Yagur ( he, יָגוּר) 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 ...

northern Israel The Northern District ( he, מחוז הצפון, ''Mekhoz HaTzafon''; ar, منطقة الشمال, ''Minṭaqat ash-Shamāl'') is one of Israel's Districts of Israel, six administrative districts. The Northern District has a land area of 4,478&n ...

. Located on the northeastern slopes of

Mount Carmel Mount Carmel ( he, הַר הַכַּרְמֶל, Har haKarmel; ar, جبل الكرمل, Jabal al-Karmil), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias ( ar, link=no, جبل مار إلياس, Jabal Mār Ilyās, lit=Mount Saint Elias/Elijah), is a c ...

, about 9 km southeast of

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Zevulun Regional Council Zevulun Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית זבולון, ''Mo'atza Azorit Zvulun'') is a regional council in the Haifa District of Israel. Founded in 1950, it had a population of 10,900 in 2006. The council borders Mateh Asher Regio ...

. In it had a population of , making it one of the two largest kibbutzim in the country.

History

Yagur was founded in 1922 by a settlement group called ''Ahva'' ''(Brotherhood)''. Its name was taken from an Arab village called " Yajur" nearby. There is a site with a similar name ( Jagur) mentioned in the

Book of Joshua The Book of Joshua ( he, סֵפֶר יְהוֹשֻׁעַ‎ ', Tiberian: ''Sēp̄er Yŏhōšūaʿ'') is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Isra ...

15:21, though it was located in territory belonging to the

Tribe of Judah According to the Hebrew Bible, the tribe of Judah (, ''Shevet Yehudah'') was one of the twelve Tribes of Israel, named after Judah, the son of Jacob. Judah was the first tribe to take its place in the Land of Israel, occupying the southern ...

, far to the south. At first, the members worked drying up the

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

s surrounding the

Kishon River The Kishon River ( he, נחל הקישון, ; ar, نهر المقطع, , or , – ''the river of slaughter'' or ''dismemberment''; alternative Arabic, ) is a river in Israel that flows into the Mediterranean Sea near the city of Haifa. Course ...

and preparing the land for permanent settlement. They established various agricultural divisions and the kibbutz began to grow. On 11 April 1931 three members of the kibbutz were killed by members of a cell of the

Black Hand Black Hand or The Black Hand may refer to: Extortionists and underground groups * Black Hand (anarchism) (''La Mano Negra''), a presumed secret, anarchist organization based in the Andalusian region of Spain during the early 1880s * Black Hand (e ...

. During the Mandate era, Yagur was an important center for the

Haganah Haganah ( he, הַהֲגָנָה, lit. ''The Defence'') was the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population ("Yishuv") in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and its disestablishment in 1948, when it became the core of the ...

. During

Operation Agatha Operation Agatha (Saturday, June 29, 1946), sometimes called Black Sabbath ( he, השבת השחורה) or Black Saturday because it began on the Jewish sabbath, was a police and military operation conducted by the British authorities in Mandato ...

on 29 June 1946, the

British army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

conducted a major raid on the kibbutz and located a major arms depot hidden there after receiving a tip from informants. More than 300 rifles, some 100 2-inch mortars, more than 400,000 bullets, some 5,000 grenades and 78 revolvers were confiscated. Many members of the kibbutz were arrested.

Economy

The economy is now based on diversified

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

and

industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

. The kibbutz operates a 5-month work-study program for young adults (18-28) in which participants learn conversational

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and work in the kibbutz.

Notable people

Yisrael Bar-Yehuda Yisrael Bar-Yehuda ( he, ישראל בר-יהודה, 15 November 1895 – 15 May 1965) was a Zionist activist and Israeli politician. Biography Born Yisrael Idelson in Konotop, in the Chernigov Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Sum ...

(1895–1965),

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

member *

Uziel Gal Uziel "Uzi" Gal ( he, עוזיאל "עוזי" גל, born Gotthard Glas; 15 December 1923 – 7 September 2002) was an Israeli firearm designer, best remembered as the designer and namesake of the Uzi submachine gun. Biography Gal was born in ...

(1923–2002), designer of the

Uzi The Uzi (; he, עוזי, Ūzi; officially cased as UZI) is a family of Israeli open-bolt, blowback-operated submachine guns and machine pistols first designed by Major Uziel "Uzi" Gal in the late 1940s, shortly after the establishment of the ...

submachine gun *

Yoel Marcus Yoel Marcus () (5 February 1932 – 23 February 2022) was an Israeli journalist and political commentator. Biography Marcus was born in Istanbul on 5 February 1932. At the age of eleven, he immigrated to Mandatory Palestine alone with Youth Aliy ...

(1932–2022),

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...

commentator *

Itamar Marzel Itamar Marzel (איתמר מרזל; born May 16, 1949) is an Israeli former basketball player. He played the point guard position. He played in the Israeli Premier Basketball League, and for the Israel national basketball team. Biography Marzel ...

(born 1949), basketball player *

Yoram Taharlev Yoram Taharlev ( he, יורם טהרלב; 24 January 1938 – 6 January 2022) was an Israeli poet, lyricist, and author. He wrote lyrics for hundreds of songs recorded by prominent composers and performers. Biography Yoram Taharlev was born on ...

(1938–2022), poet, lyricist, author *

Ruth Westheimer Karola Ruth Westheimer ( Siegel; born June 4, 1928), better known as Dr. Ruth, is a German-American sex therapist, talk show host, author, professor, Holocaust survivor, and former Haganah sniper. Westheimer was born in Germany to a Jewish fam ...

(born Karola Siegel, 1928; known as "Dr. Ruth"), German-American sex therapist, talk show host, author, professor, Holocaust survivor, and former

sniper *

Assaf Yaguri Assaf Yaguri ( he, אסף יגורי, 13 February 1931 – 18 March 2000) was an Israeli soldier and politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the Democratic Movement for Change and Ya'ad between 1977 and 1981. Biography Born in Yagur ...

(1931–2000), Knesset member

Gallery

Image:The camp of gdud 'Shomeria'.jpg, Shomeria pioneer group at Yagur, 1921 File:יגור - מראה כללי-JNF029030.jpeg, Yagur 1926 File:יגור - צילום אויר-JNF035082.jpeg, Yagur 1939 File:יגור - מראה כללי-JNF022034.jpeg, Yagur 1945 File:Kibutz Yagur after the Black Shabath (Operation Agatha) H ih 040.JPG, A room in Kibbutz Yagur after a weapon search conducted during

. File:Yagur.jpg, Members of the Yiftach Brigade training at Yagur, 1948 File:נחל יגור בזרימה חזקה באזור הסכר בכנעסה לקיבוץ יגור.jpg, Nahal Yagur after rainfall

References

External links

Kibbutz website

Kibbutz Yagur Collection
(in Hebrew) on the Digital collections of

Younes and Soraya Nazarian Library The Younes and Soraya Nazarian Library is a central academic library of the University of Haifa, and one of the largest in Israel. It is also one of the most progressive Israeli libraries in terms of service, collection, physical space, and libr ...