Eshhar ( he, אֶשְׁחָר) is a

community settlement A community settlement ( he, יישוב קהילתי, ''Yishuv Kehilati'') is a type of village in Israel and the West Bank. While in an ordinary town anyone may buy property, in a community settlement the village's residents are organized in ...

in northern Israel. Located in the

Galilee Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Galil ...

to the south of

Karmiel Karmiel ( he, כַּרְמִיאֵל) is a city in northern Israel. Established in 1964 as a development town, Karmiel is located in the Beit HaKerem Valley which divides upper and lower Galilee. The city is located south of the Acre-Safed road, f ...

and north of

Sakhnin Sakhnin ( ar, سخنين; he, סַחְ'נִין or ''Sikhnin'') is an Arab city in Israel's Northern District. It is located in the Lower Galilee, about east of Acre. Sakhnin was declared a city in 1995. In its population was , mostly Muslim ...

, it falls under the jurisdiction of Misgav Regional Council. In it had a population of . It is adjacent to the

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...

village of

Arab al-Na'im Arab al-Na'im ( ar, عرب النعيم; he, ערב א-נעים) is a Bedouin village in northern Israel. Located in the Galilee near Karmiel, it falls under the jurisdiction of Misgav Regional Council. In its population was . History As an un ...

, with which it shares an access road.

History

In 1979, a group of Jews in Chicago came up with a plan to establish a joint secular-religious community in Israel. Eshhar was established in 1986 by a

gar'in Gar'in (, ''lit.'' kernel) is a Hebrew term used for groups of people who moved together to Ottoman Palestine, British Palestine, and since 1948, Israel.Joel Beinin The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry- 2005 9774248902 "arrived in Israel while the mi ...

comprising this group and other English-speaking and Israeli families. The community was named for the

Rhamnus palaestinus Rhamnus may refer to: * Rhamnus (city), or Rhamnous, an ancient Greek city in Attica * Rhamnus (Crete), or Rhamnous, an ancient Greek town in Crete * Rhamnus, an augur killed by Nisus and Euryalus in book IX of The Aeneid * ''Rhamnus'' (plant) or ...

(buckthorn), "eshhar" in Hebrew. Residents avoid driving within the village on

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

and public events are

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...

. Beyond this, residents define their own lifestyles, without coercion. The local

Tzofim Tzufim ( he, צוּפִים), or Tzufin (), is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Located north of Alfei Menashe and Qalqilyah and northeast of Kfar Saba, it is organised as a community settlement and falls under the jurisdiction of Shomr ...

scout group is open to both religious and secular youth. Plans for a pluralistic Meguvan-affiliated elementary school failed due to legal issues and opposition from the Ministry of Education and the Regional Council. An attempt to establish such a school in

Moreshet Moreshet ( he, מוֹרֶשֶׁת, ''lit.'' Heritage) is a community settlement in northern Israel whose members adhere to a religious Jewish identity. Located in the Lower Galilee between Karmiel Karmiel ( he, כַּרְמִיאֵל) is a city i ...

failed for similar reasons. Children attend local religious or secular schools instead. Relations with the adjacent hillside Bedouin village of

are generally good, based on a firm footing established in initial meetings between the councils of the two villages in the 1990s, when it was agreed that "good neighborly relations" would be a pragmatic and helpful arrangement. Eshhar as a community, along with other Jewish organizations, have been involved in supporting Arab al-Na'im's leaders in obtaining state recognition and, subsequently, connection to municipal services and the institution of a master plan for the village, enabling the first permanent masonry-built houses to be constructed there in 2014.

Facilities

Facilities in the village include an Orthodox

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

and community hall opened in 2014, a

mikveh Mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvoth'', ''mikvot'', or (Yiddish) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. Most forms of ritual impurity can be purif ...

, a small petting zoo, a library, outdoor sports facilities and young children playgrounds, a community pub, a

community orchard A community orchard is a collection of fruit trees shared by communities and growing in publicly accessible areas such as public greenspaces, parks, schools, churchyards, allotments or, in the US, abandoned lots. Such orchards are a shared re ...

and several walking trails. There is a nursery for children from the age of three months to three years, and three kindergartens. Construction of a new neighborhood (Shlav - Stage "Daled 1") started in 2021 with many cottages getting populated over 2022-23. Groundwork for a further neighborhood expansion (Stage Daled 2) is being initiated in the near future . Future expansion of the village (Daled 2-3) is planned.

References

External links

Official websiteEshhar page
Galilee Development Authority
Eshhar page
Misgav Regional Council {{Misgav Regional Council Community settlements Populated places established in 1986 1986 establishments in Israel Populated places in Northern District (Israel) American-Jewish culture in Israel Jews and Judaism in Chicago