Page 14 - Issue 8

Kvutzat Degania was established in 1910 by the members of the “Hadera commune” and became known as
the “mother of the Kvutsot and Kibbutzim.” The first big Kvutza – or in other words, Kibbutz – was
Kibbutz Ein Harod, founded in 1921. At the peak of the Kibbutz movement, there were about 270
Kibbutzim in Israel

The words Kvutza and Kibbutz have the same root: ב.צ ק . The verb ץבקל (lekabetz) means to gather or
collect. A Kovetz ץבוק( ) is a collection. A Kovetz is also a computer file, a place where you gather all the
information together.

Kibbutz Galuyot תויולג ץוביק( ) means “ingathering of the exiles.” The concept of Kibbutz Galuyot comes
from the Book of Dvarim, where Moses speaks God’s words to the people of Israel just before they
enter the Promised Land. Moses prophecies that because the people of Israel will stop following God’s
laws, they’ll be kicked out of the Land of Israel and dispersed to faraway lands. But if they return to
following in God’s ways, they will be gathered in from amongst the nations (םיִמַּעָה - לָכִּמ ָךְצֶבִּקְו) back to the
promised land. -ה( א , ל םירבד )

Kibbutz Galuyot is also the name of the street in Tel Aviv where the Merkaz Hanoar Haoved (the
headquarters of Hanoar Haoved) is located in Tel Aviv.

Camp Kvutza was the first summer camp of Habonim in the United States. It was formed with the
intention of emulating the Kvutzot being established in Eretz Yisrael and teaching their ideals. In
Habonim Dror movements around the world today, a Kvutza is an age-group or a group of Chanichim. In
modern Israeli Hebrew, a Kvutza is also a group or a sports team.

There are four urban Kvutsot of Habonim Dror in Israel today: Yovel, Ogen, Aseef, and a fourth Kvutza
in Ramat Gan which hasn’t chosen a name yet.

While Habonim Dror uses the word “Kvutza” to refer to its urban communes in Israel, Hanoar Haoved
uses other terms: Garin ןיערג (lit. “seed”) or Komuna הנומוק (commune). A group of Komunot of Hanoar

Haoved from the same Shichva is called an Eshkol לוכשא (cluster). Another term is Kvutzat Kvutzot
( תוצובק תצובק ) a group of Kvutzot that together constitute a larger Kvutza.

Kvutzat Yovel belongs to a Kibbutz Ironi ינוריע ץוביק( ), an urban Kibbutz made up of many smaller Kvutzot
in Migdal Ha’emek and Natseret Ilit. Similarly, a number of Garinim of Hanoar Haoved make up a Kibbutz
Ironi in Akko. In both of these, the main occupation of the members is educational work.
Nadav Barzelai