Editing Kibbutz (section)

=== The first kibbutzim ===
[[File:Second aliyah Pioneers in Migdal 1912 in kuffiyeh.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Second Aliyah workers eating lunch in the fields of Kibbutz [[Migdal, Israel|Migdal]], 1912]]
[[File:Umjuny01.jpg|thumb| upright=1.1| Degania (later [[Degania Alef]]), sometimes considered the first kibbutz, in 1910]]
The kibbutzim were founded by members of the [[Bilu (movement)|Bilu]] movement who emigrated to [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]]. Like the members of the [[First Aliyah]] (1881-1903) who came before them and established agricultural villages, most members of the [[Second Aliyah]] planned to become farmers, almost the sole career available in the agrarian economy of [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] Palestine.

The first kibbutz was [[Degania Alef]], founded in 1910.<ref name="Abramitzky">{{cite journal |last1=Abramitzky |first1=Ran |title=Lessons from the Kibbutz on the Equality-Incentives Trade-Off |journal=Journal of Economic Perspectives |date=March 2011 |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=185–208 |doi=10.1257/jep.25.1.185 |language=en |issn=0895-3309|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Some founders of the Kibbutz movement in Israel were influenced by the ideals of [[Ancient Sparta]], particularly in education and communal living.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Making of Israeli Militarism |first=Uri |last=Ben-Eliezer |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |date=1998 |pages=63}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Land and Power: The Zionist Resort to Force, 1881–1948 |first=Anita |last=Shapira |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |date=1999 |pages=300}}</ref>

[[Yosef Baratz]], one of the pioneers of the kibbutz movement, wrote a book about his experiences.{{sfn|Gavron|2000|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5wifOjaA2BoC&pg=PA20 20]}}

{{blockquote|We were happy enough working on the land, but we knew more and more certainly that the ways of the old settlements were not for us. This was not the way we hoped to settle the country—this old way with Jews on top and Arabs working for them; anyway, we thought that there shouldn't be employers and employed at all. There must be a better way.<ref name=Baratz52>{{cite book|last=Baratz |first=Joseph |title=A Village by the Jordan: The Story of Degania |location=Tel Aviv |publisher=Ichud Habonim |date=1956 |pages=52}}</ref>}}

Though Baratz and others wanted to farm the land themselves, becoming independent farmers was not a realistic option in 1909. As [[Arthur Ruppin]], a proponent of Jewish agricultural colonization of the Trans-Jordan, would later say, "The question was not whether group settlement was preferable to individual settlement; it was rather one of either group settlement or no settlement at all."<ref name=Rayman12>{{cite book|last=Rayman |first=Paula |title=The Kibbutz Community and Nation Building |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |date=1981 |pages=12}}</ref>

Ottoman Palestine was a harsh environment. The [[Galilee]] was swampy, the [[Judaean Mountains]] rocky, and the south of the country, the [[Negev]], was a desert. To make things more challenging, most of the settlers had no prior farming experience. The sanitary conditions were also poor. [[Malaria]], [[typhus]] and [[cholera]] were rampant. [[Bedouin]]s would raid farms and settled areas. Sabotage of irrigation canals and burning of crops were also common.{{citation needed|date=June 2016}} Living collectively was simply the most logical way to be secure in an unwelcoming land. On top of safety considerations, establishing a farm was a capital-intensive project; [[Collective farming|collectively]], the founders of the kibbutzim had the resources to establish something lasting, while independently they did not.

Finally, the land had been purchased by the greater Jewish community. From around the world, Jews dropped coins into [[Jewish National Fund]] "Blue Boxes" for land purchases in Palestine. In 1909, Baratz, nine other men, and two women established themselves at the southern end of the [[Sea of Galilee]] near the Arab village of Umm Juni/Juniya. These teenagers had hitherto worked as day laborers converting wetlands for human development, as masons, or as hands at the older Jewish settlements. Their dream was now to work for themselves, building up the land. They called their community "[[Kvutza]]t Degania" (lit. "collective of wheat" or "community of [[cereal]] grains"), now [[Degania Alef]].

The founders of Degania endured backbreaking labor: "The body is crushed, the legs fail, the head hurts, the sun burns and weakens," wrote one of the pioneers.{{sfn|Gavron|2000|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5wifOjaA2BoC&pg=PA21 21]}} At times, half of the kibbutz members could not report for work and many left. Despite the difficulties, by 1914, Degania had fifty members. Other kibbutzim were founded around the Sea of Galilee and the nearby [[Jezreel Valley]].