Lahav ( he, לַהַב, ''lit. blade'') 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 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 around 20 km north of

Beersheba Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...

and covering 33,000

dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; tr, dönüm; he, דונם), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area equivalent to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amount ...

s, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Bnei Shimon Regional Council The Bnei Shimon Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית בני שמעון, ''Mo'atza Azorit Bnei Shim'on'', ''lit.'' Regional Council 'Sons of Shimon'), is a regional council in the northern Negev in the south of Israel. Most of its terri ...

. In it had a population of .

History

The kibbutz was established in 1952 and was initially named Tziklag ( he, צקלג) after the

Biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

city of Ziklag, which was thought to have been located nearby. Originally the founders had been unsure whether to settle in the

Negev The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southe ...

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 ...

, but accepted a government decision that settling on Tel Halif (''Tell el-Khuweilifeh'') in the Negev was more important. After a few years, the kibbutz was renamed Lahav in honour of the

Nahal Nahal ( he, נח"ל) (acronym of ''Noar Halutzi Lohem'', lit. Fighting Pioneer Youth) is a program that combines military service with mostly social welfare and informal education projects such as youth movement activities, as well as training ...

group which established it.

Archaeology

The ancient settlement of Tel Halif flourished at the time of ancient Egypt. It was a 7-acre site, and it was occupied from Chalcolithic times. Also, significant Early Bronze Age remains have been found. During the Late Bronze period, an Egyptian “residence building” had been discovered. This was the period corresponding to the

New Kingdom of Egypt The New Kingdom, also referred to as the Egyptian Empire, is the period in ancient Egyptian history between the sixteenth century BC and the eleventh century BC, covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth dynasties of Egypt. Radioca ...

, with several other similar sites found in this area. Significant discoveries were made during the excavations in 1994 at the 'Silo site' in the Nahal Tillah area. Protodynastic and Early Dynastic Egyptian buildings remains and pottery vessels were found. Also, a clay seal impression was found, as well as a sherd bearing the serekh symbol of King

Narmer Narmer ( egy, Wiktionary:nꜥr-mr, nꜥr-mr, meaning "painful catfish," "stinging catfish," "harsh catfish," or "fierce catfish;" ) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Early Dynastic Period (Egypt), Early Dynastic Period. He was the successor ...

. The settlement continued to flourish during the Iron Age II period, when it was fortified. It was also active during the Persian period; many figurine fragments have been discovered from that time.

Economy

The economy of Kibbutz Lahav is based on agriculture (both crops and livestock) and two industrial ventures: a plant for plastic containers (''Dolav'') owned and operated jointly with the neighboring kibbutz, Dvir, and a meat processing plant. In 1963, Lahav established the ''Institute for Animal Research'' with guidance from leading scientists from the

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

's Faculty of Agriculture, which is the only research facility in Israel specializing in raising pigs. According to a 1963 law, pigs can be legally raised in kibbutzim (or more generally on land leased from the state) only for research purposes, but meat from surplus animals may be sold. While all other kibbutzim abandoned pig farming to comply with the 1963 law, Lahav transferred its pig farm to its new organization, the Institute for Animal Research, which continues to supply Lahav's meat processing factory with surplus pigs. Lahav's pork and other meat products are nationally marketed in non-kosher food stores all over Israel, and the Lahav brand is a major competitor to non-kosher meat products of

Mizra Mizra ( he, מִזְרָע, ''lit.'' Sowing) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located between Afula and Nazareth, it falls under the jurisdiction of Jezreel Valley Regional Council. In it had a population of . History Kibbutz Mizra was establis ...

. The production of pig meat has raised criticism since the Torah prohibits the consumption of pork, which goes against the prevailing narrative of Israel as a "Jewish state".

References

External links

Lahav
Negev Information Centre
Lahav
Bnei Shimon Regional Council {{Authority control Kibbutzim Kibbutz Movement Populated places established in 1952 Populated places in Southern District (Israel) 1952 establishments in Israel