Givat Shemesh
| Givat Shemesh גבעת שמש | |
|---|---|
  Givat Shemesh | |
| Coordinates: 31°46′27.08″N 34°57′1.98″E / 31.7741889°N 34.9505500°ECoordinates: 31°46′27.08″N 34°57′1.98″E / 31.7741889°N 34.9505500°E | |
| District | Jerusalem |
| Council | Mateh Yehuda |
| Founded | 1954 |
| Population (2011) | 59 |
| Website | www.retorno.org |
Givat Shemesh (Hebrew: גִּבְעַת שֶׁמֶשׁ, lit. Sun Hill) is a village and drug rehabilitation centre in central Israel. Located near Beit Shemesh above kibbutz Tzora and run by the Retorno organisation. It falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In 2011 it had a population of 59.[1]
The village was established in 1954 on land that formerly belonged to the Arab village of Dayr Rafat,[2] just west of the village site. The land had been abandoned as a war zone in 1948 during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and later built upon to provide community resources to the Israeli population.
The rehabilitation center was first founded in 1989 in Mexico by Rabbi Eitan Eckstein, and later opened in Israel. Retorno is a Jewish center which has elements of Judaism in and around the therapy program. No one is forced to conform to Judaism practice, but it the general lifestyle in the center.[3]
References
- ↑ Population by settlement Central Bureau of Statistics
- ↑ Khalidi, Walid (1992), All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948, Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies, p. 287, ISBN 0-88728-224-5
- ↑ Facilities Retorno
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