Kfar Menahem ( he, כְּפַר מְנַחֵם, ''lit.'' Menahem Village) 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 southern Israel. Located about 7 km east of Kiryat Malakhi, it falls under the jurisdiction of Yoav Regional Council. In it had a population of .

History

Kfar Menahem (originally ''Irgun Menahem'') was founded in 1935 by a group of pioneers from

Rehovot Rehovot ( he, רְחוֹבוֹת ''Rəḥōvōt'', ar, رحوڤوت ''Reḥūfūt'') is a city in the Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of . Etymology Israel Belkind, founder of the Bilu movement, ...

. The village was named for Menachem Ussishkin. During the Arab revolt in 1936, the place was abandoned by Jews and destroyed by Arabs. On 28 July 1937, it was re-established as a moshav but could not sustain itself. In 1939, the Irgun Menachem group was replaced by the Kvutzat Krit group from the United States, members of

Hashomer Hatzair Hashomer Hatzair ( he, הַשׁוֹמֵר הַצָעִיר, , ''The Young Guard'') is a Labor Zionist, secular Jewish youth movement founded in 1913 in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary, and it was also the name of the group ...

who were training in the moshava of Hadar, near Ramatayim. That year, members of the Irgun Menachem group who had left Kfar Menahem founded

Kfar Warburg Kfar Warburg ( he, כְּפַר וַרְבּוּרְג, ''lit.'' Warburg Village) is a large moshav in south-central Israel. Located near Kiryat Malakhi with 98 farms covering an area of 6,000 dunams, it falls under the jurisdiction of Be'er Tuvia ...

. Kfar Menahem was established as a Tower and Stockade colony on December 6, 1939 on a 3,650 dunam tract which had been purchased in 1935. The founders were a group of 32 American immigrants. By 1943, there were 245 inhabitants who worked in mixed farming (grains, vegetables, cattle, sheep and poultry) and industry (carpentry and garage). After the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...

, the kibbutz expanded onto about 9,000 dunams on land of the depopulated Arab village of

Idnibba Idnibba ( ar, إدنبّة) was a Palestinian village, located at latitude 31.7426937N and longitude 34.8561001,E in the southern part of the Ramle Subdistrict. It was depopulated in 1948, at which time its population was 568, and its lands are n ...

. The Yoav Regional Council high school "Tzafit" is located in Kfar Menahem. The kibbutz also operates a regional museum with a model of the original tower and stockade.

Architecture

The Beit Habanim culture hall in Kfar Menachem was designed by renowned architect

R. Buckminster Fuller Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing more t ...

, inventor of the

geodesic In geometry, a geodesic () is a curve representing in some sense the shortest path ( arc) between two points in a surface, or more generally in a Riemannian manifold. The term also has meaning in any differentiable manifold with a connection. ...

dome. It is an example of Brutalist architecture, using exposed concrete.A Forgotten Kibbutz Building Designed by Buckminster Fuller Holds a Lesson for Tel Aviv Architects

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 ...

Notable people

Juval Aviv Juval Aviv ( he, יובל אביב February 24, 1947), also Yuval Aviv, is an Israeli-American security consultant and founder of Interfor International"A Look Ahead At The ABA Banking Leaders Forum And Annual Convention," ''ABA Banking Journal'' ...

(born 1947), former Mossad officer, later security consultant *

Sandra Bernhard Sandra Bernhard (born June 6, 1955) is an American actress, singer, comedian and author. She first gained attention in the late 1970s with her stand-up comedy, where she often critiqued celebrity culture and political figures. She is perhaps b ...

, American comedian who worked as a volunteer in Kfar Menachem in the early 1970s

Gallery

File:כפר מנחם - בניית הישוב.-JNF034614.jpeg, Kfar Menahem under construction 1937 File:כפר מנחם - מראה כללי.-JNF034679.jpeg, Kfar Menahem under construction 1937 File:כפר מנחם - מראה.-JNF045540.jpeg, Kfar Menahem completed tower 1937 File:כפר מנחם - חגיגת טקס הזריעה.-JNF045280.jpeg, Kfar Menahem 1939 File:כפר מנחם - האופה-JNF001518.jpeg, Kfar Menahem bakery File:Idhnibba 1945.jpg, Kfar Menahem 1945 1:250,000 File:Idhnibba 1948.jpg, Kfar Menahem 1948 1:20,000

References

External links

Official website
{{Yoav Kibbutzim Kibbutz Movement Populated places established in 1935 Populated places established in 1937 1935 establishments in Mandatory Palestine 1937 establishments in Mandatory Palestine Populated places in Southern District (Israel)