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Beit Alfa (; also Beit Alpha, Bet Alpha and Bet Alfa) 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 Northern District of
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 ...
, founded in 1922 by immigrants from
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. Located at the base of the Gilboa ridge, it falls under the jurisdiction of
Gilboa Regional Council Gilboa Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Azorit (ha)Gilbo'a'') is a Regional council (Israel), regional council in northern Israel, located on the slopes of the Mount Gilboa, Gilboa mountain range. There are more than 22,000 residents in 38 settlements ...
. As of its population was .


Geography

The kibbutz was founded near a depopulated Arab village, Khirbet Bait Ilfa, at the bottom of the northern steep slopes of
Mount Gilboa Mount Gilboa (; ''Jabal Jalbūʿ'' or ''Jabal Fuqqāʿa''), sometimes referred to as the Mountains of Gilboa, is the name for a mountain range in the West Bank. It overlooks the Harod Valley (the eastern part of the larger Jezreel Valley) to ...
, on the eastern edge of the Harod Valley, between the
Jezreel Valley The Jezreel Valley (from the ), or Marj Ibn Amir (), also known as the Valley of Megiddo, is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. It is bordered to the north by the highlands o ...
and the
Beit She'an Beit She'an ( '), also known as Beisan ( '), or Beth-shean, 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 sea level. Beit She'an is believed to ...
Valley in the Lower Galilee. The Gilboa mountain range stretches to its west, with the closest peaks Har (mount) Barkan (497 m) and Har Gefet (318 m). The area north and east of the kibbutz is flat, but falls to the east towards the
Jordan Rift Valley The Jordan Rift Valley, also Jordan Valley ( ''Bīqʿāt haYardēn'', Al-Ghor or Al-Ghawr), is an elongated endorheic basin located in modern-day Israel, Jordan and the West Bank, Palestine. This geographic region includes the entire length o ...
. To the north of the kibbutz flows the Harod Stream, whose waters are used to fill numerous ponds. Adjacent to the kibbutz to the west is kibbutz
Heftziba Heftziba () is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located on the boundaries of the Jezreel Valley, Jezreel and Beit She'an Valleys between the cities of Afula and Beit She'an, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gilboa Regional Council. In it had a ...
and Beit Alfa Synagogue National Park; Gan HaShlosha National Park is directly to its east; and kibbutz Ma'ale Gilboa sits on top of Mount Gilboa directly to the south. Other notable locations in the vicinity are kibbutzim Reshafim, Sde Nahum, and Nir David, Shita prison, and in the
West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
to the south, on the other side of the
Israeli West Bank barrier The West Bank barrier, West Bank wall or the West Bank separation barrier, is a separation barrier built by Israel along the Green Line (Israel), Green Line and inside parts of the West Bank. Israel describes the wall as a necessary securi ...
, is 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 Faqqua.


History

A 6th century Jewish settlement–of which the Beit Alfa Synagogue formed a part–survived into Islamic times as Beit Ilfa. On 4 November 1922,
Hashomer Hatzair Hashomer Hatzair (, , 'The Young Guard') is a Labor Zionism, Labor Zionist, secular Jewish youth movement founded in 1913 in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary. It was also the name of the Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party, the ...
settlers from
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
established the modern kibbutz, Beit Alpha, naming it after the nearby abandoned Arab village, Khirbet Beit Ilfa. The founding members gained their first experience in 1921, when they participated in the establishment of kibbutz
Geva Geva (, ''lit.'' Hill) is a kibbutz in the Jezreel Valley in Israel. Located near the city of Afula, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gilboa Regional Council. In it had a population of . History Geva was founded in 1921 by Jewish immigrants f ...
. At first, the settlers suffered from very severe operating conditions in the swamps and malaria was widespread. In April 1927 the kibbutz was visited by the Czechoslovak president
Tomáš Masaryk Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (7 March 185014 September 1937) was a Czechoslovaks, Czechoslovak statesman, political activist and philosopher who served as the first List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 191 ...
. In 1928 the members of the adjacent kibbutz Heftziba discovered on their grounds the remains of the Beth Alpha synagogue, dating back to the Byzantine period. During the Arab riots of 1929 the kibbutz was attacked and its fields destroyed. When in April 1936 the Arab uprising broke out, the Arabs again set fire to the surrounding fields. In 1940 some of the members, affiliated with Hashomer Hatzair, moved to kibbutz Ramat Yohanan, in exchange for supporters of
Mapai Mapai (, an abbreviation for , ''Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael'', ) was a Labor Zionist and democratic socialist political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger into the Israeli Labor Party in January ...
from Ramat Yohanan. According to the Jewish National Fund, this move was prompted by an ideological split. In subsequent years the kibbutz was one of the centers used by the Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah. On 1 April 1948 the kibbutz was attacked by Arab mortar fire. The Arabs withdrew as a platoon from the 1st parachute battalion of the British
6th Airborne Division The 6th Airborne Division was an airborne infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who m ...
approached. File:בית אלפא - פנורמה.-JNF043780.jpeg, Beit Alfa 1925 File:בית אלפא - המראה החיצוני של חדר האוכל.-JNF044462.jpeg, Beit Alfa 1935 File:בית אלפא - צילום אויר-JNF009306.jpeg, Beit Alfa 1938 File:בית אלפא - גגות המשק-JNF033694.jpeg, Beit Alfa 1945 After 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 ...
, the Gilboa Educational Institute was established in the northern part of the kibbutz. The institute, which served as a school for the surrounding area, offered boarding and had an array of sports facilities and workshops enabling professional training. At the end of 2003 the institute was closed and the complex of buildings has since been used for various educational courses. During the
2006 Lebanon War The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, thoug ...
, the kibbutz took in evacuees from the border villages that had been under rocket attack by
Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...
militants from southern Lebanon. After the war an absorption center for Ethiopian immigrants was set up here. Some 600 people are offered boarding, Hebrew language courses, and are prepared for integration in the Israeli society. Meir Har-Zion built a farm and house, "Ahuzat Shoshana", on a hilltop just north and in sight of Beit Alfa, right next to the ruins of the Crusader castle of Belvoir. The farm is named after his sister and her name is written on the gate to the farm.


Economy

Dairy: The kibbutz
dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...
was the first in
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 ...
to use robotic milking technology. Poultry: Beit Alfa operates three poultry houses in which the eggs are collected centrally on an egg conveyor belt. Furniture: Beit Alfa Home Furniture builds custom furniture for homes and offices. It is a recognized supplier for Israel's Ministry of Defense. Special Purpose Vehicles: BAT (Beit Alfa Technologies) began making fire trucks in 1966. Today it manufactures vehicles for rapid airport intervention that eject foam, water, and dry powder. BAT manufacturers Water Restraint Systems for non-lethal crowd control of dangerous inmates and correctional facilities. BAT also expanded to become an international designer and manufacturer of special purpose vehicles for the military, law enforcement, and government and private sectors. BAT has sold riot control vehicles to more than 30 countries. According to ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', BAT "developed a profitable industry selling anti-riot vehicles" to the
apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English:  , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...
regime in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
"for use against protesters in the black townships". BAT's vehicles have also been used as riot control vehicles in Burundi to suppress protests against the unconstitutional extension of President Nkurunziza's presidency. Guest Houses: The kibbutz runs a guesthouse with 37 units, five of them with wheelchair access.


Beit Alpha Cucumber

Since the 1930s a kibbutz member, Hanka Lazarson, was engaged in vegetable breeding; including: cucumber, onion, garlic, aubergine and cauliflower. Between 1931 and 1936 she developed a breed of cucumbers that came to be known as the "Beit Alpha Cucumber" (or "Beth Alpha Cucumber"). The breed became highly popular worldwide due to its excellent taste and high yield. The vegetable breeding program in Beit Alpha continued successfully over the next 30 years; constantly improving various varieties.


Archaeology

When irrigation canals were being dug in 1928, an ancient mosaic was unearthed on Jewish National Fund land on the grounds of Kibbutz Hefzibah. The government of Palestine's Department of Antiquities granted permission for excavation to the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...
. The excavations, led by Eleazar Sukenik, revealed a synagogue and a mosaic floor from the fifth century. The Beit Alfa Synagogue National Park established at the site contains an ancient
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
-era
synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
, with a
mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...
floor depicting the lunar Hebrew months as they correspond to the signs of the
zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south celestial latitude of the ecliptic – the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Within this zodiac ...
.


Notable people

While serving as Israel's (12th) Chief of Staff and after retiring from the army, Moshe Levi lived in Beit Alfa. In his later years, he was the founding chairperson of the supervisory board of Highway 6, also known as the Trans-Israel Highway. Levi died from a stroke in 2008 and was buried at the kibbutz, with eight generals carrying his body, top government officials, and hundreds who knew and worked with him in attendance. Actor, writer, producer, comedian
Seth Rogen Seth Aaron Rogen (; born April 15, 1982) is a Canadian actor, comedian, and filmmaker. Known primarily for his comedic Leading actor, leading man roles in films, the accolades he has received include nominations for three Golden Globe Awards, ...
's parents met in Beit Alfa. Gabriel "Gavrush" Rapoport (1924–2001) was a Palmach and IDF combat veteran, who helped create Israel's famed heavy equipment rescue unit that has saved lives around the world. Gavrush was one of the first children born on the kibbutz. According to Haaretz, Israeli poet and writer Haim Gouri, a friend of Rapoport, said: "When Gavrush was born, the midwife fainted. Never before had an infant come out of the womb holding a revolver in one hand, and an adjustable wrench in the other". Israeli novelist Naomi Frankel (1918–2009) joined the kibbutz in her teens and left it in 1970. Although she later changed her political ideology from
left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relativ ...
to
right Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...
, she asked to be buried on the kibbutz beside her first husband. Frankel rose to fame with the publication of her
trilogy A trilogy is a set of three distinct works that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games. Three-part works that are considered components of ...
''Shaul ve-Yohannah'' (Saul and Joanna, 1956–1967), which depicted Jewish life in prewar Germany. Songwriter and composer Nachum Heiman, an
Israel Prize The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...
laureate, moved to the kibbutz with his second wife, and their two daughters were born there, one of them singer Si Heiman. Israel Zamir (1929–2014), son of Jewish-American author
Isaac Bashevis Singer Isaac Bashevis Singer (; 1903 – July 24, 1991) was a Poland, Polish-born Jews, Jewish novelist, short-story writer, memoirist, essayist, and translator in the United States. Some of his works were adapted for the theater. He wrote and publish ...
, lived on the kibbutz for 77 years until his death in 2014. After his passing, he was buried at the kibbutz. Like his father, he was also a writer. Israeli cartoonist Maya Devir was born in Beit Alfa.


In Israeli Culture

Beit Alfa is repeatedly mentioned in the Natan Alterman-penned lyrics to the classic 1934 song, "Shir HaEmek" (Song of the Valley), about the
Jezreel Valley The Jezreel Valley (from the ), or Marj Ibn Amir (), also known as the Valley of Megiddo, is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. It is bordered to the north by the highlands o ...
.


See also

* Archaeology of Israel *
Economy of Israel An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with ...
* Tourism in Israel


References


Bibliography

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External links

* *Survey of Western Palestine, Map 9
IAAWikimedia commons

Beit Alfa, ''circa'' 1925
{{Authority control Kibbutzim Kibbutz Movement Populated places established in 1922 Jewish villages in Mandatory Palestine Populated places in Northern District (Israel) 1922 establishments in Mandatory Palestine