Apr 4, 2010
Sigh, it’s that time of year again: tax time. (Actually, because I claim self-employment income as a freelance writer, I get a couple months breathing room here in Canada.) Apparently, that could mean some unexpectedly high tax bills for the 75% of kibbutzim that have voted to become mitkhadesh (aka, “innovating” or “privatized”) rather than stay fully communal, according to a news article in today’s Ha’aretz—upwards of 200 to 250 million shekels all together. (I just did the conversion: that’s roughly 54 to 68 million U.S.) Here are details:
Starting in 2009, the kibbutzim were required to attach a statement detailing their financial management to their annual reports. Any kibbutz reporting its management met the description of a privatized kibbutz would then be taxed as such, and not as a collective. Taxes for a collective are calculated after dividing the income among all the members. Kibbutzim that did not pay taxes when operating collectively may be required to pay a pretty sum once privatized, a financial official from the kibbutz movement said.
It reminds me of stories I heard from kibbutzniks related to the debate about privatization. Before the big vote, many members get enticed by the estimates and prospects of more money in their pockets. After privatization goes through, they are less thrilled when that same money quickly disappears to pay for the various services (e.g., meals at the dining hall, electricity, upkeep, laundry, etc.) that were once provided for gratis by the kibbutz but that members—like the rest of us—now have to pay for out of their own budgets.
I wonder how many privatized kibbutzim will have second thoughts about the shinui (aka, The Change) when they get their tax bills this year. Maybe I could offer some tips on creative tax write-offs! 🙂
Apr 3, 2010
A reader and fellow blogger passed along links to two more stories about the centenary celebrations at Degania A that use the occasion to look back at how the kibbutz movement has changed. The Irish Times ran a report that ended with an interview with Israeli journalist Daniel Gavron, whose investigative travelogue The Kibbutz: Awakening from Utopia, while a decade old now, is a must-read for anyone interested in the contemporary history of the kibbutz movement:
“[T]he traditional kibbutz as we know it is coming to an end. Only about 70 of the 268 communities can still be accurately defined as a kibbutz, based on the principle of ‘from each according to his ability, to each according to his need’,” Mr Gavron said. “Until the early 1980s, if you said ‘Israel’, the first word popping into people’s heads would have been ‘kibbutz’. Today , it is more likely to be ‘army’, ‘terror’ or ‘conflict’.”
A blog post by Israeli video journalist Yermi Brenner in The Huffington Post also reflects on the changes to the kibbutz system—this time from the perspective of a third-generation kibbutznik. He includes an interesting five-minute video report about the changes on Kibbutz Hatzor (his home, now privatized) and Kibbutz Be’eri (financially successful and still communal) that is well worth watching:
Thanks for the tips to Russell Cohen (aka, “Maskil”), whose excellent blog about “a secure, just Israel and a welcoming, pluralistic Judaism” is now on my radar, too.
Apr 1, 2010
The Israeli newspaper Ha’Aretz ran an unsigned editorial to mark a hundred years since the founding of the original kibbutz. I’m not sure if it’s damning or not, but it does feel like faint praise. Still, the editorial does acknowledge the important role the kibbutz movement played in establishing the State of Israel. “One hundred years after its birth, this may not be the kibbutz’s finest hour,” the editorialists conclude, “but without the kibbutz, Israel would look very different today.” The handful of comments posted about the story suggest the range of emotions that this experiment in socialism can still provoke today.
The newspaper also ran a report on Shimon Peres’s visit to Kibbutz Degania, including a long quote about his nostalgia for kibbutz life:
“When I ask myself ‘Why do I miss it?’ I remember why I should me miss it,” Peres said to the assembled group of kibbutz veterans. “I miss savoring the experience of a day’s work that I learned in Kibbutz Geva. I miss Alumot, from whence we beheld the astonishing beauty of Emek Hayarden. I miss the simplicity of the long walks, the wrinkled khaki clothing. I miss the flowerbeds of Kibbutz Ashdot, the bushels of bananas on Kibbutz Degania, the plywood of Kibbutz Afikim. I miss the dates of Kibbutz Kinneret. I miss the green fields of crops and orchards.”
“I miss the dairy barn, the animal pens, and the chicken coops – from which various smells emanated,” Peres continued. “I miss the wonderful hikes just before dawn and the grazing excursions to Wadi Fijas, where I fixed my eyes to the stars that were born with the new dawn. To this day a vibration courses through my body whenever I hear the name ‘Degania’ – whether it’s Alef or Bet. The order does not matter.”
“I ask myself why I miss it, just so I can figure out to whom I belong,” the president said.
Apr 1, 2010
In the oddest piece of kibbutz life meets celebrity gossip, Jesse James—the serial-philandering husband of actress Sandra Bullock—found himself in even deeper trouble when photos of him Sieg-Heiling in a Nazi uniform emerged. Apparently, he claims the paraphernalia was given to him by his Jewish godfather, and that he couldn’t be an anti-Semite. Why? Because he once lived on a kibbutz for a month. Weird.
Clearly a month in the fields didn’t cure James of being an idiot. And nowhere was it mentioned which kibbutz was “lucky” enough to have played host to the soon to be ex- Mr. Sandra Bullock.
Apr 1, 2010
Shimon Peres, president of Israel and longest serving Member of Parliament (48 years), visited Kibbutz Degania Alef, to help the original kibbutz kick off a year of centennial celebrations.
“In my heart I know: The State of Israel wouldn’t be what it is today without the working settlement enterprise,” he told journalists, “the contribution of balance and the boldness that the movement provided our security status and social stability.”
Peres once lived on Kibbutz Geva and was a founder of Kibbutz Alumot. There was a good report in the Jerusalem Post about his visit and the centennial anniversary of Degania.
Mar 28, 2010
The idea of the kibbutz continues to inspire, often in surprising places. On this website, an author makes his case for a system of kibbutzim in Ireland, as part of a country-wide contest called Your Country Your Call to brainstorm new ideas for social enterprises. Beyond its back-to-the-land philosophy, I’m not sure how much his idea aligns with the actual kibbutz; his Irish farms would be designed to attract Irish-Americans for temporary stays and have vaguely religious overtones.
Still, I found it interesting that the author would look to the kibbutz as a successful model. Plus, I liked the notion that each “Irish kibbutz” might be built and marketed around a theme, including Irish literature and creative writing. I’d love to live and work in a kibbutz-style community and be nourished by the works of Yeats, Joyce and Guinness.
