Messilot ( he, מְסִלּוֹת, מסילות, ''lit.'' Tracks) is 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 ...

in northern

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 ...

. Located in the

Beit She'an Valley The Beit She'an Valley ( he, בקעת בית שאן or he, עמק בית שאן) is a valley in Israel. The valley lies within the Beit She'an rift, part of the Afro-Syrian Rift (Jordan Rift Valley), which opens westwards to the Harod Valley. ...

near the city of

Beit She'an 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 b ...

, it falls under the jurisdiction of

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

. In it had a population of .

History

The

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 ...

was initially formed as an

urban kibbutz An urban kibbutz ( he, קיבוץ עירוני, ''Kibbutz Ironi'') is a form of kibbutz located within an existing city. There are currently just over 100 in Israel, totalling around 2,000 members. Although there were attempts to form urban kibbutz ...

Givat Michael , wiktionary:בית, :he:בית, house * * * * E , wiktionary:עין, spring, fountain * * , wiktionary:עמק, :he:עמק, valley * G , wiktionary:גן, :he:גן, "garden" * , wiktionary:גבעה, :he:גבע� ...

near Ness Ziona by

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, ...

from Polish Republic (who were members of the "BaMesilah" group from which the kibbutz takes its name) and

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Mac ...

(members of the "Bulgaria -

Tel Hai Tel Hai ( he, תֵּל חַי [] "Hill of Life") is a name of the former Jewish settlement in northern Galilee, the site of an early battle between Jews and Arabs heralding the growing civil conflict, and of a monument, tourist attraction, and a c ...

group"), with both groups belonging to the

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 ...

movement. The kibbutz itself was established on 22 December 1938 as a tower and stockade settlement. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the kibbutz was bombed by an

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

i aeroplane. One member of the kibbutz was killed in the bombing, and some other members were injured. On 16 April 1957 two guards of the kibbutz were killed by

Palestinian terrorists Palestinian political violence refers to acts of violence perpetrated for political ends in relation to the State of Palestine or in connection with Palestinian nationalism. Common political objectives include self-determination in and sovereig ...

who came from 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 ...

, then part of

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Ri ...

Economy

Mesilot is the home of Wire Ropes Works Messilot Ltd., one of the largest producers of wire rope in Israel and the Middle East. The kibbutz also engages in various forms of

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peop ...

, including livestock (milking cows and raising chickens), a fishery, an orchard, plantings of olives and dates, and other vegetables.

Education

1st to 6th grade

The children of the kibbutz are educated in the regional school within the kibbutz, which also serves children from the nearby kibbutzim Reshafim,

Nir David Nir David ( he, נִיר דָּוִד, ''lit.'' David's Meadow) is a kibbutz in the Beit She'an Valley in northern Israel. Founded on 10 December 1936 as Tel Amal, the first of the tower and stockade settlements, it falls under the jurisdiction ...

, Beit Hashita, Sde Nahum and Beit Alfa.

School for children with autism

Next to the elementary school, based on the donation of Yehudit ben Moshe (who was a member of Mesilot and the first principal of its school), a special school was founded for children with

autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

7th to 12th grade

Healthy children from grades 7 through 12 used to be educated at the Gilboa School, which was founded next to Kibbutz Beit Alfa and was run jointly by Mesilot, Reshafim, Nir David and Beit Alfa. In 2005 this school was closed, so the students of Mesilot transferred to the regional school at Neve Eitan.

Sports

The club was home to a football team, which was sponsored by the local Wire Works factory and played under the name Hapoel Kvalim Mesilot. In 2009 the team was merged with

Hapoel Beit She'an Hapoel Beit She'an ( he, הפועל בית שאן) is an Israeli football club based in Beit She'an. The club spent several seasons in the top division in the 1990s, but after several relegations, folded in 2006, and was refounded in 2009. His ...

to form Hapoel Beit She'an Mesilot,לתשומת לב אוהדי הפועל ת"א: בית שאן חוזרת
One, 22 July 2009 which play its home games in nearby Beit She'an.

Notable people

* Orly Levy (born 1973), politician * Nahum Tevet (born 1946), sculptor

References

{{Valley of Springs Regional Council Kibbutzim Kibbutz Movement Populated places established in 1938 Populated places in Northern District (Israel) 1938 establishments in Mandatory Palestine Bulgarian-Jewish culture in Israel Polish-Jewish culture in Israel