Ben Shemen Youth Village
| Ben Shemen Youth Village כפר הנוער בן שמן | |
|---|---|
|
Ben Shemen youth village, 1920s-1930s | |
  Ben Shemen Youth Village | |
| Coordinates: 31°57′32.47″N 34°55′40.19″E / 31.9590194°N 34.9278306°ECoordinates: 31°57′32.47″N 34°55′40.19″E / 31.9590194°N 34.9278306°E | |
| District | Central |
| Council | Hevel Modi'in |
| Founded | 1927 |
| Founded by | Siegfried Lehmann |
| Population (2015)[1] | 625 |
| Website | www.ben-shemen.org.il |
Ben Shemen Youth Village (Hebrew: כפר הנוער בן שמן, Kfar HaNo'ar Ben Shemen) is a youth village and agricultural boarding school in central Israel. Located near Ben Shemen and Ginaton, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hevel Modi'in Regional Council. In 2015 it had a population of 625.
History
The village was established in 1927 on the land of the Hadid factory by Siegfried Lehman. Its aim was to endow children with a Zionist ethic, teach them to work the land, and install an appreciation of responsibility. The school's first students were from Kaunas in Lithuania.
In 1947, it had a population of roughly 1,000.[2] During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the isolated village was under siege by the Arab Legion; eleven youths were killed in one attempt to bring in supplies.[2]
Notable graduates include Shimon Peres, Shulamit Aloni, Moshe Katsav, Dan Ben Amotz, Micha Tomkiewicz, Amitai Etzioni, and Haim Saban. Today, it has around 1,000 students, of which 400 live in the village.
References
- ↑ "List of localities, in Alphabetical order" (PDF). Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
- 1 2 Jewish National Fund (1949). Jewish Villages in Israel. Jerusalem: Hamadpis Liphshitz Press. p. 16.