Kfar Blum
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Kfar Blum (Hebrew: כפר בלום, Blum Village) is an Israeli kibbutz in the Hula Valley, in the Upper Galilee region of Israel, about 6 km southeast of the town of Kiryat Shmona. In 1994 the population was 615. [1] It was founded in November 1943 [2] by the Socialist-Zionist Habonim (now Habonim Dror) youth movement. The founding members of the kibbutz were primarily from the United Kingdom, South Africa, the United States and the Baltic countries. The kibbutz was named in honor of Léon Blum, the Jewish Socialist former Prime Minister of France who was the focus of a widely-publicized, and ultimately unsuccessful, show trial in 1942 mounted by the collaborationist Vichy regime.
Agriculture (cotton, dairy, fruit) and light industry (metal working) have formed the primary economic basis for the kibbutz. In recent years this has been supplemented increasingly by tourism. Kfar Blum's location near the Jordan River at the foot of Mount Hermon has made it a center for outdoor recreational activities including walking, hiking, kayaking, rafting and bird watching. The kibbutz has a regional school, a sports arena and a hotel. It is also home to Hapoel Galil-Elyon, a top division basketball team, and in 1993 became the only club from outside Tel Aviv to win the championship.
Since 1985 Kfar Blum has been the site of the annual Voice of Music Festival in Upper Galilee, also referred to as the Kfar Blum Festival, a chamber music festival that is held in mid-summer. This week-long event has grown to become the premier chamber music festival in Israel, drawing 15,000 visitors in recent years. [3]
[edit] References
- ^ "Kfar Blum", The Columbia Gazetteer of the World Online, Columbia University Press, New York, 2005
- ^ David Breslau, ed., Arise and Build: The Story of American Habonim, Ichud Habonim Labor Zionist Youth, New York, 1961.
- ^ Daniel Felsenstein and Aliza Fleischer, "Local Festivals and Tourism Promotion: The Role of Public Assistance and Visitor Expenditure", Journal of Travel Research, May 2005, pp. 385-392
