Kibbutz

A kibbutz (Hebrew: קִבּוּץ / קיבוץ, lit. 'gathering, clustering'; pl.: kibbutzim קִבּוּצִים / קיבוצים, in English also kibbutzes) is a type of intentional community in Israel. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania. Although kibbutzim were traditionally based on agriculture, today farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism. In recent decades, some kibbutzim have been privatized and changes have been made in the communal lifestyle. A member of a kibbutz is called a kibbutznik (Hebrew: קִבּוּצְנִיק / קיבוצניק; plural kibbutznikim or kibbutzniks), the suffix -nik being of Slavic origin. In 2010, there were 270 kibbutzim in Israel with a total population of 126,000. Their factories and farms account for 9% of Israel's industrial output, worth US$8 billion, and 40% of its agricultural output, worth over US$1.7 billion. Some kibbutzim have also developed substantial high-tech and military industries. For example, in 2010, Kibbutz Sasa, containing some 200 members, generated US$850 million in annual revenue from its military-plastics industry. Currently, the kibbutzim are organised in the secular Kibbutz Movement, with some 230 kibbutzim, the Religious Kibbutz Movement with 16 kibbutzim, and the much smaller religious Poalei Agudat Yisrael, with two kibbutzim, all part of the wider communal settlement movement.