Sde Nahum ( he, שְׂדֵה נַחוּם, ''lit.'' Nahum Field) 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 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. ...

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 around 4 km northwest 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 kibbutz was founded on 5 January 1937 by members of the Sadeh group from the

Mikveh Israel Mikveh Israel ( he, מִקְוֵה יִשְׂרָאֵל, 'Hope of Israel') is a youth village and boarding school in the Tel Aviv District of central Israel, established in 1870. It was the first Jewish agricultural school in what is now Isr ...

agricultural school, as well as immigrants from

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

. It was the third kibbutz established as part of the tower and stockade settlement movement. Initially called "Kibbutz HaSadeh," it was later renamed in honour of Nahum Sokolov, a Hebrew writer and

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in J ...

leader. Ruins of a 5th–6th century

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

church has been found in the kibbutz. The nearby

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

village of Saffuriya had been almost emptied of its 4000 inhabitants in July 1948. By early January, 1949, about 500 villagers had filtered back, but "neighbouring settlements coveted Saffuriya lands". The "Northern Front" ordered their eviction, which was carried out the 7th of January 1949. The Saffuriya land was then distributed to its neighbouring Jewish settlements. In February 1949, 1,500 Dunams of Saffuriya land was given to Sde Nahum. File:שדה נחום - ביום העליה.-JNF032956.jpeg, Sde Nahum day of the

Aliyah Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the State of Israel. Traditionally descri ...

1937 File:שדה נחום - ביום העליה.-JNF032957.jpeg, Sde Nahum founders 1937 File:שדה נחום - בעליה לשדה נחום, בן לילה הוקמה חומת הגנה לשדה נחום.-JNF032961.jpeg, Sde Nahum construction of stockade wall 1937 File:שדה נחום - מראה-JNF004510.jpeg, Sde Nahum wall construction 1937 File:מגדל הצופים בשדה-נחום-JNF004508.jpeg, Sde Nahum 1937 File:מגדל הצופים והאוהלים סביבו בשדה-נחום-JNF004509.jpeg, Sde Nahum 1939 File:שדה נחום - מראה-JNF004507.jpeg, Sde Nahum 1939 File:המשדדה בשדה-נחום-JNF004517.jpeg, Sde Nahum 1940 File:Nahum 1947.jpg, 1947 photo of Nahum classroom from Palmach archive

Economy

The main economic activity is agriculture but the kibbutz also has a factory for the manufacture of

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...

materials and an elderly care facility.

Notable people

Arieh Warshel Arieh Warshel ( he, אריה ורשל; born November 20, 1940) is an Israeli-American biochemist and biophysicist. He is a pioneer in computational studies on functional properties of biological molecules, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry ...

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfre ...

-winning

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe ...

(2013) and professor at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8. ...

was born in Sde Nahum in 1940

References

External links

Official website
{{Valley of Springs Regional Council Kibbutzim Kibbutz Movement Populated places established in 1937 Archaeological sites in Israel Populated places in Northern District (Israel) 1937 establishments in Mandatory Palestine Austrian-Jewish culture in Israel German-Jewish culture in Israel Polish-Jewish culture in Israel