kibbutz

Definition

A community, usually an agricultural one in Israel, based on a high level of social and economical sharing, equality, direct democracy and tight social relations.

Etymology

From Hebrew קִבּוּץ (kibúts), derived from the verb קָבַץ (kaváts, “to gather, collect, assemble”). Not related to kibitz.

Example Sentences

• "The kibbutzim along the Gaza border have been socialist communes and some of the most tenacious bastions of the Israeli left. I know people from those kibbutzim who, after years of almost daily rocket attacks from Gaza, still clung to the hope of peace, as if to a religious cult."