Published: 19 March 2025
Last updated: 20 March 2025
In October 2024, Israeli author Yael Neeman published Were You Good or Were You Bad?, a book that delves into the history and profound effects of communal child-rearing in kibbutzim.
Neeman’s starting point was a pivotal Haaretz article by Vered Levy Barzilai entitled, The Accusation: A Cruel Experiment on Thousands of Children. The article featured an interview with Nachshon (Sean) Goltz, who was born and raised in Kibbutz Ruhama, and described kibbutz communal child-rearing as a “cruel psychological experiment”.
“This may evolve into a class action that will shake generations of kibbutz members," read the opening line of the Haaretz article, which was first published in December 2000.
"But even if not, this is a serious public indictment: Nachshon Goltz, born in Kibbutz Ruhama, is planning on suing the kibbutz movement for committing a psychological experiment on thousands of children with disastrous results – they became emotionally crippled, without a family or a home, lacking identity, and sometimes victims of sexual abuse.
"Anyone growing up in Israel knows Goltz is not speaking only for himself.”
These allegations led to a claim against the Israeli state, which had allowed the kibbutzim to become the legal guardian of children instead of their own parents, contradicting guardianship laws.
"Goltz’s theory is a monumental moment in the public discourse on kibbutz child-rearing."
Anthropologist Tama Halfin
But the legal action was dismissed by a judge who was concerned about broader implications — particularly the precedent that could see every boarding school child sue the state. Nevertheless, the Haaretz article and the lawsuit made a significant public impact.
Comments3
Gabriel Litmanovitz28 March at 04:01 am
I am not sure the person who wrote this fully understands the term “experimet”. Did anyone try to prove a theory ? Did anyone made any measurments, observation ? Was there a control group ? And to write that it affected the event on the 7th of October ? It all finally ended in 1990 (in some places even before that). People like to blame their parents for any problem they might have. Mr/ Goltz is blaming the Kibbutz.
Michal27 March at 08:18 am
Well said Rachel.
It was not an “experiment” but a communal way of life. Agree with it or not, after WWII, many Holocaust survivors who helped establish Kibbutzim decided to live in a communal society where everything was considered “shared”, from their income to their personal belongings and even to the children.
By the 1990s, most Kibbutzim changed from raising the kids in children houses to the parents.
The Kibbutzim have adapted with the times.
The past children houses weren’t good for everyone, obviously, but many children flourished there. It developed independance.
I haven’t checked the numbers, but it’s a general feeling that there were more elite IDF soliders from kibbutzim during the days of communial living than there are today where kids are raised in their parents’ homes.
Now this may seem like a strange way to measure a society, but here in Israel, where most people serve in the army, it’s a standard way to measure different sub sectors here.
Rachel Sussman21 March at 10:24 am
Why is it that we must always blame?
Being born in Israel in 1950 and growing up there, I had many friends in the kibbutzim, even some of my cousins. Of course kibbutz life did not suit everyone, some loved it others did not. I served in the Army with many from the kibbutz and whilst some said they ‘loved’ it others said they would prefer it to be otherwise. But to say that the state purposefully used it as an ‘experiment’ seems really brutal. The kibbutz movement was established by citizens themselves who believed in it – like Ben Gurion – it was not forced upon anyone, it was a choice to join a kibbutz or not… We must certainly learn where something works well or not so well and make corrections. And the kibbutzim became aware of the possible short-coming of youngsters living together rather than with their parents. Indeed in most kibbutzim now children stay with parents up to teen-age and after this they can chose whether they want to stay with their parents or ‘move’ in with other teen agers in the kibbutz.
I assure you that growing up in Israel in the very early 50’s was tough in many ways, as it is bound to be in a State just born and when the bulk of its citizens – including my family – were refugees coming from all corners of the globe and each with his/her ‘bag of trauma’.
Of course many of these conditions impacted on me as they did on everyone in my generation (we often talk about it), but I assure you that I would not dream thinking ‘I was experimented’ with, not think about suing the State who was trying to somehow construct itself, and if I had a choice – I will do it all over again, and will not want to be born or grow up anywhere else!