About Kibbutz Tzuba

Kibbutz Tzuba was founded by young families just after the State of Israel was reestablished in 1948. One lady that I met recently is a child of one of the founders of the kibbutz. She has lived here most of her life and is now raising a son here. Dorit also has lived all but 4 years or so of her life on the kibbutz. Her parents arrived just after the kibbutz was started so aren’t considered founders but are definitely long-time members. The kibbutz has fruit orchards; vineyards; olive groves; a hotel; a glass factory that manufactures bulletproof glass (and I found out recently, they also produce dishware from the leftover glass products which are used in the hotel as well as sold to the public); dairy farm (this is located at another kibbutz as they share this endeavor with a few other kibbutzim); chicken barn; auto-mechanic shop; beauty shop; small clothing store; small grocery store; post office; pub; conference rooms; amusement park/game room for young children complete with a petting zoo; furniture store; gift shop; community dining hall; laundry room (where yours truly hangs out 3 days a week); and other ventures that I can’t think of at the moment. When Kibbutzim where first created it was with the idea of a socialist mentality - that everything would be shared on the kibbutz including cars, phones, etc. Nowadays, many are beginning to privatize which includes Kibbutz Tzuba so members are beginning to have to pay for certain services, albeit at a very minimal price.

To become a member of a kibbutz is a bit of a process. You must go through a medical examination of sorts to ensure your mental and physical health; have references; live on the kibbutz on a trial basis for two years in which you work at different jobs on the kibbutz in order for the members to get to know you and for you to familiarize yourself with the kibbutz and its members. After this trial period the kibbutz members will vote on your status to determine if you can become part. I guess if you don’t ‘pass’ you have to look elsewhere to live! I was informed that currently Tzuba is not accepting families due to lack of space. (I believe each kibbutz sets up its regulations independently so this information is specific to Tzuba.)

A kibbutz is its own small town community where everyone knows everyone else and everyone else's business! Being small town girl myself, I rather enjoy the camaraderie shared among the members. One of the reasons I like where I work in the folding department is that you get to see the people of the community come in and out and greet one another, ask about family, the latest news and share in each others' good. Talma, one of my co-workers, just celebrated the birth of a granddaughter and Mazel Tov's were heard all day! One other interesting and different factor, at least from what I've observed here, is how involved the father seems to be publicly with their children. Everywhere you see dads with kids on their shoulders, holding their hand, pushing the stroller, feeding the kids in the dining hall. I guess this is something notable to me coming from my work with children whose fathers were absent, imprisoned or just didn't want to be bothered. For me, it's a really powerful scene.