Page 22 - C.A.L.L. #21 - Spring 2003

The Leaves of Twin Oaks Winter 2002
and Soundings – The Newsletter of the Federation of Egalitarian Communities – Summer 2002

Twin Oaks: An American Kibbutz? by Brian

When I first heard the name “Twin Oaks” about 7 years ago I filed this piece of information in the back of my mind along with
about 10 billion other items and there it stayed until a year ago.
From 1989 until June of 2001 I had been a member and resident of Kibbutz Ketura in the southern Arava region of Israel. My
experience with Kibbutz life started in 1984 when I lived at another kibbutz in Israel in order to study Hebrew in a program called
an “Ulpan.” I was very impressed by and attracted to the collective lifestyle and so some years later, when I was at one of those big
decision-making points in life, decided to follow this path and become a member of Ketura. Though family matters prompted me to
relocate to the US last year I wanted to see if I could continue living in a community. I contacted Twin Oaks in October, I
participated in the Visitor’s Program, and here I am today 4 months into my membership.

There are great similarities and differences between Twin Oaks and the “Kibbutz.” Twin Oaks, like Ketura, is an egalitarian community
where all the members share income and other major resources. This is the foundation of all such communities. A major difference in the
allocation of resources, however, is the housing situation. Though the units are very small in comparison to the “outside,” on the Kibbutz,
each member/family has their own self-contained unit, complete with bathroom and cooking facilities. Many more people on the Kibbutz
tend to eat their dinner meal at home rather than in the central dining room. On the kibbutz, any money earned through outside work goes
into the collective treasury. No options such as VE or OPP exist. Members with outside resources, which can be used off the Kibbutz, thus
have the ability to engage in activities that may be out of reach to others. Although at Twin Oaks members can have families pay for
certain things while they are away, everyone here does have the potential to earn extra money. Likewise, the Kibbutz gives its members 28
days vacation per year, while at Twin Oaks no limit is set. In general, Twin Oaks affords its members much more flexibility and options for
income earning/vacation.

Organizationally, at both communities, each member has an equal vote and can influence decisions on a wide range of issues. One
becomes as active in community life and decision-making as one wants to be. At the kibbutz, there are several committees that meet
regularly to discuss and decide on certain issues within their domain such as health, culture/recreation, work, “manpower,” and
economics. There is also the Secretariat that meets once a week and whose members include the major decision-makers within the
Kibbutz plus some members-at-large. These are the Secretary, Treasurer, and Economics Planner. Some issues can be decided at the
committee level, others at the Secretariat level, and still others only by the General Membership Assembly. This might seem more
structured than at Twin Oaks. At Twin Oaks, community meetings are more places for discussion rather than decision, and it seems that
the planners have more influence over the issues at hand than their “counterparts” on the Kibbutz. However, it is easier here, I believe,
for a decision to be “overridden” than it is at Ketura. At both communities, decisions can take a long time to be made.

Perhaps the main area of difference between Twin Oaks and Kibbutzim in general, and Ketura in particular, is at a deeper level. Whereas
Twin Oaks sees itself as not being part of the “mainstream” society, the Kibbutz Movement has been at the forefront of Israeli society
since its inception. At its beginning it was seen as the leading social/economic influence of the pre-state and post state-periods. Many
leading figures were members of the Kibbutz movement or closely associated with it. David Ben-Gurion (first Prime Minister), Moshe
Dayan (leading military and political figure), Ehud Barak (former prime minister) are the most notable. Kibbutz youth were members of
the officer corps of the Israel Defense Forces. The Kibbutz movement identified closely with the State and the Zionist idea, though there
have been times of disagreement. In contrast, Twin Oaks and the community movement is not even a marginal influence within the US
mainstream. There is also no identification with mainstream political/economic and social/cultural systems. As Israeli mainstream society
has undergone extreme and radical changes over the course of the last several years, the Kibbutz movement in general has tried to keep
pace. Internal dynamics and structures are changing rapidly, lest the movement and individual collectives find themselves totally out of
touch with new developments. Today the Kibbutz Movement is finding itself at a potential crossroads. As the majority of kibbutzim
attempt to “go with the flow”, others are attempting to preserve old ideals such as equal pay for all work, restrictions on private capital
and property, and an emphasis on communal activities and lifestyles. This may result in another schism within the movement and may
only further weaken it.

I would encourage anyone from Twin Oaks or other communities to visit a Kibbutz and likewise encourage any Kibbutz members to visit an
FEC community while in North America. A few people on this end are working on some type of exchange program between the FEC and
the Kibbutz Movement. An exchange of people, ideas and energy can give a great boost to the concept of community and perhaps have a
greater influence on society. Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions or comments.

I feel it would not be way off the mark to say that Twin Oaks can indeed be described as an American Kibbutz. The similarities between the
two far outweigh the differences. Both models have positive messages to transmit to society, and it is up to the members of each
community to insure that this is done.

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