A lot of people have been asking about how the Kibbutz works and what it's like to really live here so I did some research. This is what I've put together from talking to some people (so don't quote me)...
Theoretically a kibbutz is community where people live a communal lifestyle and work for the good of the group. Originally most kibbutzim were based on agriculture but now most have other industries as well. They also used to be completely socialist but now they are mostly privatized.
If you are born on a kibbutz today, you would stay with your parents most of the time until you were about four. It seems that there is day care for kids under four but I am not sure how much time they spend there. So then once you enter kindergarten, you are there all day, like 7am to 4 pm or so. But then you go home to your family, not like in the old days where you stayed there and slept there. So, you grow up keep going to school. There's no high school here...I don't know where the high school kids go to school actually. So this whole time you live with your parents until you are 17. Then you live with other 17 year olds. When you are 18 or are done with high school you go to the army, but you still have a place here with kids your age. Then you can live here and work if you want but you are not a member of the kibbutz. In that situation you get a place to live (which includes all utilities) and get a certain amount of money per month (about 2500 NIS = $690). The amount you get paid is not at all based on your job, just your age and your situation, i.e. married/single, kids, etc. The only thing you pay for is food. You either buy your own or eat at the dining room and they charge you but very little (like a lunch is maybe 15 NIS = $3.75). Its definitely possible then to save a fair amount of money. So after the army you can do whatever you want, school, work, bum around, live somewhere else. At age 29 you have to decide if you want to become a member or not. (I don't know how you become a member if you weren't born here and don't marry in, but it is possible.) If you stay, you get a job and a house here if not then, you leave and your parents live here. Your house size is based on how long you have been a member of the kibbutz. (I don't 100% understand that because then the old people have the biggest houses, instead of the families). Jobs, houses, laundry, sports facilities, are all open to everyone.
The industries here are the plastic factory Palram, agriculture (avacados, grapefruit, lychee, there's more stuff but i don't remember), dairy products (yogurt, labeneh, cheeses). Then you can also work in the places that just keep the kibbutz running--schools, dining room, laundry, store, bank, etc. You can work outside the kibbutz but you have to give them a certain portion of what you make. I have no idea how it is all organized or who oversees what's happening but everything seems to run pretty smoothly. If you live on a kibbutz, you will work but you will always be taken care of no matter what happens to you. If you need medical care or something else similar and expensive that you can't afford out of pocket, it will be taken care of (somehow--not sure how that works). It sounds like its possible too to get stuff like braces for your kids or money towards a family vacation. You will never be rich here but you will be really safe and secure. Apparently even if something happens to the kibbutz (like it gets bombed and blown off the map or goes bankrupt or who knows what) there is something in place so that the members are given enough money to restart their lives on their own.
I am sure there is a lot more to it but I think that's enough for now. If you have more questions ask me, I'll ask them. Its pretty amazing though how well it works (but maybe I have been raised in the US to always be skeptical of anything communistic). Its a pretty slow and uneventful life but that's exactly what some people are looking for, especially when you are raising a family or getting older. If you don't mind that, and seeing the same people all the time (which again some people like), it's a pretty good deal.
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