Page 22 - C.A.L.L. #44 - Fall 2018

Today, the high-tech company and Gvanim are independently run. Many of Kibbutz Migvan’s
100 members are involved in these enterprises but are free to work wherever they choose.

Without sacrificing shared activities such as meals, childcare, holiday celebrations and

educational seminars, the economic and social structure has become more flexible just as it
has on many of the 250 traditional kibbutzim across Israel.

“Over the years many families joined us but didn’t want to have a shared economy, so today

only six families are in that shared economy and the rest are not,” Zion explains. “Everyone is
very close to one another despite their differences. People contribute in different ways.”

A similar shift has taken place at Kibbutz Beit Yisrael in Jerusalem. Its 10 core families are

supplemented by an economically independent group of 60 to 80 families who help carry out
Kvutzat Reut’s programs. Mechinat Beit Yisrael currently has 60 men and women in the first year
and 25 in the second year.

Lefkowitz, now 40,
graduated from the
first class of

Mechinat Beit Yisrael
and came back after
the army in 2002 to
join the urban
kibbutz. He teaches

at the academy and
directs the activities
of alumni who have

so far started six
Four generations of the Simon family, all Kibbutz Beit Yisrael members, on the steps similar urban
of their communal home in Jerusalem.
kibbutzim around
Israel.

Many of the at-risk neighborhood kids who benefited from Kvutzat Reut programs also come
back after the army and become partners in improving the neighborhood.

“The social projects we do touch more and more people,” Lefkowitz says. “It’s not a project; it’s
life. You need people that see it as a mission.”

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