Kibbutz: what are they, characteristics and history of these communities

The communities known as kibbutz They have been a part of Israel's history for more than a century.

Let's dive into the history of these collective organizations to find out when they arose, why reason and what are the peculiarities that make them a practically unique phenomenon today in the society.

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What are kibbutz and what was its origin

The kibbutz are communal agricultural organizations located in Israel. They arose in 1909, being Degania the first kibbutz located in the current territory of this country, which at that time belonged to the Syria of the Ottoman Empire. Actually, following the criteria that characterize a kibbutz, Degania would better fit the description of a kvutza, a similar community but of smaller dimensions.

This first community was created at the hands of twelve Jews of Russian origin, who fled the revolution that was beginning in that country. This is how these ten men and two women founded Degania, the first of many kibbutz. The idea behind this type of organization was that of socialist Zionism developed by the Ukrainian thinker Dov Ber Borojov.

In addition to Borojov's ideas, the great promoter of labor Zionism that eventually crystallized in the kibbutz was Aaron David Gordon. This ideologue drew his current of thought mainly from Leo Tolstoy. The main idea is that the freedom of a people is subject to its ability to support itself. This guideline implies the control of agriculture.

Thus, the basis of every kibbutz is the work of the land belonging to the communal farm, something that the Jews could not do in Europe, since in most countries agricultural activities were prohibited. A.D. Gordon concluded that the creation of a Jewish state of its own required control of the land. This is how the kibbutz were the beginning of the creation of the state of Israel.

There was also the situation that the majority of Jews were engaged in service sector activities, some worked in industry and very few had jobs related to primary activities such as farming. Borojov knew that this trend would have to be reversed in order to gain control of the land and make the socialist revolution triumph. Hence, agriculture aroused so much interest in these authors.

Main characteristics of the kibbutz and their communities

After taking a short historical tour of the origin of the kibbutz, we will now focus on know a little better the main postulates that were established to generate these farms collective.

1. Community

The first characteristic that a kibbutz should have is the concept of collectivity. Everything that remains within this community belongs to all members of it. Both their own lands and material possessions up to their own work and the fruits obtained through it.

At first, it was tried to be blunt with this precept, but some conflicts caused the rule to be slightly relaxed to allow the members of the commune could individually own some objects and also have a part of the salary for private use, regardless of the needs of the kibbutz.

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2. Importance of land work

In the previous section we had already seen the absolute importance that the founders of the kibbutz attributed to the work of the land itself. It was so strict with this precept that even some members of some communities were expelled because they were not willing to carry out agricultural work. Over time, a certain laxity with respect to the norm has also been favored.

In fact, the kibbutz that have survived to this day have been mostly those that when the time came to focused on industrial development and thus achieved economic success that would ensure the viability of the farm.

3. Work force

Another of the central ideas of the operation of the kibbutz is that the workforce should come from the members of the community themselves. Namely, the members own the means of production and at the same time represent their workers. When the state of Israel was founded, there were certain conflicts that had to do with following this norm.

This problem was generated by the idea that the workers had to be only the members of the communal farm, with no possibility for anyone from outside to access. The Israeli government saw this as an added difficulty for the nation's new citizens to be able to find a job that would allow them to prosper, since access was limited to members of the kibbutz.

As with the previous regulations, over time it has been modified and today it is allowed and in fact it is common for outside workers to perform tasks within the kibbutz in exchange for a salary.

4. Equal pay

Following the rules established for the activities carried out in the kibbutz, it was concluded that it was necessary to establish a policy of equal pay for all members, whatever the work they were doing and the difficulty inherent in it.

This does not mean that the salary is exactly the same for everyone, but that each member of the kibbutz receives financial compensation according to their needs, especially in the case of having children to position. Logically, this policy applies to workers belonging to the kibbutz but not to those who come from abroad.

5. Rotation of activities

Not only must the salary be equal, but the different tasks of the commune must be carried out by all residents, on a rotating basis. Therefore, a job will not be assigned permanently to each individual, but everyone will change activities gradually, so that all members of the kibbutz are responsible for all jobs and there are no jobs fixed.

An advantage of this system is that all people will acquire the knowledge and skills required for any job, so they will be easily replaceable in the event of indisposition or any other eventuality.

6. Internal democracy

The list of kibbutz rules continues with an important point: there must be internal democracy in the community. This implies that any decision affecting the kibbutz, whether lightly or deeply, It must be decided by consensus among all those members of the group who wish to participate in the assembly called for this purpose..

Therefore, it will not be mandatory to participate in all decision-making but it will be a right to be able to do so as long as the kibbutz member so decides.

7. Secularization

The last of the rules that were raised for the proper functioning of these communities is that the kibbutz should be governed by cultural Judaism but without having religion as a central axis, which entails a process of secularization. This means that the Jewish traditions and festivals in these communal farms were more focused on community life and agricultural activities than on religion itself.

Raising on the kibbutz

The birth of the first children on the kibbutz brought with it a new situation that raised questions. On the one hand, there was the issue of equality of activities, so it was a question that women did not move to a plane in which their activity The main thing was the upbringing of the children and on the contrary they could continue to carry out all the tasks of the farm, like the rest of the members.

For it parenting became an event shared by the entire kibbutz. In this way, the generation of an identity of their own in the child was also promoted, beyond the impositions of her parents. In fact, it was decided to create communal houses within the kibbutz where the children lived together, had leisure time and received their education. They even slept there.

In charge of the children were people with training in nursing and also in education. The dependence on parental care was thus eliminated and children became a shared responsibility of all the community, even in the economic aspect, since its maintenance was managed through the shared expenses of the kibbutz.

Studies showed that even using this methodology, the attachment that children felt towards their mothers could not be replaced by that of a caregiver. They also discovered innate selfish behaviors, such as wanting to appropriate toys rather than share them, leading them to conclude that certain behaviors had innate origins.

Today the rules regarding upbringing have also been modified and therefore it is common for children to spend much more time with their parents compared to the dynamics that took place in the kibbutz a few decades ago.

Bibliographic references:

• Ardila, R. (1965). The kibbutz of Israel: Analysis of a cooperative society. Colombian Journal of Psychology.
• Rábíń, A.Í. (2013). Growing up in the kibbutz. Springer Science + Business Media, LLC.
• Spiro, M.E. (2017). Gender and culture: Kibbutz women revisited. Routledge. Taylor & Francis Group.
• Tiger, L., Shepher, J. (1975). Women in the kibbutz. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.