Rehovot
| Rechovot | ||
|---|---|---|
| Hebrew transcription(s) | ||
| • Hebrew | רְחוֹבוֹת | |
| • ISO 259 | Rḥobot | |
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  Rechovot | ||
| Coordinates: 31°53′52.67″N 34°48′29.24″E / 31.8979639°N 34.8081222°ECoordinates: 31°53′52.67″N 34°48′29.24″E / 31.8979639°N 34.8081222°E | ||
| District | Center | |
| Founded | 1890 | |
| Government | ||
| • Type | City | |
| • Mayor | Rahamim Malul | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 23,041 dunams (23.041 km2 or 8.896 sq mi) | |
| Population (2009)[1] | ||
| • Total | 112,700 | |
| Name meaning | Broad Places[2] | |
| Website | www.rehovot.muni.il | |
Rehovot (Hebrew: רְחוֹבוֹת) is a city in the Center District of Israel, about 20 kilometers (12 mi) south of Tel Aviv. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), at the end of 2009 the city had a total population of 112,700.[1] Rehovot's official website estimates the population at 114,000.
Rehovot was established in 1890 by Polish immigrants on land purchased from a Christian Arab.[3]
Etymology
Israel Belkind, one of the founders of the settlement, proposed the name "Rehovot" (lit. 'wide expanses') based on Genesis 26:22: "And he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said: 'For now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land'." The biblical town of Rehoboth is located in the Negev Desert.[4]
History
Rehovot was established near a site called Khirbat Deiran, which now lies in the center of the build-up area of the city.[5] Excavations at Khirbat Deiran have revealed signs of habitation in the Hellenic and Roman periods and through the Byzantine period, with a major expansion to about 60 dunams during the early centuries of Islamic rule.[5] Evidence of Jewish and possibly Samaritan occupants during the Roman and Byzantine periods has been found.[6] In 1939, Khirbet Deiran was identified by Klein with Kerem Doron, a place mentioned in Talmud Yerushalmi, but Fischer considers that there is "no special reason" for this identification.[5]
Rehovot was founded on the coastal plain by Polish Jews seeking to establish a township independent of the Baron Edmond James de Rothschild.[7] In 1908 they were joined by immigrants from Yemen, who settled in the city's Sha'arayim district.[8] The early settlers planted vineyards, almond orchards and citrus groves. They withstood agricultural failures, plant diseases, and marketing problems.
In 1924 the British Army contracted the Palestine Electric Company for wired electric power. The contract allowed the Electric Company to extend the grid beyond the original geographical limits that had been projected by the concession it was given. The high-tension line that exceeded the limits of the original concession ran along some major towns and agricultural settlements, offering extended connections to the Jewish settlements of Rishon Le-Zion, Nes-Ziona and Rehovot (in spite of their proximity to the high-tension line, the Arab towns of Ramleh and Lydda remained unconnected).[9]
The agricultural research station that opened in Rehovot in 1932 became the Department of Agriculture of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 1934 Chaim Weizmann established the Sieff Institute, which became the Weizmann Institute of Science. In 1937 Weizmann built his home on the land purchased adjacent to the Sieff Institute. The house later served as the presidential residence after Weizmann became president in 1948. Weizmann and his wife are buried on the grounds of the institute.
On 29 February 1948, the Lehi blew up the Cairo to Haifa train shortly after it left Rehovot killing 29 British soldiers and injuring 35. Lehi said the bombing was in retaliation for the Ben Yehuda Street bombing a week earlier. The Scotsman reported that both Weizmann's home and the Agricultural Institute were damaged in the explosion, although the site was 1-2 miles [1.6–3 km] away.
Demographics
Between 1914 and 1991 the population rose from 955 to 81,000, and the area of the town more than doubled. Parts of Rehovot's suburbs are built on land which before 1948 belonged to the village of Zarnuqa, population 2,620, including 240 Jews in Gibton.[10] In 1995, there were 337,800 people living in the greater Rehovot area. As of 2007, the ethnic makeup of the city was 99.8% Jewish. There were 49,600 males and 52,300 females, of whom 31.6% were 19 years of age or younger, 16.1% between the ages of 20 and 29, 18.2% between 30 and 44, 18.2% from 45 to 59, 3.5% from 60 to 64, and 12.3% 65 years of age or older. The population growth rate was 1.8%.[11]
In Rehovot there are three significant Jewish ethnic minorities: Russian Jews, Yemenite Jews and Ethiopian Jews, concentrated largely in the Kiryat Moshe and Oshiot areas.
Education
In 2004, there were 19,794 students and 53 schools in the city: 30 elementary schools with 9,875 students and 29 high schools with 9,919 students.[11] 61.3% of 12th graders graduated with a Bagrut matriculation certificate.
The city is home to the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Faculty of Agriculture of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. There are also a number of smaller colleges in Rehovot that provide specialized and technical training. Kaplan Hospital acts as an ancillary teaching hospital for the Medical School of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Economy
As of 2004, there were 41,323 salaried workers and 2,683 self-employed. The mean monthly wage for a salaried worker was ILS 6,732, a real change of −5.2% over the course of the previous year. Salaried males had a mean monthly wage of ILS 8,786 (a real change of −4.8%) versus ILS 4,791 for females (a real change of −5.3%). The mean income for the self-employed was 6,806. There were 1,082 people receiving unemployment benefits and 6,627 people receiving an income guarantee.[11]
The Tamar Science Park, established in 2000, is a high-tech park of 1,000 dunams (1.0 km2) at the northern entrance of the city.[12] The Tamar Science Park adjoins the older Kiryat Weizmann industrial park. Although the entire extended science park is largely conceived as an area of Rehovot, the Kiryat Weizmann part is actually under the municipal boundaries of neighbouring Ness Ziona. Tamar Science Park consists of leading hi-tech and bio-tech companies.
Sports
Rehovot has had three clubs representing it the top division of Israeli football: Maccabi Rehovot between 1949 and 1956, Maccabi Sha'arayim between 1963 and 1969 and again in 1985, and Hapoel Marmorek in the 1972–73 season.
Today Marmorek is the highest-ranked club, playing in Liga Artzit, the third level. Maccabi Sha'arayim play in Liga Bet, the fifth level, whilst Maccabi Rehovot play in Liga Gimel, the sixth and lowest division.
Twin towns — Sister cities
Rehovot is twinned with:
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Notable residents
- Dani Rabin of Marbin, guitarist, composer
- Aki Avni, actor, born in Rehovot[15]
- Danny Robas, singer
- Shlomo Glickstein, former professional tennis player, born in Rehovot[16]
- Eyal Golan, singer
- Gidi Gov, singer
- Eres Holz, composer
- Tzipi Hotovely, Member of Knesset for Likud[17]
- Ephraim Katzir, biophysicist and fourth President of The State of Israel[18]
- Rahamim Malul, Mayor of Rehovot[15]
- Arnon Milchan, Hollywood film producer.
- Shmuel Rechtman, Mayor of Rehovot from 1970–1979, born in Rehovot[19]
- Sergy Richter (born 1989), Olympic sport shooter and world junior record holder
- David Tal, four-time member of Knesset and member of the Kadima party[20]
- Benjamin Elazari Volcani, microbiologist
- Chaim Weizmann, first President of The State of Israel[21]
- S. Yizhar (1916–2006), writer
- Ada Yonath, crystallographer at the Weizmann Institute of Science and first Israeli woman Nobel Prize winner[22]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Table 3 – Population of Localities Numbering Above 2,000 Residents and Other Rural Population". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. 2010-06-30. Retrieved 2010-10-30.
- ↑ From Genesis 26:22. Word stems from raḥav (רחב), meaning broad.
- ↑ O. Efraim and S. Gilboa (2007). "Reḥovot". In Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik. Encyclopaedia Judaica 17 (2 ed.). Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA.
- ↑ Jewish Agency for Israel: Rehovot
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 M. Fischer, I. Taxel and D. Amit (2008). "Rural settlement in the vicinity of Yavneh in the Byzantine period: A religio-archaeological perspective". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research (350): 7–35.
- ↑ A. Bouchenino (2007). "Building remains and industrial installations from the early Islamic period at Khirbat deiran, Reḥovot". Atiqot 56: 119–144, 84*–85*.
- ↑ Rehovot keeps an eye on the past as it looks to the future, Jerusalem Post
- ↑ "The 'science city' is not sparkling – Haaretz – Israel News". Haaretz. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
- ↑ Shamir, Ronen (2013) Current Flow: The Electrification of Palestine. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
- ↑ Walid Khalidi (editor). All that Remains: Palestinian villages occupied and depopulated by Israel in 1948. IPS, Washington. 1992. p. 425. ISBN 0-88728-224-5.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 According to Israel Central Bureau of Statistics data (Hebrew)
- ↑ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1012488.html, The 'science city' is not sparkling]
- ↑ Jérôme Steffenino, Marguerite Masson. "Ville de Grenoble –Coopérations et villes jumelles". Grenoble.fr. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- ↑ "Twinning". City of Heidelberg. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Paraszczuk, Joanna (3 December 2010). "Rehovot keeps an eye on the past as it looks to the future". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
- ↑ "Glickstein, Shlomo". Jews in Sports. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
- ↑ Lehmann, Sara (1 July 2009). "Likud's Rising Star – Single, Female And Religious". The Jewish Press. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
- ↑ Associated Press (30 May 2009). "Israel's fourth president Ephraim Katzir dies at 93: World renowned biophysicist and Israel Prize laureate dies at his Rehovot home". Haaretz. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
- ↑ "Knesset Members: Shmuel Rechtman". The Knesset. 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
- ↑ "Knesset Members: David Tal". The Knesset. 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
- ↑ "Zionist Leaders: Chaim Weizmann, 1874–1952". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 11 October 1999. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
- ↑ "Israel Prize Official Site (in Hebrew) – Recipient’s C.V.". Retrieved 23 March 2011.
External links
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