Hemdat () is a

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, also called Israeli colonies, are the civilian communities built by Israel throughout the Israeli-occupied territories. They are populated by Israeli citizens, almost exclusively of Israeli Jews, Jewish identity or ethni ...

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 ...

located near the Palestinian hamlet of Khirbet Makhoul,

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

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

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

, September 20, 2013. in the

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan (, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn''; , ''Nəhar hayYardēn''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Sharieat'' (), is a endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and drains to the Dead ...

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 Mountains, Judaean and Samarian Hills, between Highway 1 (Israel), Highway 1 near Kfa ...

in the municipal jurisdiction of the

Bik'at HaYarden Regional Council Bik'at HaYarden Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Azorit Bik'at HaYarden'', ''lit.'' Jordan Valley Regional Council), also Aravot HaYarden (''lit.'' Jordan Plains), is a regional council covering 21 Israeli settlements in the Jordan Valley in the ...

. Other Israeli settlements in the area are

Ro'i Ro'i () is an Israeli settlement organized as a moshav in the West Bank. Located in the Jordan Valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of Bik'at HaYarden Regional Council. In it had a population of . The international community considers Isr ...

and

Beka'ot Beka'ot () 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.

. The closest city,

Beit Shean Beit She'an ( '), also known as Beisan ( '), or Beth-shean, 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 believed to be one of the oldest citie ...

, 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.

History

Hemdat was first established in 1979,Hemdat
Bik'at HaYarden Regional Council as a pioneer

Nahal Nahal () (acronym of ''Noar Halutzi Lohem'', lit. Fighting Pioneer Youth) is a program that combines military service with mostly social welfare and informal education projects such as youth movement activities, as well as training in entrepr ...

military outpost that was soon thereafter demilitarized and turned into 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 ...

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

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 ...

and

Israel Boy and Girl Scouts Federation The Israel Boy and Girl Scouts Federation (, ''Hit'ahdut HaTzofim VeHaTzofot BeYisrael'') is Israel's federation of the five Scouting organizations in Israel, sorted by religion in Israel, religious affiliation. Some 90,000 boys and girls belong ...

. 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 The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

Nahal brigade. In 1997, a new group organized by the Amana settlement organization and moved to resettle Hemdat. This group was made up of students at the Bnei David Mechina pre-military

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; 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 studied in parallel. The stu ...

academy in

Eli Eli most commonly refers to: * Eli (name), a given name, nickname and surname * Eli (biblical figure) Eli or ELI may also refer to: Film * ''Eli'' (2015 film), a Tamil film * ''Eli'' (2019 film), an American horror film Music * ''Eli'' (Jan ...

and one family named Shitrit.

Education

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

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

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

nursery school A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin c ...

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 cen ...

. Young children learn at the

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

on the

Sde Eliyahu Sde Eliyahu (, ''lit.'' Eliyahu Field) is a Orthodox Judaism, 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 had a population of . ...

. The older youth learn at the Sde Eliyahu

High School A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

, and other institutions in the area and elsewhere.

Demographics

Hemdat does not have a

homogeneous Homogeneity and heterogeneity are concepts relating to the uniformity of a substance, process or image. A homogeneous feature is uniform in composition or character (i.e., color, shape, size, weight, height, distribution, texture, language, i ...

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

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish ethnic backgrounds and locations 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 ...

. 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
{{Authority control 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