Lavi ( he, לָבִיא, ''lit.'' Lion) is a kibbutz in northern

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 310 meters above sea level and 10 minutes from

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's F ...

, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Lower Galilee Regional Council The Lower Galilee Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית הגליל התחתון, ''Mo'atza Azorit HaGalil HaTahton'') is a regional council in the Northern District of Israel. Lower Galilee Regional Council encompasses most of the settle ...

. In it had a population of .

History

The kibbutz was founded in 1949 by young religious immigrants from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, who were from the British branch of

Bnei Akiva Bnei Akiva ( he, בְּנֵי עֲקִיבָא, , "Children of Akiva") is the largest religious Zionist youth movement in the world, with over 125,000 members in 42 countries. It was first established in Mandatory Palestine in 1929. History B ...

, a religious Zionist youth movement. Many of the founders were among the 10,000 Jewish children who were taken to the United Kingdom from Germany as part of the 1938-1940

Kindertransport The ''Kindertransport'' (German for "children's transport") was an organised rescue effort of children (but not their parents) from Nazi-controlled territory that took place during the nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World ...

program following

Kristallnacht () or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation fro ...

. In its early years the Bachad movement raised money in the UK for the kibbutz as well as providing agricultural and educational training for

and Bachad members in the UK on

Thaxted Thaxted is a town and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of north-west Essex, England. The town is in the valley of the River Chelmer, not far from its source in the nearby village of Debden, and is 97 metres (318 feet) above sea level (whe ...

Farm, Essex. Lavi was the first kibbutz where children lived with their parents, instead of in communal children's quarters where the children of other kibbutzim were housed and fed. Among the founders of the kibbutz was Yehuda Avner, a British immigrant who became a diplomat and advisor to several Israeli prime ministers. The first couple to be married on the kibbutz, founders Michael and Marion Mittwoch, celebrated the birth of their 100th great-grandchild in January 2015. The kibbutz was founded on land of the Arab village of

Lubya Lubya ( ar, لوبيا "bean"), sometimes referred to as Lubia, was a Palestinian Arab town located ten kilometers west of Tiberias that was captured and destroyed by Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War where its residents were forcefully ev ...

, depopulated during 1948 by the Hagana forces. The source of the name "Lavi" and "Lubia" is from the ancient Lavi village which existed in the days of the

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Tor ...

and

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

, in which there was an inn called "Lavi", on the way from

Sepphoris Sepphoris (; grc, Σέπφωρις, Séphōris), called Tzipori in Hebrew ( he, צִפּוֹרִי, Tzipori),Palmer (1881), p115/ref> and known in Arabic as Saffuriya ( ar, صفورية, Ṣaffūriya) since the 7th century, is an archaeolog ...

. In 2005, 770 people lived in the kibbutz. Since 2003 a program in Lavi has been open for children at the

Jewish Free School JFS (formerly known as the Jews' Free School and later Jewish Free School) is a Jewish mixed comprehensive school in Kenton, North London, England and was founded in 1732. Amongst its early supporters was the writer and philanthropist Charlot ...

in London, England. The same opportunity was also opened for the King David School. The group stays in the kibbutz for 9 weeks, while attending the nearby school and touring the country.

Economy

The kibbutz's main income sources are

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 t ...

, Lavi furniture Industries, a 55 years carpentry workshop which manufactures furniture for synagogues around the world, a hotel with facilities suitable for Orthodox Jews as well as other guests and Kibbutz members who work outside, whose salaries are paid to the kibbutz. The village has a religious elementary state school, which also serves other villages in the Regional Council. The children of junior high and high school age study at the "Shaked" school in

Sde Eliyahu Sde Eliyahu ( he, שְׂדֵה אֵלִיָּהוּ, ''lit.'' Eliyahu Field) is a religious kibbutz in northern Israel. Located five kilometres south of Beit She'an, it falls under the jurisdiction of Valley of Springs Regional Council. In it ...

. There is a religious boarding school called "

Hodayot Hodayot ( he, הוֹדָיוֹת) (lit. "Thanksgiving") is a religious boarding school and youth village in northern Israel. Located to the west of the Sea of Galilee, it falls under the jurisdiction of Lower Galilee Regional Council. In it had a ...

" next to the kibbutz. Because of Lavi's central location in the Lower Galilee Lavi, many tourist sites are within walking distance or less than 45 minutes away by car: The Lavi forest, The Horns of

Hittin Hittin ( ar, حطّين, transliterated ''Ḥiṭṭīn'' ( ar, حِـطِّـيْـن) or ''Ḥaṭṭīn'' ( ar, حَـطِّـيْـن)) was a Palestinian village located west of Tiberias before it was occupied by Israel during the 1948 Arab- ...

Nabi Shu'ayb Nabi Shuʿayb (also transliterated Neby Shoaib, Nabi Shuaib, or Nebi Shu'eib, meaning "the Prophet Shuaib"), known in English as Jethro's tomb, is a religious shrine west of Tiberias, in the Lower Galilee, containing the purported tomb of prophet ...

which is regarded by the Druze to be the burial site of the biblical Jethro, The Tzipori National Park and Safed are a few well-known examples.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control British-Jewish culture in Israel German-Jewish culture in Israel Kibbutzim Religious Kibbutz Movement Populated places established in 1949 Populated places in Northern District (Israel) 1949 establishments in Israel