Kvutzat Kinneret

Kvutzat Kinneret
Kvutzat Kinneret
Coordinates: 32°42′48.24″N 35°33′45″E / 32.7134000°N 35.56250°ECoordinates: 32°42′48.24″N 35°33′45″E / 32.7134000°N 35.56250°E
Council Emek HaYarden
Region Sea of Galilee
Affiliation Kibbutz Movement
Founded 1908
Population (2008) 606[1]

Kvutzat Kinneret (Hebrew: קְבוּצַת כִּנֶּרֶת) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located to the south-west of the Sea of Galilee near Tiberias, it falls under the jurisdiction of Emek HaYarden Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 896. Often called Kibbutz Kinneret, it is located next to the moshava also named Kinneret.

Name

The name of Kibbutz Kinneret derives from an ancient Canaanite town, which was however located close to the other, northern end of the lake's western shore.[2] According to the Hebrew Bible, the town of Kinneret fell into the allotment of the tribe of Naphtali (Joshua 19:35), while the area of modern Kibbutz Kinneret was probably also part of Naphtali, or (depending on interpretation) of Issachar or Zebulun. In the Hebrew Bible the Sea of Galilee was named Yam Kinneret, lit. the Sea of Kinneret, another reason for the name chosen for the kibbutz. The nearby ancient town of Bet Yerah[3] was not inhabited during the time of the kingdoms of Israel and is thus not mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, its main relevance to the kibbutz being that it gave its name to the local high school, which is attended by children from the entire area, not just Kibbutz Kinneret.

History

Kvutzat Kinneret, much like Degania, evolved from a training farm founded in 1908 as Havat Kinneret (Hebrew: חוות כנרת‎, lit. Kinneret Farm, or Hatzer Kinneret, the Kinneret Courtyard). The kvutza was established in 1913 within the Farm, consisting of a group of pioneers with a common world view and willing to share all material goods. The term kvutza means that at first they wanted to keep their collective small and to focus on working the land, the larger kibbutz form of settlement being open to other types of livelihood as well. The group did not leave the Kinneret Farm until 1929, when they settled at their current, permanent location higher up the hill. Beekeeping and the sale of honey were among the earliest economic branches.[4] Meanwhile ideologies have weakened and the difference between "kvutza" and "kibbutz" has disappeared.

Cemetery

To the east of the kibbutz, across the road from the restored Kinneret Farm, is the historic Kinneret Cemetery where many pioneers and leaders of the Labour movement are buried, among them Berl Katznelson, Nachman Syrkin, Rachel Bluwstein, Ber Borochov, Moses Hess, Avraham Herzfeld and Shmuel Stoller. The first grave was dug in 1911.

Notable residents

References

  1. ↑ "Locality File" (XLS). Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. 2008. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
  2. ↑ "Kinneret Regional Project".
  3. ↑ "Tel Bet Yerah Research and Excavation Project".
  4. ↑ For All Tastes. Haaretz.