Sa'ad () is a religious kibbutz located in the northwestern

Negev The Negev ( ; ) or 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 southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort town, resort city ...

desert 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 near the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

, and the cities of

Sderot Sderot (, , ; , sometimes Romanized as "Sederot") is a western Negev city and former development town in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel. In , it had a population of . Sderot is located less than a mile from Gaza St ...

and

Netivot Netivot () is a city located in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel, located 8 miles (13 kilometers) southeast of Sderot and 19 miles (31 kilometers) northwest of Beersheba. In , it had a population of . Currently seeing r ...

, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Sdot Negev Regional Council Sdot Negev Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Azorit Sdot Negev'', ''lit.'' Negev Fields Regional Council), formerly Azata Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Azorit Azata''), is a regional council (Israel), regional council in the northwestern Negev dese ...

. In , it had a population of .

History

PikiWiki Israel 7494 old security house of kibbutz saad

The kibbutz was founded on 30 June 1947, the day after the one-year anniversary of

Operation Agatha Operation Agatha (Saturday, June 29, 1946), sometimes called Black Sabbath () or Black Saturday because it began on the Jewish sabbath, was a police and military operation conducted by the British authorities in Mandatory Palestine during the J ...

, by graduates of the

Bnei Akiva Bnei Akiva (, , "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, advocating the values of Torah and labor. Bne ...

movement. It was established in a manner similar to the tower and stockade settlement campaign of the late 1930s, and was the first religious kibbutz to be founded by Sabras. During the

1948 War The 1948 Palestine war was fought in the territory of what had been, at the start of the war, British-ruled Mandatory Palestine. During the war, the British withdrew from Palestine, Zionist forces conquered territory and established the Stat ...

, the kibbutz was almost entirely destroyed by the Egyptian army. The local museum "Ma'oz Mul 'Aza" (Stronghold at Gaza) details the history of the war in this area, opposite the Gaza strip. Following the war, the kibbutz members renewed their cultivation of the land, developing over the following fifty years, a multi-generational population that generates its income from

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

and industry.

Economy

Sa'ad is one of Israel's largest producers of

carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in colour, though heirloom variants including purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild ...

s, with a quarter of the country's production. Other crops include potatoes, avocados, almonds and citrus fruit. Sa'ad has a large dairy farm and a poultry farm. Sa'ad's industries include Syfan, a plant that manufactures plastic

shrink film Shrink wrap, also shrink film, is a material made up of polymer plastic film. When heat is applied, it shrinks tightly over whatever it is covering. Heat can be applied with a handheld heat gun (electric or gas), or the product and film can p ...

for packaging, and Popli, which supplies popcorn products and pet food. The kibbutz also operates Beit Shikma, a convalescent and geriatric home for patients who require full-time care. The

dairy farm Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for the long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for the eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a h ...

on the kibbutz was the Israeli leader in 2011 for productivity with an average of 13 785 litres per head that year. A

dairy cow Dairy cattle (also called dairy cows) are cattle bred with the ability to produce large quantities of milk, from which dairy products are made. Dairy cattle generally are of the species ''Bos taurus''. Historically, little distinction was m ...

named Kharta, was the world record holder giving 18 208 litres of milk.

Education

The kibbutz runs and participates in several unique educational frameworks such as Youth Education, a school and dormitory framework for teenagers from broken homes; Foster Family, for grade school children; Conversion Ulpan, for families and young people who are converting to Judaism; and Nativ, the USY year program in Israel for American teens. Sa'ad has a regional religious elementary school for grades 1 through 9 under the auspices of Israel's Ministry of Education. kibbutz Sa'ad, kibbutz Alumim, and moashav Tkuma cooperate in running the Da'at School for their children. Pupils from towns in the surrounding area also attend.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Kibbutzim Religious Kibbutz Movement Populated places established in 1947 Gaza envelope 1947 establishments in Mandatory Palestine Populated places in Southern District (Israel)