Subscribe to Print Edition | Mon., March 02, 2009 Adar 6, 5769 | | Israel Time: 15:33 (EST+7)   Back to Homepage web haaretz.com Haaretz Toolbar Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Joy of Giving Travel Week's End Anglo File

Last update - 00:00 24/03/2008 The kibbutz movement - round two By Arik Mirovsky Tags: israel, kibbutzim If you've always dreamed of being a member of a kibbutz, now you can at least make a part of your dream come true. For not too much money, you can live in a house on a kibbutz - well, adjacent to one. You will be considered a resident of the kibbutz and your children can enroll in the kibbutz schools, but you will not be an official member of the kibbutz. For the new kibbutz residents, this might be the realization of a fantasy, but for the kibbutz movement it's a necessary step toward making the collective institution fit for the 21st century. The socialist stepsisters of the kibbutzim, the moshavim, first discovered the opportunity for expanding their cooperative communities by rezoning land for the construction of private homes. It took the kibbutzim longer to acknowledge the possibilities and then to discuss the ideological consequences of such a move. As a result, most of the moshavim expansion plans have been completed, but this is the case for only three kibbutzim: Gesher Haziv, north of Nahariya; Hasolelim, near Hamovil Junction; and Eilon, near Shlomi. Advertisement About 150 of the country's 270 kibbutzim currently have some kind of expansion plan. About 50 are in the occupancy stages, and it is clear that there are no problems on the supply side. Anyone looking for a new kibbutz home can choose from a wide range of lots, houses and prices, the last of which is largely dependent on the location of the kibbutz. Building lots on confrontation-line kibbutzim on the northern border cost next to nothing as a result of an Israel Lands Administration decision, but buyers must shoulder the development costs - which can be considerable. In addition, buyers must take into consideration the fact that they will be on their own when it comes to construction. A quick survey shows that houses in outlying or border areas can be had for between NIS 650,000 and NIS 800,000, while those closer to the center of the country go for between NIS 1.2 million and NIS 1.4 million. Very little expansion is going on at more centrally-located kibbutzim, but if you do want to live on a kibbutz and have people think you are a millionaire, then you can get a 200-square-meter duplex (half of a two-family house) designed by superstar architect Ilan Pivko on a 320-square-meter lot at Kibbutz Ga'ash's Tzukei Arsuf (Arsuf Cliffs) project for NIS 3.85 million. The land for this project does not belong to the kibbutz; it is a private venture. As we have said, it is on the more remote kibbutzim where the expansion is in full swing. "These communities were part of the financial arrangement for the kibbutzim that was aimed at solving their economic problems," explains Rafi Eshet, head of the Kibbutz Movement's Economics Department. The original ILA agreement with the kibbutz movement promised financial security for the kibbutzim in exchange for expansion of the communities for non-member housing. It was scrubbed several years ago after what came to be known as "the Sephardi Democratic Rainbow High Court case," named for the advocacy group that challenged the agreement. As a result, kibbutzim that were latecomers to the expansion bandwagon are no longer eligible for financial compensation for the land being marketed for private housing. Now demographics are providing the incentive for the collective communities to open their doors to new residents, even if they cannot become new members. Beginning in the 1970s, kibbutzim began suffering from a universal rural problem, urban flight, especially of young people, in addition to the natural aging of the population. In the 1990s, many kibbutzim were on the brink of essentially becoming retirement communities. The question became, how to break down the fortress walls built up over decades around the kibbutzim and arrange for the "import" of new people, most of whom did not share the collective ideology of the community. A solution was found. "The traditional kibbutz served two primary functions: that of an agricultural collective, and that of a municipal entity; and all of the original members belonged to both," Eshet explains. "When the expansion began, these two entities were separated. The new members have municipal rights, enjoying the cultural, educational and other services of the regional council, but they have no connection to the other common assets of the kibbutz, which are operated by the agricultural collective." In practice, things are not always so clear cut. "When it comes to expansion at a moshav, it's simple," explains Ya'akov Sela of Kibbutz Kfar Menahem, seven kilometers east of Kiryat Malachi. "You buy a lot, you build your house and that's it. On a kibbutz, there's a particular way of life, and people are forced to be integrated into that different way of life. There was a lot of fear and it took us two years to make decisions." Sela is the chairman of the community association for the expanded kibbutz, which has a total of 147 building lots. About 20 private homes have already been built and 30 more are in the construction process. Kfar Menahem and the Yoav Regional Council in many ways exemplify the kibbutz expansion process, which makes them interesting as a case study. "The kibbutz members understand the process, but they haven't internalized it," Sela admits. "Suddenly unfamiliar people are coming here as members with equal rights who use the club and the lawns; suddenly the kibbutz store is crowded; the children in the new families are becoming more dominant, numerically, in the education system. The same is true for the library. It's as if a young bride were to move in with her own family into her new husband's home, with all their habits and routines, and her in-laws feel as if their home has been taken over." Eshet agrees. "Where there are people, there's friction," he says. "The old-style kibbutzim weren't a paradise either. The newcomers have different perspectives and sometimes their interests conflict with those of the original members. The problems are solved through the common institutions created specifically for this purpose." In an effort to minimize the growing pains from the start, committees were created to help ease the newcomers into their new lifestyle, although the committees' ability to prevent friction is limited. One problem are the newcomers' demands, especially when it comes to quality-of-life issues. Dalit and Shai Gadish are in their forties and have two children, aged 12 and 14. They were members of a kibbutz in the south of the country before joining Kfar Menahem's expansion program. "We didn't want to become members," Dalit says about their new locale. "The kibbutz lifestyle, where the community is highly involved and has a great influence on the individual, wasn't for us. On the other hand, we wanted to remain in a rural atmosphere, with good education, and our economic wherewithal suited the Kfar Menahem expansion program." They moved in over a year ago, in January 2007. Dalit says that they have had a mixed response from kibbutz members, but declines to give details. ("We live together and I don't want to hurt anyone.") "We really are new here and people don't really know us, which wasn't the case on the kibbutz in the past, where all the members knew each other," Dalit adds. "At Kfar Menahem, we have an organized procedure for integrating the two population groups," says kibbutz secretary Ziv Matzliah. "We wouldn't want to reach a situation where kibbutz life is characterized by the little frictions between them." "Anyone who thinks that there's a kibbutz and an expansion next to it isn't seeing things clearly," adds Matzliah, who is a partner in a construction company involved in kibbutz expansion. "Kfar Menahem was founded 68 years ago and today we are rebuilding it on the basis of the original kibbutz. We are building a new locality and a new community, and everyone needs to understand that. Among the new residents, some understand it more and some less, but it's important to understand that they didn't come to a kibbutz. Something new will grow here, and that's what they're coming to. They didn't come here to rent. They came here to be partners in something new." If that's the case, then the kibbutzim and the regional councils they are part of must realize that the old ways of doing things are finished. One of the first things that the original population of the kibbutzim and the moshavim learned from the expansion process is that not everyone loves the aroma of the cattle sheds, for example, and that not everyone wants to hear the roosters crowing at 4 A.M. The kibbutzim make an effort to keep some distance between the new housing and the old sounds and smells. The newcomers have forced the regional councils to greatly improve the municipal services they provide. "The kibbutz members' traditional tolerance toward a tree branch on the ground in front of their home doesn't wash with the new residents, who demand its immediate removal," relates Vered Benari, the head of strategic planning in the Yoav Regional Council. "The residents of the expansion [of Kibbutz Kfar Menahem] have a more urban approach to municipal management, which has led to disagreements more than once over issues such as the installation of sidewalks and streetlights, as well as gardening and school transportation, where they think more should be done." "I want to praise the council members, who are trying very hard to go in that direction," Dalit Gadish says. The expansion process is still in its infancy, but most of the council members support the changes and are optimistic about the future. Eshet is a little more reserved. "It's still hard to tell what the end result of the process will be because it's far from complete," he says. "A lot depends on the initial goals of the kibbutzim. Did they want to absorb new members or to fill the expansion neighborhoods? Personally, I believe that bringing new members into the kibbutz was a better solution, but the expansions are successful, too. The kibbutzim had a problem of a very old member population. The new population brought in a whole complex of new life, and without it the kibbutzim were liable to fall apart and turn into big retirement homes." Bookmark to del.icio.us   Spying for Hezbollah Israeli Arab is suspected of planning to spy on Israel for the terror group. Iran and the bomb There are conflicting reports on whether Tehran has enough material for nukes.   1.   Can Israeli Arabs participate too? 05:14  |  John 25/03/08   2.   They`d Have To First Stop Shooting Jewish Students 08:39  |  Tex 25/03/08   3.   to John number 1 13:47  |  Marlow 25/03/08   4.   Yes Israeli Arabs can adn do participate 17:59  |  Ian 03/09/08   5.   A Jew with a shovel...........how romantic ! 15:00  |  moshe rabeynu 02/03/09

Read & React U.S. officials' about-face on Iran nukes could sway Obama policy Responses: 32 Olmert orders Barak to act swiftly against rocket attacks Responses: 22 Iran urges Interpol to arrest 15 Israelis over Gaza 'war crimes' Responses: 20 Israeli Arab charged with spying for Hezbollah Responses: 19 Editorial: Israel must stop threatening Hamas Responses: 23 More Headlines 15:28 Clinton: Mideast peace can't afford more delays 11:42 Gaza donor conference: Who is pledging what 12:52 Peace Now: Israel planning 73,300 new homes in West Bank 15:15 Barak: As it seems now, Labor won't join Likud government 14:22 UN watchdog: Obama outreach to Iran could help stymie nukes crisis 13:39 Mazuz: Olmert abused status to acquire personal favors 15:27 Lindsay Lohan said converting to Judaism for DJ girlfriend 13:38 Olmert orders Barak to act swiftly against Gaza rocket attacks 14:55 Record 19,800 requests for unemployment benefits filed in February 11:05 Yemeni court fines man $250,000 for fatal shooting of local Jew 12:25 EU agency: Most European states fail to track anti-Semitism 08:05 IDF unlikely to shorten army service due to drop in eligible conscripts 12:27 Top Sephardi rabbi rules women may chant Scroll of Esther for men 13:18 Truck driver charged with allegedly running over cop while drunk Previous Editions Select Day 01 mar 27 feb 26 feb 25 feb 24 feb 23 feb 22 feb 20 feb 19 feb 18 feb 17 feb 16 feb

Special Offers Advertisement Spring Specials-Dan Hotels Jerusalem from 179$. Tel-Aviv from 223$. Herzliya from 336$ Dead Sea Skin Care Quality cosmetics from the Dead Sea. Coupon code HAARETZ for 12% off! Summer in Israel Israeli style - Tzofim Chetz V'Keshet 2009 Passover Vacations The BEST Passover Vacations around ? Mexico, Arizona and Florida Camp Kimama Israel 2009 The best place for your children this summer Eldan Rent a Car Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations Jewish Singles Personal Ads Find the love of your life on JDate.com Junkyard Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt

Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | | Israel 2009 election results

Site rules | Makom: Engaging on Israel | Search engine marketing

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved