Masuot Yitzhak – A Kibbutz or not a kibbutz? Good question. Masuot Yitzhak belongs to the religious kibbutz movement, but the community is considered a cooperative moshav. The moshav / kibbutz is not privatized, there is a communal laundromat, car arrangement, work arrangement, various committees, and in many respects Masuot Yitzhak is more of a kibbutz than many other kibbutzim. For years Mesuot Yitzhak was not a member of the religious kibbutz because of the members’ desire for a private household (dining room at home and children living with their parents as opposed to the traditional kibbutz child dormitories).
Masuot Yitzhak was first established in Gush Etzion in the Judean Mountains south of Jerusalem and after the fall of the bloc during the War of Independence, its location was moved to the lowlands. Mesuot Yitzhak has an impressive memorial site in memory of the families of the members who perished in the Holocaust with a monument built by well-known artist Gershon Heiman.
Another artist who contributed greatly to the appearance of Masuot Yitzhak was the late Meir Ben Uri, who designed the moshav / kibbutz in the pattern of the menorah (as well as in the neighboring Ein Tzurim). If you look at aerial photographs you’ll see that to this day the shape of the menorah has been preserved. And it is shinier than ever thanks to the wet wipes factory and “Albad” cleaning products owned Masuot Yitzhak.
A story from the pre-state period in Gush Etzion: Each female member of Masuot Yitzhak was entitled to one dress – just one. And when she got married, she had to decide whether to choose a white dress or a more useful dress to use on Saturdays also. What would you choose?
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Photo: Noa Gilboa, Masuot Yitzhak
