Afikim () is an Israeli kibbutz affiliated with the Kibbutz Movement located in the

Jordan Valley The Jordan Valley ( ar, غور الأردن, ''Ghor al-Urdun''; he, עֵמֶק הַיַרְדֵּן, ''Emek HaYarden'') forms part of the larger Jordan Rift Valley. Unlike most other river valleys, the term "Jordan Valley" often applies just to ...

three kilometers from the Sea of Galilee. It is within the jurisdiction of the

Emek HaYarden Regional Council Emek HaYarden Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית עמק הירדן, ''Mo'atza Azorit 'Emeq HaYarden'', ''lit.'' Jordan Valley Regional Council) is a regional council comprising much of the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, the southe ...

. In it had a population of .

Etymology

The name Afikim means "riverbeds", and refers to the Jordan River and its tributary, the

Yarmuk River The Yarmuk River ( ar, نهر اليرموك, translit=Nahr al-Yarmūk, ; Greek: Ἱερομύκης, ; la, Hieromyces or ''Heromicas''; sometimes spelled Yarmouk), is the largest tributary of the Jordan River. It runs in Jordan, Syria and Israel ...

, and is also taken from the Bible, Ezekiel 34:13: "I will pasture them ... in the riverbeds."

History

Russian Jews affiliated with the Hashomer Hatzair movement organised in 1924 and settled in the area of Wazia in the

Upper Galilee The Upper Galilee ( he, הגליל העליון, ''HaGalil Ha'Elyon''; ar, الجليل الأعلى, ''Al Jaleel Al A'alaa'') is a geographical-political term in use since the end of the Second Temple period. It originally referred to a mounta ...

. In 1932 the group moved to its current location on a tract of land belonging to Degania Bet, where it absorbed groups from the

Poale Zion Poale Zion (also spelled Poalei Tziyon or Poaley Syjon, meaning "Workers of Zion") was a movement of Marxist–Zionist Jewish workers founded in various cities of Poland, Europe and the Russian Empire in about the turn of the 20th century after ...

movement and

Hechalutz HeHalutz or HeChalutz ( he, הֶחָלוּץ, lit. "The Pioneer") was a Jewish youth movement that trained young people for agricultural settlement in the Land of Israel. It became an umbrella organization of the pioneering Zionist youth moveme ...

. The name "Afikim" was officially adopted in 1936. Yisrael Hofesh, one of the founders of the kibbutz, who died in 2011 at the age of 107, helped to establish the banana industry and worked in the plywood factory run by the kibbutz. File:אפיקים - פנורמה של עמק הירדן.-JNF037090.jpeg, Afikim, 1937 File:מגדל תצפית באפיקים בעמק הירדן-JNF034675.jpeg, Afikim watchtower 1939 File:Afikim ii.jpg, Afikim, 1948. Photograph from Palmach archive During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Afikim was subjected to frequent shelling by Syrian and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

i forces, and was a stronghold of Palmach activity. Afterwards it was a center for agricultural training for

IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces * Irish Defence Forces * Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 * Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations * Israeli Diving Federation * Interac ...

soldiers who planned to join kibbutzim after demobilization. During the split of the ''Kibbutz Meuhad'' movement, Afikim, unlike many other kibbutzim, did not split up into two villages. Rather it joined the

Mapai Mapai ( he, מַפָּא"י, an acronym for , ''Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael'', lit. "Workers' Party of the Land of Israel") was a democratic socialist political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger in ...

-affiliated faction which went on to found the ''Ihud Kibbutzim''. In 1977, Afikim hosted 66 refugees from

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. In 2011, the kibbutz accepted 100 new members. Nurse with kibbutz children

Economy

Afikim grows bananas, date palms,

avocado The avocado (''Persea americana'') is a medium-sized, evergreen tree in the laurel family ( Lauraceae). It is native to the Americas and was first domesticated by Mesoamerican tribes more than 5,000 years ago. Then as now it was prized for ...

s, olives, subtropical flora, and grains. It also engages in aquaculture and

dairy farming Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history th ...

. The kibbutz has 400 cows. It operates ''Afimilk'', a dairy equipment company, and ''Afikim Electric Vehicles'', a producer of electric vehicles. In the 1980s, Afikim went through an economic

crisis A crisis ( : crises; : critical) is either any event or period that will (or might) lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affair ...

and was partially privatized. In 2010, Afikim announced its partnership in a half-billion-dollar milk production project in

. The project involved establishing a dairy operation of 30,000 cows to supply 500,000 liters of milk a day, about 40% of Vietnam's present milk consumption. Afikim was responsible for all stages of the enterprise, including breeding and preparing land for crops used as feed. In addition to a demonstration farm with 174 cows established for educational purposes, a commercial milk farm with 20,000 cows, the TH Milk facility, was built in stages by 2015. The milk output per cow is 9,300 liters of milk annually despite tropical conditions.

Inventions

The first electronic milk meter, which measures how many liters of milk a cow has produced, was invented at Afikim. Other inventions include the pedometer, which counts the number of steps a cow takes, indicating the right time for insemination; AfiFarm, a milking and dairy herd management software program; AfiAct, a fertility detection system; and AfiLab, a device that analyses the components of the milk and detects bacteria.

Awards and recognition

In 2009, Assaf Inbari, a writer who grew up on the kibbutz, published '' Home'', a novel based on the history of Afikim. It was awarded the 2010 Israel Book Publishers Association's Platinum Prize and was on the shortlist of finalists for the

Sapir Prize for Literature The Sapir Prize for Literature of Israel is a prestigious annual literary award presented for a work of literature in the Hebrew language. The prize is awarded by Mifal HaPayis (Israel's state lottery), and is a part of the organization's cultura ...

. In 2011, Afikim Electric Vehicles' Breeze-S scooter won Germany's

Red Dot The Red Dot Design Award is a German international design prize awarded by Red Dot GmbH & Co. KG. There are prize categories for product design, brands and communication design, and design concept. Since 1955, designers and producers can appl ...

design award in the life science and medicine category.Afikim wins German design award
/ref>

Notable people

* Assaf Inbari * Yoel Palgi * Leo Roth * Zvi Brenner

Etymology

History

Economy

Inventions

Awards and recognition

Notable people

See also

References

Further reading