The cooperative components of the Classic Moshav

It is time, 90 years after the establishment of the first Moshav, family farm based settlement in Israel, to examine the idea of the Moshav and its transformation over the years. This article attempts to examine the initial group of Moshav type rural settlements, established during a limited period of time from 1921 to 1950 and which is termed in this article as the Classic Moshav. This type of settlement, a particular model of a cooperative village, is also a multi-purpose cooperative association containing maximum number of cooperative functions, and is characterized by a defined geographical space. The principles of this particular settlement were defined in a period where the economic conditions were unfavourable to the pioneers who settled the Land of Israel in order to make their living from farming. Once the economic and social conditions have changed, 70 years later, the existence of these principles and their cooperative components have been questioned. The complete identity between the village and the cooperative at its base which was unique phenomenon has been redefined. The article makes an attempt to describe and to examine the changes in the model of the Classic Moshav, in its cooperative components and its uniqueness. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.