Behind the Lights

Six Kibbutz in Brooklyn

By Dana Sauchelli

In New York City what twenty-something doesn’t have a roommate or two. It’s practically a matter of economic survival.

But for this group of six housemates the decision to live together wasn’t purely financial, although sharing a single bank account does help to facilitate their purpose. They are the founders and members of Kvutzat Orev, an Urban Kibbutz, recently relocated to Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.

The group of originally eight members met through Hashomer Hatzair, a Progressive Zionist Youth Movement that uses youth-led experimental education to run seminars and camps, based in Jewish fundamentals. The group attended the summer camp growing up, where they formed strong relationships, and were first introduced to the communal ideology. As adults, Hashomer Hatzair encouraged the group to live and work on a kibbutz in Israel.

“It used to be that the only way to be a Zion was to move to Israel,” Tal Beery, currently a bartender in midtown said,” but that is different today.” In fact the Orev members made it their mission to redefine the meaning of Zionism, making it possible for them to continue living within their beliefs, but still be able to live outside Israel.

“I took a year off of school to go,” Karen Isaacs said, who is currently pursuing an under graduate degree in Sustainable Development at The New School, and one of the youngest members at 23. “I thought it was only going to be a year.” But the venture to Israel did something more, it provided this group with a communal ideology for alternative living, one that is the foundation of Kvutzat Orev.

The first Kibbutz made sprouts in Israel nearly a century ago. They were essentially   self-sustaining agricultural communities that shared religious beliefs and financial responsibilities, through collectively working together and pooling earnings. Each member contributed according to his or her abilities, all being necessary for the communal whole, and all jobs of equal worth.

But starting in the 1970’s Kibbutzim’s could no longer survive independently in the outskirts of the city as a result of new industry. They moved to urban settings, where some groups opened factories, trading a secluded agricultural life for one that coexists with a greater community.

Most Kibbutzim’s today collectively participate in community outreach, which resulted from their urbanization; otherwise their basic fundamentals remain the same. While staying on the Kibbutz in Israel the Orev members worked in an Arab school in Barta’a, a town located on the western bank, bordering Israel and Palestine. They ran an English program, where they used theatre and interactive activities to teach about youth empowerment, self-identity, and woman’s rights. That experience helped to developed their alternative teaching techniques, which are now incorporated into their current educational program, Without Walls.

The decision to move to New York and start an Urban Kibbutz took great consideration. In theory the group shared common goals, but to implement them was a serious commitment, ultimately a lifestyle choice. For two of the current members this meant leaving their homes in Canada. “New York is a very consumerist, individualistic place to make it happen,” Michal Jalowski conceded. She is currently applying to law school, interning for a congresswoman, and working as a bookkeeper.  But it was an “intentional decision [to move to the city and] to be involved in a community rather than be a separate bubble, which is what you would have in an agricultural commune in the middle of nowhere,” said Yotam Moran, a part-time philosophy major at The New School.

The kibbutz ideology is an all encompassing one, and the relationships within the group are a common denominator in nearly all aspects of their daily lives. The group members who share a five-bedroom, two-bath duplex, with a backyard, also share a religious or spiritual perseverance, work together, and combine expenses taken from a single bank account. Meaning, the relationship one has with his coworker mightn’t stop at work, that person is also their roommate, and may be the person who calls to find out what Uniqlo is, when you make a purchase of over a hundred dollars in new clothes. “If it’s over a hundred dollars, we like to make sure we’re not getting ripped off,” Jalowski joked.

“By living this way you form stronger relationships,” said Beery, “I feel I have a multidimensional understanding of each person.” Living in a comuna, “like commune only Hebrew’ized,” Jane Manwelyan, a Master’s student in Urban Planning at Colombia University, said, “isn’t easy, it’s not for complacency.” Working on the relationships between members presents itself to be a vital cord in the Kibbutz’s functionality, if they were to lose that bond everything else would collapse.

When it comes to the Orev finances, the extent of camaraderie becomes evident.  When they first got back from Israel, they did not form a money pool system. “It wasn’t until we actually started to work together that it made sense to share money,” Beery explained. “Some of us worked in capacities that weren’t making any money, but for the same ends. For instance I couldn’t get my salary if Karen wasn’t doing what she was doing, but Karen’s position wasn’t paid. So, I was depending on her but she wasn’t getting paid. So it was really silly for me not to share with her.”

This common good mentality derives form the socialist Zion philosophy, advocating for shared responsibility in community, a key ingredient in the Kibbutz movement.

The joint account is used for everything, groceries, rent, shoes, plane tickets, drinks at the bar, a date, even for some of Manwelyan’s tuition. And with the majority of members being students and only contributing part-time wages, it’s a miracle it all works out every month. “It’s amazing that as an individual I can leverage the assets of six,” Beery said. “It works just like a personal bank account would”, said Jalowski, who oversees the Orev books, only they have much greater purchasing power. Each month or so they go over the budget, and talk about large expenses that have to be made together, and the needs of the individual members. “That reminds me,” Beery said, “My health care premiums are going up significantly.”

Their financial system is more than just a sound economic plan; it’s also a big part of their collective mission. “We grew up ideologically thinking that it was important to collectivize different parts of our lives from the work that we do, to our feelings, to money also. And thinking that this is something that could theoretically, and is something that is a barrier between people, could also be something that we use as a tool to help develop better relationships,” Moran said.

It’s hard to know what lies ahead for Kvutzat Orev, and its six members. They hope more Kibbutzims follow, as some have already begun to, and the community evolves into a real Kibbutz model with groups of groups working together. “Ultimately that’s the dream, to have an urban Kibbutz and keep it growing,” Isaacs said, “the values are what are important, the structure can change.” But for now they remain somewhat obscure, pioneering what could be a new front in the Zionist movement. “We follow the idea of tikkun olam,” said Jalowski, “which is the idea that you can fix the world by fixing yourself.” “Or,” Beery added, “like the famous Gandhi quote, be the change you wish to see.”