Ben Shemen Youth Village

Coordinates: 31°57′32″N 34°55′40″E / 31.95889°N 34.92778°E / 31.95889; 34.92778
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Ben Shemen Youth Village
כפר הנוער בן שמן
Ben Shemen Youth Village is located in Central Israel
Ben Shemen Youth Village
Ben Shemen Youth Village
Coordinates: 31°57′32″N 34°55′40″E / 31.95889°N 34.92778°E / 31.95889; 34.92778
CountryIsrael
DistrictCentral
CouncilHevel Modi'in
Founded1927
Founded bySiegfried Lehmann
Population
 (2022)[1]
598
Websitewww.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 2022 it had a population of 598.[1]

History[edit]

Ben Shemen youth village, 1920s-30s

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 January 1940 British forces found an arms cache at the village.[2] In 1947, it had a population of roughly 1,000.[3] 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.[3]

Notable graduates include Shimon Peres, Shulamit Aloni, Moshe Katsav, Dan Ben Amotz, Ze'ev Gur-Arie (Wolfgang Lotz), Micha Tomkiewicz, Amitai Etzioni, and Haim Saban. Today, it has around 1,000 students, of which 400 live in the village.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Regional Statistics". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  2. ^ Loffhagen, Matthew (20 December 2023). "Tilbury Tank steam locomotive takes up residence at Bury Transport Museum". Rail Advert. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b Jewish National Fund (1949). Jewish Villages in Israel. Jerusalem: Hamadpis Liphshitz Press. p. 16.

External links[edit]