Menahemia () is a village in the Jordan Valley in north-eastern

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 Highway 90 between

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 ...

and

Tzemah Junction Tsemah Junction (, ''Tzomet Tzemach'') is a road junction at the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee, where Highway 90 (Israel–Palestine), Highway 90 continues along the western shore of the lake towards Tiberias, while Highway 92 (Israel), Highw ...

5 km south of

Tzemah Tsemah Junction (, ''Tzomet Tzemach'') is a road junction at the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee, where Highway 90 continues along the western shore of the lake towards Tiberias, while Highway 92 splits off to follow the eastern shore. A few ...

, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Valley of Springs Regional Council Emek HaMa'ayanot Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Azorit Emek HaMa'ayanot'', lit. ''Valley of the Springs Regional Council'') is a regional council (Israel), regional council in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel that encompas ...

. With an area of 6,000

dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; ; ; ), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area analogous in role (but not equal) to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amo ...

s, the village had a population of in .

History

The village was established on 23–26 December 1901 as a

moshava A moshava (, plural: ''moshavot'' , ''colony'' or ''village'') was a form of agricultural Jewish settlement in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine (now Israel), established by the members of the Old Yishuv beginning in the late 1870s ...

under the name ''Milhamia'' () by the five first families on land purchased by the

Jewish Colonisation Association The Jewish Colonisation Association (JCA or ICA; ) was an organisation created on September 11, 1891, by Baron Maurice de Hirsch. Its aim was to facilitate the mass emigration of Jews from Russia and other Eastern European countries, by settling ...

(ICA) in the Jordan Valley, and was the first

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

settlement of its time in that region. It was renamed Menahemia in 1921 after the father of High Commissioner of

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

Herbert Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel Herbert Louis Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel (6 November 1870 – 5 February 1963) was a British Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was the party leader from 1931 to 1935. He was the first nominally-practising Jew to serve as a Cabinet mi ...

. The village attracted new immigrants from

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

during its nascent years, but because of cultural differences with the older residents, the Yemenites moved out and settled in the Shaʿaraim neighborhood of

Rehovot Rehovot (, / ) is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of . Etymology Israel Belkind, founder of the Bilu (movement), Bilu movement, proposed the name "Rehovot ...

.The Archives of the History of Rehovot
, Yemenite immigrants to Menahemia (Hebrew) File:Al-Dalhamiyya in VanDeVeldeMap5 (cropped).jpg, The area in 1858; the area of Menahemia was known as el-Bukaa Medhami, which was south of al-'Ubaydiyya, west of al-Dalhamiyya, and north of Jisr el-Majami File:מנחמיה - מראה כללי.-JNF045300.jpeg, Menahemia 1920 File:מנחמיה - בגורן של המושבה עובדים פועלים ערבים ועוזרים לאיכרים המשתמשים במכונות חקלאיות חדישית-JNF036348.jpeg, Arab labourers threshing, Menahemia, 1947

Economy

Before

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, a regional pharmacy was established in Menahemia. Other industries included a quarry, where they quarried raw materials for the

Nesher Nesher () is a city in the Haifa District of Israel. In it had a population of . It was founded in 1923 as a workers town for the Nesher Cement factory, the first cement factory in the country. History Nesher was founded in 1924 as a workers ...

cement factory near Haifa, and a gypsum manufacturing plant. There was also a museum for the medical history of the region, and the history of Menahemia and

Naharayim Naharayim ( literally "Two rivers"), historically the Jisr Majami area ( literally "Meeting bridge" area), is the area where the Yarmouk River flows into the Jordan River. It was the site of the "First Jordan Hydro-Electric Power House", con ...

. Menahemia had its own local council from 1951 until 1 January 2006 when jurisdiction over the village was transferred to Beit She'an Valley Regional Council.

References

{{Authority control Villages in Israel Populated places established in 1901 Populated places in Northern District (Israel) 1901 establishments in the Ottoman Empire Yemeni-Jewish culture in Israel

History

Economy

See also

References