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Ulpan
Mishmar Haemek
What is Kibbutz?
A kibbutz is a collective community - unique for Zionism and the state of Israel - kibbutzim are based on socialist values, amongst them equality between all men and women and communal ownership of the means of production and consumption. The kibbutz is usually a small settlement with several hundreds of inhabitants, making a living from agriculture and industry.
Many of the country's leading figures – before and after the establishment of the state came from kibbutzim. Border settlements contributed largely to the state’s defense, and also at present, combat
units, air-force and commanding positions in the IDF - Israeli Defense Forces – show a high percentage of kibbutz youth among their recruits.
Today there are three main models of kibbutzim:

1. The collective kibbutz (kibbutz shitufi) which preserves the values of the collective life

2. The renewing kibbutz (kibbutz mithadesh) which keeps certain collective systems (for instance a guaranteed minimal income, partnership in the ownership of the production means, partnership in landownership, etc.).
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3. The urban kibbutz (kibbutz ironi) a community within an existing settlement (city) which runs its own democratic and collective system. This kibbutz model exists since the eighties of the 20th century in Jerusalem, Haifa, Beit Shemes and Sderot.
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Currently (2012) about 141,000 people live in 274 kibbutzim; only 70 of them remained collective kibbutzim.

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Kibbutz Mishmar Haemek
Kibbutz Mishmar Ha’emek was founded in 1922 by Polish members of the Hashomer Hatzair youth
movement and settled in 1929 on its current location.
Today about one thousand people live in the kibbutz, half of which are considered members, the other
half are their children. Most of the kibbutz members are born and raised in Mishmar Ha’emek, but some
of them also brought partners from other places in Israel and the world, some are former hired workers
who decided to become member and some are former new immigrants from various countries. The main
language in Mishmar Ha’emek is Hebrew, but one can also hear English, Spanish, Russian, Dutch,
French and more. The kibbutz economy is based mainly on Tama Plastic Industry, but also agriculture
still contributes to the kibbutz’s economic structure.
