Ben Shemen Youth Village ( he, כפר הנוער בן שמן, ''Kfar HaNo'ar Ben Shemen'') is a

youth village A youth village ( he, כפר נוער, ''Kfar No'ar'') is a boarding school model first developed in Mandatory Palestine in the 1930s to care for groups of children and teenagers fleeing the Nazis. Henrietta Szold and Recha Freier were the pionee ...

and agricultural boarding school in central

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 ...

. Located near

Ben Shemen Ben Shemen ( he, בֶּן שֶׁמֶן, ''lit.'' very fruitful) is a moshav in central Israel. Located around four kilometres east of Lod, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hevel Modi'in Regional Council. In it had a population of . Etymolog ...

and Ginaton, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hevel Modi'in Regional Council. In it had a population of .

History

The village was established in 1927 on the land of the

Hadid Hadid ( he, חָדִיד) is a moshav in central Israel. Located near Modi'in, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hevel Modi'in Regional Council. In it had a population of . History According to the Mishnah, the town of Hadid was encompassed ...

factory by Siegfried Lehman. Its aim was to endow children with a

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

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. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the isolated village was under siege by the

Arab Legion The Arab Legion () was the police force, then regular army of the Emirate of Transjordan, a British protectorate, in the early part of the 20th century, and then of independent Jordan, with a final Arabization of its command taking place in 1 ...

; eleven youths were killed in one attempt to bring in supplies. Notable graduates include Shimon Peres,

Shulamit Aloni Shulamit Aloni ( he, שולמית אלוני; 29 December 1928 – 24 January 2014) was an Israeli politician. She founded the Ratz party, was leader of the Meretz party, Leader of the Opposition from 1988 to 1990, and served as Minister of Edu ...

Moshe Katsav Moshe Katsav ( he, מֹשֶׁה קַצָּב; born 5 December 1945) is an Israeli former politician who was the eighth President of Israel from 2000 to 2007. He was also a leading Likud member of the Israeli Knesset and a minister in its cabine ...

, Dan Ben Amotz, Ze'ev Gur-Arie (Wolfgang Lotz),

Micha Tomkiewicz Micha Tomkiewicz (born May 25, 1939) is a Polish scientist, professor and writer. Biography Marcelli Robert (his name was changed after the war to "Micha") Tomkiewicz was born on May 25, 1939, in Warsaw, Poland, and lived in the Warsaw Ghetto be ...

, Amitai Etzioni, and

Haim Saban Haim Saban (; he, חיים סבן; born October 15, 1944) is an Israeli-American media proprietor, investor, and producer of records, film, and television. A businessman with interests in financial services, entertainment, and media, and an e ...

. Today, it has around 1,000 students, of which 400 live in the village.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Youth villages in Israel Populated places established in 1927 Jewish villages in Mandatory Palestine Populated places in Central District (Israel) 1927 establishments in Mandatory Palestine Lithuanian-Jewish culture in Israel