Kibbutz volunteers are people who come from all over the world to live and work in a kibbutz in Israel. These volunteers, mostly young people, usually stay at the kibbutz for a short period of time, working in various branches of the kibbutz economy. Most volunteers typically come to Israel for a short period of two to three months under a volunteer visa and participate. Volunteers receive food and board, and sometimes pocket money. Some volunteers combine work with studying Hebrew at a kibbutz ulpan. Some kibbutzim organize trips and cultural events for the volunteers.
Austrian kibbutz volunteers at Kibbutz Ein HaShofet working in the apple orchard, summer of 1973
A kibbutz is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism. In recent decades, some kibbutzim have been privatized and changes have been made in the communal lifestyle. A member of a kibbutz is called a kibbutznik, the suffix -nik being of Slavic origin.
Kibbutz Kfar Masaryk
Second Aliyah workers eating lunch in the fields of Kibbutz Migdal, 1912
Degania (later Degania Alef), sometimes considered the first kibbutz, in 1910
Kibbutz Lotan