Urim (, ''lit.'' Lights) 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 the

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 border of 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 about 30 kilometers west of

Beersheba Beersheba ( / ; ), officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most p ...

, the kibbutz falls under the jurisdiction of

Eshkol Regional Council Eshkol Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Ezorit Eshkol'') is a regional council in the north-western Negev, in Israel's Southern District. The regional council's territory lies midway between Ashkelon and Beersheba, bounded on the west by the Gaza St ...

. In , it had a population of .

History

Kibbutz Urim was founded on 6 October 1946 as one of the

11 points in the Negev 11 points in the Negev ( or , ''Achat-Esre HaNekudot'') refers to a Jewish Agency plan to establish eleven settlements in the Negev in 1946 prior to the partition of Palestine and the establishment of the State of Israel. History A plan to est ...

by a

gar'in Gar'in (, ''lit.'' kernel) is a Hebrew term used for groups of people who moved together to Ottoman Palestine, British Palestine, and since 1948, Israel.Joel Beinin The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry- 2005 9774248902 "arrived in Israel while the m ...

of young Jews from

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, later joined by North American members of Habonim. According to

Walid Khalidi Walid Khalidi (; born in Jerusalem on July 16, 1925) is a Palestinian historian who has written extensively on the Palestinian exodus. He is a co-founder of the Institute for Palestine Studies, established in Beirut in December 1963 as an inde ...

, Urim was established on land which had belonged to the

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

village of

Al-Imara al-Imara (), was a Palestinian village, located in the northern Negev Desert northwest of Beersheba. History In the British mandate period the village was classified as a hamlet by the ''Palestine Index Gazetteer''.Khalidi, 1992, p.72 Post- ...

. Al-Imara became depopulated in the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...

, and Urim was established about 1 km south of the village site.

Economy

Kibbutz Urim operated a blanket factory that was devastated by fire in the 1980s. Today Noam Urim manufactures needle-punched nonwoven fabrics. Kibbutz Urim is a co-owner of Ora Field Crops, which is operates together with Kibbutz

Kissufim Kissufim () is a kibbutz in the northwestern Negev desert in Israel. Located adjacent to the Gaza Strip at an altitude of 92 meters above sea level, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In it had a population of . Hist ...

also in the northwestern Negev. The cultivated area is about 27,000 dunam (almost 6,700 acres). Over two-thirds of the fields are irrigated from water sources supplied by water mains with hydraulic valves, communications and automation networks. Autumn crops include potatoes, carrots, radishes, wheat, barley and onions; spring crops include sunflowers, peanuts and corn. The summer crop is table grapes.

Equine therapy project; Hamas attack

Olympic equestrian

Daniel Bluman Daniel Bluman (; born 15 March 1990) is an Olympic show jumping rider. Born in Colombia, he represents Israel internationally and competed for his country of birth in the past. Bluman qualified to represent Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics in ...

has an

equine therapy Equine-assisted therapy (EAT) encompasses a range of treatments that involve activities with horses and other equines to promote human physical and mental health. Modern use of horses for mental health treatment dates to the 1990s. Systematic re ...

project in Israel that he operates in conjunction with Kibbutz Urim. In the

October 7 Hamas attack On October 7, 2023, Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups launched coordinated armed incursions from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza envelope of southern Israel, the first invasion of Israeli territory since the 1948 Arab–Israeli ...

on Israel in 2023, the project was attacked. Bluman said:

This touches very close to home... I am both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine, because I am pro-life, pro-human rights, and unfortunately right now the only way to get to that is by eradicating Hamas and terrorists groups that are fighting religious wars.Mollie Bailey (16 November 2023)
"Ringside Chat: Daniel Bluman Talks Big Wins, Young Horses And Life As An Israeli,"
''The Chronicle of the Horse''.

Erez Kalderon from

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 ...

Nir Oz Nir Oz () is a kibbutz in southern Israel. It is located in the northwestern Negev desert between Magen, Israel, Magen and Nirim, and covers 20,000 dunams. Nir Oz is under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In it had a population of ...

, a student in the equine therapy program, was kidnapped by Hamas when the boy was 11 years old, and is held hostage. In December 2023, for the first time since the attack on the program, the program was able to work with children.

Notable residents

* J.J. Goldberg (born 1949), editor-in-chief of ''

The Forward ''The Forward'' (), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ''The New York Times'' reported that Set ...

'', U.S. bureau chief of ''

The Jerusalem Report ''The Jerusalem Report'' is a fortnightly print and online news magazine that covers political, military, economic, religious and cultural issues in Israel, the Middle East, and the Jewish world. Founded as an independent weekly publication in 1 ...

'', managing editor of ''

The Jewish Week ''New York Jewish Week'' (formerly ''The Jewish Week'') is a weekly independent community newspaper targeted towards the Jewish community of the metropolitan New York City area. History In March 2016, ''The Jewish Week'' announced its partners ...

''. *

Yaacov Heller Yaacov Heller (born 1941) is an Israeli-American sculptor and jewelry designer based in Boca Raton, Florida, who is known for his sculptures of Biblical themes. In 2020, he was the recipient of 22nd Annual Opal Awards by The Rotary Club of Boca ...

(born 1941),

Israeli-American Israeli Americans () are Americans who are of full or partial Israeli descent. The Israeli-American community, while predominantly Jewish, also includes various ethnic and religious minorities reflective of Israel's diverse demographics. This c ...

sculptor and jewelry designer * Josie Katz (born 1940), singer, actress, dancer, and painter

References

External links

Urim
Negev Information Centre

{{Authority control Kibbutzim Kibbutz Movement Populated places established in 1946 Populated places in Southern District (Israel) 1946 establishments in Mandatory Palestine Bulgarian-Jewish culture in Israel North American-Jewish culture in Israel