Ben Shemen Youth Village

Ben Shemen Youth Village
כפר הנוער בן שמן

Ben Shemen youth village, 1920s-1930s
Ben Shemen Youth Village
Coordinates: 31°57′32.47″N 34°55′40.19″E / 31.9590194°N 34.9278306°E / 31.9590194; 34.9278306Coordinates: 31°57′32.47″N 34°55′40.19″E / 31.9590194°N 34.9278306°E / 31.9590194; 34.9278306
District Central
Council Hevel Modi'in
Founded 1927
Founded by Siegfried Lehmann
Population (2014)[1] 609
Website www.ben-shemen.org.il

Ben Shemen Youth Village (Hebrew: כפר הנוער בן שמן, Kfar HaNo'ar Ben Shemen) is a youth village and agricultural boarding school in central Israel. Located near Ben Shemen and Ginaton, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hevel Modi'in Regional Council. In 2014 it had a population of 609.

History

The village was established in 1927 on the land of the Hadid factory by Siegfried Lehman. Its aim was to endow children with a Zionist ethic, teach them to work the land, and install an appreciation of responsibility. The school's first students were from Kaunas in Lithuania.

In 1947, it had a population of roughly 1,000.[2] During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the isolated village was under siege by the Arab Legion; eleven youths were killed in one attempt to bring in supplies.[2]

Notable graduates include Shimon Peres, Shulamit Aloni, Moshe Katsav, Dan Ben Amotz, Micha Tomkiewicz, Amitai Etzioni, and Haim Saban. Today, it has around 1,000 students, of which 400 live in the village.

References

  1. 2014 populations Israel Central Bureau of Statistics
  2. 1 2 Jewish National Fund (1949). Jewish Villages in Israel. Jerusalem: Hamadpis Liphshitz Press. p. 16.

External links

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