The Renewal of the Kibbutz: From Reform to Transformation

Acknowledgments

xi This volume is the result of more than two decades of research. In the course of assembling the information presented here, we have accumulated debts to a large number of people. Our greatest debt is to Menachem Rosner. As a researcher, Rosner has been extraordinarily original and productive. He was one of the earliest scholars to write about many of the issues and changes addressed in this work. When Getz and Russell first showed interest in kibbutz research, Rosner served as a mentor to them both, tutoring each as needed on literatures and controversies affecting the kibbutzim. Later, it was Rosner who introduced Getz and Russell to each other, in1995, and suggested that they explore the possibility of working together. We also have many debts to other current and former colleagues at the Institute for Research of the Kibbutz at the University of Haifa. Michal Palgi has provided help and encouragement at every stage of this project. We are especially grateful to Michal Palgi and to Shaul Sharir and Elliette Orchan for access to the results of their annual polls of kibbutz members. Other colleagues at the Institute who have provided helpful advice or information during the years of this study include Gila Adar, Chanah Goldenberg, Uri Leviatan, Avraham Pavin, and Dani Rosolio. We would also like to thank a number of other specialists studying or advising kibbutzim or other communes, who shared with us their knowledge and insights about these institutions. These expert informants include Shulamit Arbel, Eli Avrahami, Eliezer Ben-Rafael, Gary Brenner, Shlomo Cohen, Yechezkel Dar, James Grant-Rosenhead, Tal Israeli, Baruch Kanari, Michael Livni, Anton Marks, Henry Near, Yaacov Oved, Israel Oz, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Alon Pauker, Menachem Topel, Israel Tsufim, Muki Tsur, Tal Simons, and Eppie Yaar. Hundreds of kibbutz general secretaries or other office holders responded to the Institute’s annual surveys of changes on kibbutzim from 1990 to 2001. Many other kibbutz members provided interviews or made presentations about changes taking place on their own kibbutz. We would like to thank all of these kibbutz members for being so generous with their time and information. This research could not have been completed without their cooperation. Ever since we first contacted Marlie Wasserman of Rutgers University Press about this manuscript, she has treated it with the highest professionalism and efficiency. We are also grateful to Margo Crouppen and several anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on earlier drafts. Finally, we would like to thank our wives, Judy Lehr, Patricia Hanneman, and Eva Getz. A project of this size cannot be completed without causing numerous absences and distractions in the lives of everyone in the households involved. When the project stretches over multiple decades, the families affected are called upon to show extraordinary levels of forbearance. We are grateful to our wives for their patience and cooperation. We also owe special thanks to Judy Lehr for help with tables, editing, and the index. xiii The Renewal of the Kibbutz ...