Moshav

Moshav (Hebrew: מוֹשָׁב‎, plural מוֹשָׁבִים moshavim, 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 (lit. "ascent ": refers to the act of Jewish emigration to Israel). 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 labor. They were designed as part of the Zionist state-building program following the Yishuv ("settlement") in the British Mandate of Palestine during the early 20th century, but contrary 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. Many moshavim still exist today.