The Intimate Kibbutz - Muki Tzur

After World War I, members of the various Jewish youth movements which had sprung up since 1912 came to Israel filled with the enthusiasm, idealism and energy of youth and "the movement". While deeply immersed in political, economic, and historic theory, they were aware that those theories would comprise but a part of their experiments in living. Prepared to solve cosmic problems - at least to try to redeem the world and mankind together - they planned to found a wholly new society. The microcosm of this society, the point at which they could begin, was the intimate kibbutz.

Based on the idea of absolute freedom, the new society these groups dreamt about would be one without laws or limitations. The individual's links to the group would not arise through superimposed laws or commonly-held values previously decided upon, but through spontaneous feelings among all members towards each other and through complete spiritual, emotional, and psychological understanding of those feelings.

Though the goals were fairly clear, how to achieve them was less than obvious. From the basic assumptions of honesty and confidence in each member and a general distrust of formally structured systems, a mode of daily living had to be worked out through trial and error. The experimentation extended to every sphere of the individual's and the group's life, and the results of these experiments were largely to set the patterns for kibbutz life in the future.

The first intimate kibbutzim were very informally structured due not to the natural cause of their miniscule population, but rather to the adamant demand for a non-structured general assembly without rules and without agendas as the only acceptable form of self-government.

The assembly could be convened at any time by any member to discuss any subject - personal problems, politics, culture, or work arrangements for the next day. "The table", i.e., the roundtable of dinner and debate, was omnipotent. Its powers lay in the concept of the kibbutz as a family. Twelve to fourteen young men and women sat around in the evening after work, before or after eating, and exchanged opinions and confessions. By the end of the evening they had discussed all that needed to be discussed and made every vital decision necessary to themselves and the world at large.

The family itself did not exist as a social unit in the beginning of the intimate kibbutz. Members were instead attempting to build new types of relationships with every   individual, whether of the same or opposite sex. There was a growing desire to communicate into the night, to clarify the depths of the vision of communal living. In the deepest spiritual communication, each expected to share the soul  of each other, joining together to create a solid joyous chain of brotherhood.

Thus much of early kibbutz life, though not connected to any formal religion, was sparked by a religious, spiritual tension with strong ritualistic elements. Public confessions were a common practice of many groups, sometimes taking the form of spontaneous discussions, sometimes as public diaries written by the members of the group in a community notebook left in the dining room. As in every other aspect of kibbutz life, honesty was a primary value.

The collective diaries usually reflect the myriad beliefs of a generation uprooted by war, seeking every exotic intellectual fashion. They express the young pioneers' ambiguity, the sense of being lost in the conflicts of anarchic dreams, intense religious feeling, messianic longing and desperate loneliness. One jounal reveals the scene: 

"It was after midnight. I awakened with fear by the ringing of the bell. I was certain that it signaled a fire. Half naked, I ran outside my tent and was met with silence outside and no sign of fire. I asked people who had left their tents what was the meaning of the bell. 

'Be quiet! Don't make noise!' they answered. The bell is calling for a talk! 'Midnight for a talk?' I asked myself.

I returned to my tent, dressed hastily and went to the meeting. The dining room was half-darkened. in the corner, a small lamp burned. Many people were sitting near each other on the floor. The voice of J. came from a corner, de profundis. His voice was full of the mystery of past generations. I trembled, sitting there on the floor in the corner. A few inchoate words were heard in the dark. The speaker bowed his head and spoke as if he were the oracle in the Holy Ark. He spoke:

I called the meeting... (long silence) because I... No, us, each individual... (long silence) the society - one family (silence)...

Everyone's head was  bowed.  I could see nothing but heads, bowed heads. I bent my head to my knees and listened. 

I heard no more of the talk. I fell asleep in my dark comer and only the guard awakened me. I am filled with regret for having fallen asleep. All say that the talk last night was so beautiful and deep." 

As a result of its grounding in the exploration and expression of emotion, the society had a need to unfold and probe more and more of the inner life of its members. In the early phase it placed inordinate stress on development of human sensitivities. Every member was attentive to his own emotions and those of his comrades. The confession was an integral part of the group's communion. It alleviated the loneliness of the members of the society and drew them together into a feeling of common destiny. A spiritual tension existed which was considered necessary for the preservation of the community.

Practical activity was considered as part of the intense spiritual activity. Work was valued for the feeling it created. This special rhythm of social life was carefully measured, however, and maintaining it was often a problem.

"Our life was based on the feeling of friendship, on the capacity of men to create relations of comradeship, and on the mutual adaptation of friends. This emotional atmosphere created tension between members. Efforts were made to continuously revitalize relationships, though not always successfully. The slightest misunderstanding created tension and influenced the life of the entire community. People often experienced moodiness and depression. Their lives were based on constant interaction and the need for friendship and duty. Thus every small controversy between individuals raised in the hearts of all doubts as to their own ability to continue to live this way. The society was responsible for deciding if individual members could adapt themselves to the life of the community. Everything was subjective because of the smallness of the group, and its equilibrium was easy to upset."

The membership of the intimate kibbutzim was  primarily acquired through a very careful process of selection. This element contributed to kibbutz tensions, as candidates were considered to be "on trial" for as long as a year, and during that time were uncertain as to their acceptability by the society. If an individual were chosen, on the other hand, he would take it for granted that his peers would honor his moods and emotions. Psychology was part of the ideology of the group.

"Immediate relations between members is the primary condition for the creation of a society. In order to know and to forgive each other, one must know his friend. This is a psychological obligation engraved in the soul of men. If the life of the society is to be beautiful, deep and pure in order to create a new social and cultural order, it is important that people understand each other. They must comprehend the workings of their daily life, their small deeds, and their private nature. In a society which lives its communal life to the fullest. daily existence cannot be overlooked, regardless of the desire to do so. One must know one's brother in order to have faith in him, to forgive and love him. This is our new road! It emanates from the depths of our hearts. Each man reveals to his friend his most intimate feelings and exposes his soul, though it be ugly and venomous. With revelation we win the heart of our comrade and his understanding.

"There was a moment in which two of our members began to unfold their deepest emotions to each other. They revealed the innermost fears and pain of their souls. They spoke of the agony felt in the terrible struggle for this way of life -  for self-creation, for the love of each friend, and especially for the love of and need for a woman. And this revelation, as by a miracle, removed the obstacles which prevented them from loving each other. All suspicions disappeared, hatred dissolved, jealousy was gone. From this moment they became committed to each other, and with this they possessed the power to redeem the whole group. For a long while other members of the group could not understand them. Their relations aroused suspicions. Some thought that they were proud and conceited. This reaction hurt the two friends who were pure. Their mutual love propelled them toward finding a means to embrace the rest of their brothers. They called for a meeting. Moved, with tears of happiness, they told their comrades what had happened to them. Everyone spoke of his difficult life, about his confusion, about his longing to find his true friend and the entire group."

This effort to base the society on feelings had an interesting development: slowly  and  gradually,  the expression  of  emotions  became regular phenomenon. The creation of an intimate community, however, does not insure that its future will parallel its past developments.  Despair, as the opposite extreme of exultation, occurs commonly in the intimate community after times of exalted elevation of feelings, and this cyclical experiencing of the emotions of awakening and despair by the group changes the attitude towards these phenomena. There is another problem in the clash between the world of feelings and the duties of daily life. Living daily life together demystifies relationships between people. The inner life is expressed not only in verbal confession, but in work.

In the formative stages of the intimate society the group is tolerant of its members' reservations about living in this new society and their problems in adjusting as a result of past background,  which  inevitably  impedes members from adapting. Slowly, however, each member becomes responsible for his own assimilation and with the passage of time the high tolerance of veteran members can easily degenerate into indifference.

Cases of suicide or extreme identity crises were capable of shattering the life of the intimate kibbutz. In times of crisis the society had either to change or to disintegrate. The need for charismatic leadership and the politicization of the community were two consequences provoked by crises; both developments were a consequence of the necessity and determination to replace anarchic tendencies with a more stable life pattern.

Change evolved also as these communities became responsible for building settlements and having children and families. Work demanded diversified knowledge as well as the will to participate fully in the collective society. These changes did not come easily but as a result of tensions, crises, and impassioned debate.

Though the contemporary kibbutz is not the intimate kibbutz of the past, some of its original characteristics are still important in the life of the community. Generally, these elements are revived, as they are in most societies, only in crisis situations. In tragedy, for instance, in illness, or when large numbers wish to leave the community, the society has a need to express and reexamine the depth of its relations, and is so doing finds that all traces of the old intimate kibbutz have not totally disappeared.