Maoz Haim ( he, מָעוֹז חַיִּים, ''lit.'' Haim's Fortress) 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 ...

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 adjacent to the

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan ( ar, نَهْر الْأُرْدُنّ, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn'', he, נְהַר הַיַּרְדֵּן, ''Nəhar hayYardēn''; syc, ܢܗܪܐ ܕܝܘܪܕܢܢ ''Nahrāʾ Yurdnan''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Shariea ...

in the

Beit She'an Beit She'an ( he, בֵּית שְׁאָן '), also Beth-shean, formerly Beisan ( ar, بيسان ), is a town in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below se ...

valley and falls under the jurisdiction of

Valley of Springs Regional Council Emek HaMa'ayanot Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית עמק המעיינות, ''Mo'atza Azorit Emek HaMa'ayanot'', lit. ''Valley of the Springs Regional Council'') is a regional council (Israel), regional council in the Northern Distric ...

. In it had a population of . Aside from agriculture, the kibbutz also has a plastics factory, "Poliraz".

History

The kibbutz was established in 1937 by

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and was named after Haim Shturman, a member of the

Hagana 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 Is ...

, who was killed there in 1938. Maoz Haim was established on what was traditionally land belonging to the

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

village of Al-Ghazzawiyya.

Landmarks

Zakum nature reserve

South of the kibbutz is a small (11

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 ...

) nature reserve of

Balanites aegyptiaca ''Balanites aegyptiaca'' (also known as the Egyptian balsam) is a species of tree, classified as a member of either the Zygophyllaceae or the Balanitaceae. This tree is native to much of Africa and parts of the Middle East. There are many comm ...

trees, called the Hurshat Zakum (Maoz Haim) reserve, declared in 1968. ''Zakum'' is the Hebrew name of the tree. This is probably the northernmost occurrence of these trees in the world.

Maoz Haim Synagogue

A 3rd century

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

was discovered in February 1974 during construction work near Maoz Haim. It is an unusual archaeological find in that it attests to a record of synagogue development from a time of otherwise sparse historiography, in times of anti-Judaic legislation.Levine, Lee. The Ancient Synagogue: The First Thousand Years, 211 It is situated in a large settlement where it served as a center of worship for

Jews 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""The ...

until destruction by fire sometime in the early 7th century.Levine, Lee, ed. Ancient Synagogues Revealed, 89

Notable people

Dvora Omer Dvora Omer ( he, דבורה עומר; October 9, 1932 – May 2, 2013) was an Israeli author. Biography Dvora OMER was born in 1932 in Kibbutz Ma'oz Haim in Mandatory Palestine.

(born 1932), author *

Ilan Shiloah Ilan Shiloah (also anglicised as Shiloach) is an Israeli businessman. He is the former CEO and chairman of McCann Erickson-Kesher-Barel, Israel's largest advertising firm. He is the chairman of The Time; a technology startups investment company. ...

(born 1957), businessman

Gallery

File:מעוז חיים - העליה למעוז חיים-JNF044857.jpeg, Maoz July 1937 arrival File:"מעוז" חיים - מראה הישוב.-JNF032846.jpeg, Maoz. 1938 File:מעוז חיים - המשמר הנודד-JNF029089.jpeg, Maoz 1938, Settlement Police patrol File:Maoz i.jpg, Members of Kibbutz Maoz on a training field trip. 1947 File:Maoz ii.jpg, Group from Kibbutz Maoz on a trek to Kaokab, 29 November 1947 File:Maoz iii.jpg, Trek to Kaokab

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control German-Jewish culture in Israel Kibbutzim Kibbutz Movement Populated places established in 1937 Nature reserves in Israel Populated places in Northern District (Israel) Polish-Jewish culture in Israel 1937 establishments in Mandatory Palestine