotherhood. But with the individual, consumerist philosophy that dominates modern culture, this way of life has changed. Currently, kibbutzim are abandoning their Israeli socialist-meets-Zionist roots in favor of more progressive and private enterprise.

Izhak Gal, 61, is one of more than 100,000 Israelis who live on a kibbutz. He lives in Afikim, a small kibbutz in northern Israel. He works in education and sits on a committee that oversees developments around the Sea of Galilee.

Life on a kibbutz is all Gal has ever known. His mother came to Israel shortly after the founding of the first kibbutzim in 1929; his father in 1933. After a brief stint at university, Gal met his wife, a teacher, on the kibbutz and had two sons. One son now works in advertising, the other attends university. Neither is likely to become a kibbutznik; this is a common situation with the younger generation.

When asked why he chose to live on a kibbutz, Gal shrugged his shoulders. "To me it is a good way of life. I don't like to deal with money," he said.

Despite the changes that have occurred in kibbutzim, and the loss of prestige in Israeli society, Gal continues to be very proud of the history of the kibbutz movement and its contribution to Israeli society.

"Very interesting people, some of them poets, some of them philosophers, started the kibbutz," Gal began. "They came with the ideas of revolution in Russia ... came with the ideals of socialism - equal life and co-operation."

The second aliyah (wave of immigration to Israel), which began in 1904, was the beginning of the kibbutz movement. Over the course of 10 years, 40,000 Russian Jews immigrated to what was then Palestine, fleeing from the outbreaks of anti-Semitism in their home country.

"The influence of the kibbutzim on the country was very great," said Gal. "Where the kibbutzim settled, that became the border."

The ideals of kibbutzim combine Russian-influenced socialism with Zionism. In the beginning of the kibbutzim, co-operation was "a solution to survive," said Gal. "You work as you can, you receive as you need. A hundred years ago, it worked," he said wistfully.

For the past 100 years, up until recently, kibbutzim were communal enterprises. All adults received a budget based on an eight-hour working day. If a person did not work their eight hours, they would not receive their budget for that month - theoretically.

Gal said in reality, this was not the case. "If a man doesn't want to work, he doesn't work," he said, obviously frustrated. But this was just one of many factors that lead to the abandonment of traditional kibbutz practices.

Until recently, the kibbutzniks would gather to eat three times a day – an integral part of their shared communal culture. They would sit on low, flat benches, symbolic of their togetherness. This has changed now – many kibbutzim do not even serve communal food and members eat in family units.

The unique child-rearing practices of kibbutzim have also changed. Until the 1970s, the process of child rearing in the kibbutz reflected the communal principles – even going so far as women breastfeeding children that were not their own. The children were raised together by nurses and teachers in Mossad Hinuchi (children's societies.) They lived, and even slept, apart from their nuclear families.

Affaf Grinbuald, 30, remembers these children's societies. Grinbuald was born in a kibbutz, where he lived until age 20, when he left with his family for economic reasons. He fondly remembers his childhood growing up in the communal environment of the kibbutz.

"It's the best place for kids," Grinbuald reminisced. "There's a freedom they don't have anywhere else."

The virtual elimination of motherhood as an occupation had a profound impact on kibbutz women. Even in the 1920s, when women weren't allowed to vote in much of North America , kibbutz women were performing the same duties as their male counterparts – even guard duty.

"Kibbutzim were the first feminists," said Gal proudly.

The principles of the kibbutz as described by Gal – "everybody equal, everybody work, everybody receive what they need" – are reminiscent of communism, but Gal denies the comparison. "Communism is by force. In the kibbutz, everything is free," he said.

Gal is emphatic that "20 to 30 years ago, the kibbutz was a success." Afikim developed wood products for all over the world. Despite some kibbutzniks not working as hard as others, Afikim continued to be financially feasible.

But in the last 20 years, political and social changes have made the kibbutz life less successful.

"Government used to support agriculture and now they are more capitalistic and don't support the periphery," said Gal. He is hesitant to admit that internal factors may have also played a role.

Many writings on the kibbutz movement also credit the loss of prestige in the Israeli community as a factor, along with government bail-outs due to inflation and changing personal values, including the introduction of TV and the Internet, which have forever changed kibbutzim.

In response, Afikim – like most other kibbutzim – went through a process of privatization 18 months ago and for the first time, the workers were given wages.

The changes have caused a big crisis within the kibbutz, said Gal. "There were people against these changes. The people who didn't work hard made a big noise against privatization."

Although he was calm and matter-of-fact throughout most of his talk, he briefly broke out of his relaxed demeanor to express frustration at people lacking the work ethic to make the kibbutz life feasible. "The problem is not the idea. The problem is the people," he said. "All my life I work and work and work and where is the money?"

Although the kibbutz population has increased slightly over the past few years, likely due to the privatization process, without the commitment of Israel's younger generation, the prospects are tenuous.

For those who have grown up in kibbutzim, the future is daunting.

Amit Berman, 27, has lived on the Shlohot Kibbutz in northern Israel all his life. He currently works as a fisherman. He said that he couldn't imagine leaving the kibbutz – leaving everything he's ever known.

At last count, around 115,500 Israelis were kibbutz members. The number of kibbutzniks peaked in 1990, but is now falling due to changes in Israeli culture.

Carolynne Burkholder is a postgraduate journalism student at the University of British Columbia. She travelled to Israel for the first time last year with National Campus Jewish Life.

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