Hemdat ( he, חֶמְדָּת) is a

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, villag ...

Israeli settlement in the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

located near the Palestinian hamlet of Khirbet Makhoul,

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was est ...

and Gili Cohen
'European diplomats: Israeli army manhandled us, seized Palestinian aid,'
at

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner ...

, September 20, 2013. in 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 ...

Valley on a plain at an altitude of 178 metres along the

Allon Road Allon Road is the name given by Israel to Routes 458, 508, and 578 in the West Bank, running roughly south–north along the eastern watershed of the Judaean and Samarian Hills, between Highway 1 near Kfar Adumim east of Jerusalem and Highway 9 ...

in the municipal jurisdiction of the

Bik'at HaYarden Regional Council Bik'at HaYarden Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית בקעת הירדן, ''Mo'atza Azorit Bik'at HaYarden'', ''lit.'' Jordan Valley Regional Council), also Aravot HaYarden (''lit.'' Jordan Plains) is a regional council covering 21 Isr ...

. Other Jewish settlements in the area are Ro'i and

Beka'ot Beka'ot ( he, בְּקָעוֹת, , Valleys) is an Israeli settlement organized as a moshav in the West Bank. Located in the Jordan Valley with an area of 1,800 dunams, it falls under the jurisdiction of Bik'at HaYarden Regional Council Bik ...

. The closest city,

Beit Shean Beit She'an ( he, בֵּית שְׁאָן '), also Beth-shean, formerly Beisan ( ar, بيسان ), is a town in the 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 be ...

, is a thirty-minute drive north of Hemdat. In it had a population of . The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this. In it had a population of .

History

Hemdat was first established in 1979Hemdat
Bik'at HaYarden Regional Council as a pioneer Nahal military outpost that was soon thereafter demilitarized and turned into 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 ...

when turned over to residential purposes to a group of pioneers from

Hashomer Hatzair Hashomer Hatzair ( he, הַשׁוֹמֵר הַצָעִיר, , ''The Young Guard'') is a Labor Zionist, secular Jewish youth movement founded in 1913 in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary, and it was also the name of the gro ...

and

Israel Boy and Girl Scouts Federation The Israel Boy and Girl Scouts Federation ( he, התאחדות הצופים והצופות בישראל, ''Hit'ahdut HaTzofim VeHaTzofot BeYisrael'') is Israel's federation of the five Scouting organizations in Israel, sorted by religious affilia ...

. Due to the harsh living conditions of the valley (intense heat, distant location) and other obstacles, this group abandoned the kibbutz and the village was returned to the Israel Defense Forces Nahal brigade. In 1997, a new group organized by the

Amana Amana may refer to: Places * Amaná, a village in La Rioja Province, Argentina * Amana River, in northeastern Venezuela * Amanã River, in northwestern Brazil * Mount Amana, mountain described in the Bible, or an adjacent river * Amana Colonies, ...

settlement organization and moved to resettle Hemdat. This group was made up of students at the

Bnei David Bnei may refer to: Places *Bnei Atarot, moshav in Central District *Bnei Atzmon, Israeli settlement *Bnei Ayish, town in Central District *Bnei Brak, city in Tel Aviv District *Bnei Darom, moshav in Central District *Bnei Dror, moshav in Central D ...

pre-military

yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are stu ...

academy in Eli and one family named Shitrit.

Education

Three months after the re-founding of the village, a

religious Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

pre-military academy was established called ''Hemdat Yehuda''. Other educational institutions include a

nursery school A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary schoo ...

and a

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

. Young children learn at the

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

on the

Sde Eliyahu Sde Eliyahu ( he, שְׂדֵה אֵלִיָּהוּ, ''lit.'' Eliyahu Field) is a religious kibbutz in northern Israel. Located five kilometres south of Beit She'an, it falls under the jurisdiction of Valley of Springs Regional Council. In it h ...

. The older youth learn at the Sde Eliyahu

High School A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

, and other institutions in the area and elsewhere.

Population

Hemdat does not have a

homogeneous Homogeneity and heterogeneity are concepts often used in the sciences and statistics relating to the uniformity of a substance or organism. A material or image that is homogeneous is uniform in composition or character (i.e. color, shape, siz ...

population and it is made up of a mixed group of families from different

Jew 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""T ...

ish ethnic backgrounds and locations in

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 ...

. There is one central synagogue that serves the village, as well as religious services at the academy.

References

External links

Village profileHemdat Yehuda pre-military academy
{{Bik'at HaYarden Regional Council Religious Israeli settlements Nahal settlements Populated places established in 1979 Community settlements 1979 establishments in the Israeli Military Governorate Israeli settlements in the West Bank