Vardon

For the surname, see Vardon Family.
Vardon Aerial View

Vardon (Hebrew: ורדון) is a communal village in south-central Israel north of Kiryat Gat and south of Kiryat Malakhi. It belongs to the Yoav Regional Council.

It was founded in 1960 as a youth center and became a communal village in 1998. It is found at the central intersection between three large moshavim: Menuha, Nahala and Sgula.

Vardon was founded on land belonging to the Palestinian village of Summeil, which was depopulated in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.[1]

The name of the community is a loose translation for the family of Julius Rosenfeld who was a Jewish donor from the United States. ("Vardon" is derived from vered, which means "rose", hence Rosenfeld. A similar motive can be found in the name for Kfar Etzion and Gush Etzion).

Population

As of 2007, Vardon has 69 families, who are about 280 residents. The population is diverse, with both secular and religious Jews, both native-born and immigrants from abroad.

Education

Vardon, being a small community, has no schools, so it relies on schools of the Yoav Regional Council and the surrounding communities. The residents may go to either secular or religious schools. The elementary schools are "Sdot Yoav" in kibbutz Gat and "Yad Hazon" in Be'er Tuvia. High schools are "Tzafit" in Kfar Menahem and "Gruss" in Kiryat Gat.

Services

In Vardon there is a youth center, a sports field, public gardens, playgrounds, and a regional infirmary.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vardon.
  1. Khalidi, Walid (1992), All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948, Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies, p. 137, ISBN 0-88728-224-5

Coordinates: 31°39′47.16″N 34°46′49.44″E / 31.6631000°N 34.7804000°E