Ketura () is a

kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...

in southern

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. Located north of

Eilat Eilat ( , ; ; ) is Israel's southernmost city, with a population of , a busy port of Eilat, port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan as the Gulf of Aqaba. The c ...

in the

Aravah The Arabah/Araba () or Aravah/Arava () is a loosely defined geographic area in the Negev Desert, south of the Dead Sea drainage basin, basin, which forms part of the border between Israel to the west and Jordan to the east. The old meaning, wh ...

Valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hevel Eilot Regional Council. In it had a population of .

Name

The name Ketura was taken from a nearby hill and wadi, and is also the name of the second wife of

Abraham Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...

().

History

Ketura was founded in November 1973 by a group of young American Jewish immigrants, most of them members of the Zionist youth movement Young Judaea. Difficulties in the early years frustrated many of the inhabitants of the kibbutz, which caused many of the founders to leave. At the same time, more Young Judaeans joined the community, along with a variety of other immigrants as well as Israel Boy and Girl Scouts Federation graduates. Ketura is in the Southern Arava - Hevel Eilot Regional Council. Today Ketura has about 165 members and several young families who are candidates to become members. During the year there are about 500 people living on Ketura, members and their families, students in the

Arava Institute for Environmental Studies Arava or Aravah is the Hebrew name of a section of the Great Rift Valley between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat in Israel and Jordan. Its Arabic name is Arabah. Arava may also refer to: Places *Arava, Estonia, a village in Anija Parish, ...

, volunteers from around the world, Arava International Center for Agriculture Training (AICAT) students from around the world, NOAM youth movement members in various programs such as

gap year A gap year, also known as a sabbatical year, is a period of time when students take a break from their studies, usually after completing high school or before beginning graduate school. During this time, students engage in a variety of educatio ...

or service year (''shnat sherut''), Israeli post-army 'avoda muedefet' participants, and researchers who come to work in regional institutes.

Religious culture

Ketura is unique among kibbutzim for its religious pluralism. Although the kibbutz is not considered a religious kibbutz, Jewish dietary laws (''kashrut'') and Sabbath rules are observed in the dining room, public areas, and at social and cultural events, and there is a functioning congregation-led egalitarian synagogue. The population of the kibbutz is composed of observant, masorati (moderately observant), and secular members, an unusual situation for a kibbutz. Ketura received the Speaker of the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

Prize for religious tolerance as a result of its religious progressiveness.

Economy

PikiWiki Israel 29319 Algae factory in Kibbutz Ketura

The kibbutz is best known for its involvement in ecological activities, mainly its partnership in the local algae factory, Algatech, and its guest house and educational seminar center, Keren Kolot. The

solar power Solar power, also known as solar electricity, is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Solar panels use the photovoltaic effect to c ...

industry (see

below Below may refer to: *Earth *Ground (disambiguation) *Soil *Floor * Bottom (disambiguation) *Less than *Temperatures below freezing *Hell or underworld People with the surname * Ernst von Below (1863–1955), German World War I general * Fred Belo ...

) has been gaining importance locally. Economic cooperation with other kibbutzim in the area includes a regional date-packing plant, Ardom Computing Services, and Ardag, a large fish hatchery near Eilat. Many members work outside the kibbutz in professional positions such as teachers, physical and occupational therapists, researchers, social workers, and more. Ketura also offers accounting and bookkeeping services, with many members working in these positions. A number of members work in the local NGO—The

(AIES).

PikiWiki Israel 29353 Guest houses in Kibbutz Ketura

Agriculture

Agricultural enterprises of the kibbutz include date orchards.

Guest house and seminar center

The kibbutz is well known for its guest house and educational seminar center — Keren Kolot

Algae production and processing

The red rainwater

microalgae Microalgae or microphytes are microscopic scale, microscopic algae invisible to the naked eye. They are phytoplankton typically found in freshwater and marine life, marine systems, living in both the water column and sediment. They are unicellul ...

('' Haematococcus pluvialis'') are single-cell organisms, part of the oldest group of living organisms. Their long evolution led them to adapt to extreme conditions and to develop survival mechanisms against

bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

and

fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

. Haematococcus pluvialis has been cultivated and processed at Ketura since 1998, when the AlgaTechnologies, Ltd. company was established, for their content of astaxanthin, one of the strongest known natural

antioxidant Antioxidants are Chemical compound, compounds that inhibit Redox, oxidation, a chemical reaction that can produce Radical (chemistry), free radicals. Autoxidation leads to degradation of organic compounds, including living matter. Antioxidants ...

substances, considered to benefic to the immune,

cardiovascular In vertebrates, the circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the body. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, that consists of the heart a ...

and

nervous system In biology, the nervous system is the complex system, highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its behavior, actions and sense, sensory information by transmitting action potential, signals to and from different parts of its body. Th ...

s, to joints and muscles. The main Algatech product, AstaPure, is natural astaxanthin extracted from the algae. It is mainly sold the United States, Japan and Europe—in total, to more than 30 countries, where it is used as a natural ingredient and pigment for use in cosmetics; Algatech homepage
/ref> and as a

nutraceutical Nutraceutical is a terminology evolved scientifically & also through marketing which is used to imply a pharmaceutical effect from plant extracts, compounds, food products which have efficacy and therapeutic influence on clinical outcomes and patien ...

, including as an ingredient for dietary supplements. Research has proven astaxanthin to have positive health effects on a multitude of organs and body functions, such as: eyesight, skin, physical effort during sport activities, cognitive abilities, anti-inflammatory effects and so forth. Algatech, to which Kibbutz Ketura is a partner, is considered a leading company in microalgae agriculture and one of the most forward-looking innovators in the field, worldwide.

Environmentalism

Ketura is part of the Green Kibbutz movement. In addition to promoting awareness, recycling and opening a second-hand store, Ketura planted a

community garden A community garden is a piece of land gardened or cultivated by a group of people individually or collectively. Normally in community gardens, the land is divided into individual plots. Each individual gardener is responsible for their own plot ...

and operates a high-tech algae farm.

Arava Institute for Environmental Studies

Members of Ketura founded the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies (AIES), which is located at Ketura. The institute promotes regional environmental cooperation between Israelis, Palestinians and residents of neighbouring Arab countries in environmental matters, with a focus on desert ecosystems.

Solar power

Ketura is a partner in the Arava Power Company (APC), producing electricity from

solar panel A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...

s. There is one 4.95MW field on the kibbutz, Ketura Sun, with a second 40MW field opened in 2015, then the largest in Israel.Sharon Udasin
Israel's largest solar field begins flowing to the national grid
The Jerusalem Post, 29 July 2015. Accessed 24 September 2018.

Date palm grown from germinated ancient seed

The first surviving example of the Judean date palm, artificially germinated from a 2,000-year-old seed discovered during archaeological excavations in

Masada Masada ( ', 'fortress'; ) is a mountain-top fortress complex in the Judaean Desert, overlooking the western shore of the Dead Sea in southeastern Israel. The fort, built in the first century BCE, was constructed atop a natural plateau rising ov ...

, was planted in Ketura and continues to survive there. It was nicknamed 'Methuselah'. Several others have since been grown from seeds found in the

Dead Sea The Dead Sea (; or ; ), also known by #Names, other names, is a landlocked salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east, the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the west and Israel to the southwest. It lies in the endorheic basin of the Jordan Rift Valle ...

region, including some female specimens, which are likely to one day be pollinated by material from Methuselah.

Notable people

* Yosef Abramowitz

References

External links

Official website
*
"Middle Eastern Medical Plant Project,"
Hadassah Medical Center
Arava Institute for Environmental Studies Algatech homepage (only contains contact details; September 2018)
{{Authority control 1973 establishments in Israel Algaculture American-Jewish culture in Israel Kibbutz Movement Kibbutzim Solar power in Israel