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Moshavim


Moshav (Hebrew: מוֹשָׁב‎, plural מוֹשָׁבִיםmoshavim, lit. settlement, village) is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists during the second wave of aliyah. A resident or a member of a moshav can be called a "moshavnik" (מוֹשַׁבְנִיק‎).

The moshavim are similar to kibbutzim with an emphasis on community labour. They were designed as part of the Zionist state-building programme following the green revolution Yishuv ("settlement") in the British Mandate of Palestine during the early 20th century, but in contrast to the collective kibbutzim, farms in a moshav tended to be individually owned but of fixed and equal size. Workers produced crops and goods on their properties through individual and/or pooled labour and resources and used profit and foodstuffs to provide for themselves. Moshavim are governed by an elected council (Hebrew: ועד‎‎, va'ad, lit. committee). Community projects and facilities were financed by a special tax (Hebrew: מס ועד‎‎, mas va'ad, lit. committee tax). This tax was equal for all households of the community, thus creating a system where good farmers were better off than bad ones, unlike in the communal kibbutzim where (at least theoretically) all members enjoyed the same living standard.


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