Ma'ale HaHamisha ( he, מַעֲלֵה הַחֲמִישָּׁה, ''lit.'' Ascent of the Five) 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 central
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 in the
Judea
Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Hebrew language#Modern Hebrew, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian vocalization, Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous L ...
n hills just off the
Jerusalem–Tel Aviv highway, It falls under the jurisdiction of
Mateh Yehuda Regional Council
Mateh Yehuda Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית מטה יהודה, ''Mo'atza Azorit Mateh Yehuda'', ar, مجلس إقليمي ماتيه يهودا ) is a regional council in the Jerusalem District of Israel. In 2008 it was home to 3 ...
. In it had a population of .
History
The kibbutz was founded by members of the
Gordonia youth movement
Gordonia ( he, גורדוניה) was a Zionist youth movement. The movement's doctrines were based on the beliefs of Aaron David Gordon, i.e. the redemption of Eretz Yisrael and the Jewish People through manual labor and the revival of the Hebrew ...
on 19 July 1938 as one of 57
tower and stockade settlements founded almost overnight between 1936 and 1939 in order to establish a permanent
Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
ish presence in
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
under the threat of attacks during the
Arab revolt
The Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية, ) or the Great Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية الكبرى, ) was a military uprising of Arab forces against the Ottoman Empire in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. On t ...
. It was named after five men ambushed and killed by Arab gunmen nearby. Ma'ale HaHamisha took in refugees from
Gush Etzion
Gush Etzion ( he, גּוּשׁ עֶצְיוֹן, ' Etzion Bloc) is a cluster of Israeli settlements located in the Judaean Mountains, directly south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the West Bank. The core group includes four Jewish agricultural v ...
in 1949.
File:מעלה החמישה - ביום העליה-JNF040287.jpeg, Ma'ale HaHamisha under construction 1938
File:מעלה החמישה - הקמת הצריף הראשון ביום העליה.-JNF035047.jpeg, Ma'ale HaHamisha July 1938
File:מעלה החמישה - מעבר ביטחון בין העמדה וצריף הדירה-JNF026750.jpeg, Ma'ale HaHamisha October 1938
File:מעלה החמישה - בניינים חדשים-JNF026753.jpeg, Ma'ale HaHamisha November 1938
File:עמדה מבוצרת במעלה החמישה-JNF007183.jpeg, Ma’ale HaHamisha 1938
File:מעלה החמישה - מעלה החמישה בשנה הראשונה לקיומה-JNF026751.jpeg, Ma'ale HaHamisha July 1939
File:מעלה החמישה - בתי המרגוע-JNF040288.jpeg, Ma'ale HaHamisha 1941
File:AERIAL VIEW OF KIBBUTZ MAALE HAHAMISHA. צילום אוויר של קיבוץ מעלי החמישה.D17-120.jpg, Ma'ale HaHamisha 1945
File:Ma'ale Hahamisha 1948.jpg, Food warehouse at Ma'ale HaHamisha on fire following Arab Legion shelling from Radar Hill, 1948
File:Peperman building.jpg, Peperman building, Ma'ale HaHamisha, after battle with Arab Legion. Originally a sanatorium for workers from Dead Sea Potash became Harel Brigade HQ.
File:Peperman building 1936.jpg, 1948 damage to the Peperman sanatorium
Economy
The kibbutz originally supported itself primarily on agriculture and developed both the Ma'ale HaHamisha cauliflower and peach, as well as gaining income from a hotel. In the early 2000s, the main issue in privatization of the kibbutz was what type of financial and social change could take place. Until then, all sources of income, including
German reparations and old age payments, went into the kibbutz kitty, which supplied all necessities, communal and individual. The concept of sliding pay scales for different work — promoted primarily by the younger generation — had to be reconciled with the contributions of the veteran members.
The kibbutz struggled over the fate of community property. Members' apartments might be individually owned, but over the years, as the older generation remained in smaller units, bigger apartments were built for the younger generation and for a new familial sleeping scheme that had abandoned separate children’s houses. Members also had to decide what to do with the hotel and conference center. It took intervention by an outside arbitrator to reconcile the differences.
In January 2005 the kibbutz was privatized.
The main part of the kibbutz's economy are the Ma'ale HaHamisha Hotel and the Sakoya Events compound.
Notable people
*
Avigdor Arikha
References
{{Authority control
Kibbutzim
Kibbutz Movement
Populated places established in 1938
1938 establishments in Mandatory Palestine
Privatized kibbutzim
Populated places in Jerusalem District