Ayelet HaShahar ( he, אַיֶּלֶת הַשַּׁחַר) is a

kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

in northern

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

acquired in 1892 and settled in the second Aliyah, located on the

Korazim Plateau The Korazim Plateau ( he, רמת כורזים, ''Ramat Korazim'', also spelled Corazim), is a volcanic plateau, located in northern Israel. The plateau is bounded between by the Hula Valley in the north, Sea of Galilee in the south, the mountai ...

, by the

Rosh Pina Rosh Pina (ראש פינה) is a lay-led independent minyan in Washington, D.C. It meets for Shabbat morning services twice a month in the National Museum of American Jewish Military History (NMAJMH). It also meets occasionally for Friday night a ...

–

Metulla Metula ( he, מְטֻלָּה) is a town in the Northern District of Israel. Metula is located next to the northern border with Lebanon. In it had a population of . Metula is the northernmost town in Israel. History Bronze and Iron Age Metula ...

road, it is approximately south of

Kiryat Shmona Kiryat Shmona ( he, קִרְיַת שְׁמוֹנָה, ''lit.'' Town of the Eight) is a city in the Northern District of Israel on the western slopes of the Hula Valley near the Lebanese border. The city was named after the eight people, inclu ...

and falls under the jurisdiction of

Upper Galilee Regional Council The Upper Galilee Regional Council ( he, מוֹעָצָה אֲזוֹרִית הַגָּלִיל הַעֶלְיוֹן, translit. ''Mo'atza Azorit HaGalil HaElyon'') is a regional council in Israel's Upper Galilee region, bordered by the Mevo'ot HaH ...

. In , it had a population of . Named after the introduction of

Psalm 22 Psalm 22 of the Book of Psalms (the hind of the dawn) or My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? is a psalm in the Bible. The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and a book of the Christian Old Testament. In the ...

, and means "hind of the dawn".

History

The name of the kibbutz, literally ''"hind of the dawn"'', is taken from the first line of

in reference to ''Najmat es-Subh'' ( ar, نجمة الصبح, lit=star of the dawn), the original name of the land on which the kibbutz is located. The land was bought by the

Jewish Colonization Association The Jewish Colonisation Association (JCA or ICA, Yiddish ייִק"אַ), in America spelled Jewish Colonization Association, is an organisation created on September 11, 1891, by Baron Maurice de Hirsch. Its aim was to facilitate the mass emigratio ...

in 1892, and first settled by immigrants from

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

in 1915 during the

Second Aliyah The Second Aliyah ( he, העלייה השנייה, ''HaAliyah HaShniya'') was an aliyah (Jewish emigration to Palestine) that took place between 1904 and 1914, during which approximately 35,000 Jews immigrated into Ottoman-ruled Palestine, mos ...

period. A

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

conducted in 1922 by the British Mandate authorities, recorded a population of 78 Jews.Barron, 1923, p
41
/ref> During the end of the British mandate, the kibbutz was the staging ground for Palmach operations:

Night of the Bridges The Night of the Bridges (formally Operation Markolet) was a Haganah venture on the night of 16 to 17 June 1946 in the British Mandate of Palestine, as part of the Jewish insurgency in Palestine (1944–7). Its aim was to destroy eleven bridges l ...

and the bombing of the Yarmuk Bridge (16–17 June 1946). After the

1947–1949 Palestine war The 1948 Palestine war was fought in the territory of what had been, at the start of the war, British-ruled Mandatory Palestine. It is known in Israel as the War of Independence ( he, מלחמת העצמאות, ''Milkhemet Ha'Atzma'ut'') and ...

, Ayelet HaShahar took over the land from the newly depopulated

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

village of Yarda. File:קיבוץ אילת השחר בגליל העליון-JNF022486.jpeg, Ayelet HaShahar, 1919 File:איילת השחר - מראה.-JNF044835.jpeg, Ayelet HaShahar, 1937 File:איילת השחר - צילום אויר-JNF009502.jpeg, Ayelet HaShahar, 1939 File:Historical map series for the area of Kirad al-Ghannama (1940s).jpg, Aiyelet hash Shahar near Kh. Najmat es Subh, 1942 File:Ayelet Hashahar.jpg, Palmach youth group at Ayelet Hashahar, 1946 File:AyeletShahar.jpg, Yiftach 3rd Battalion. Ayelet HaShahar. 1948 File:Ayelet HaShahar.jpg, Collecting stray camels. Ayelet HaShahar. 1948

Economy

Ayelet HaShahar is one of the larger fruit producers in Israel. They also raise dairy cattle and poultry, and manage beehives (the kibbutz is a major producer of Israel's honey). There are fish ponds, which take water from canals that drain the nearby

Hula Valley The Hula Valley ( he, עמק החולה, translit. ''Emek Ha-Ḥula''; also transliterated as Huleh Valley, ar, سهل الحولة) is an agricultural region in northern Israel with abundant fresh water, which used to be Lake Hula, prior to ...

swamps.

Landmarks

Tel Hazor Tel Hazor ( he, תל חצור), also Chatsôr ( he, חָצוֹר), translated in LXX as Hasōr ( grc, Άσώρ), identified at Tell Waqqas / Tell Qedah el-Gul ( ar, تل القدح, Tell el-Qedah), is an archaeological tell at the site of ancie ...

, the capital of

Canaan Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...

ite Galilee, lies opposite the kibbutz. The Archaeological Museum of Hatzor is located at the kibbutz. Antiquities from Tel Hazor are displayed, but many of the original artifacts are actually at the

Israel Museum The Israel Museum ( he, מוזיאון ישראל, ''Muze'on Yisrael'') is an art and archaeological museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world’s leading encyclopa ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Notable people

* Tzruya Lahav, songwriter, singer, and novelist * Avshalom Okashi, artistIsrael Museum Israeli Art Information Center
/ref>

References

Bibliography

External links

Kibbutz website

article written by Ellis Shuman, June 16, 2004, mentions the vote by members of Kibbutz Ayelet Hashahar to transform their cooperative into a

moshav A moshav ( he, מוֹשָׁב, plural ', lit. ''settlement, village'') is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 an ...

.
Mevo HaGalil Elementary School
{{Authority control Kibbutzim Kibbutz Movement Populated places established in 1915 1915 establishments in the Ottoman Empire Populated places in Northern District (Israel) Jewish villages in the Ottoman Empire 1910s establishments in Ottoman Syria