Kfar Ruppin
Encyclopedia
Kfar Ruppin is a kibbutz
in the Beit She'an Valley about 5 km (3.1 mi) southeast of Beit She'an in northern Israel
. A member of the Kibbutz Movement
, it falls under the jurisdiction of Valley of Springs Regional Council.
movement by a group, named "Massad", of immigrants
to Mandate Palestine from Germany
, Bohemia
and Austria
. It was named in honour of Arthur Ruppin
, who helped to develop Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel
.
The kibbutz is home to 450 residents as of 2006. It covers an area larger than 4,000 dunam
.
Aside from agriculture
and fish farming
, the kibbutz has a factory that produces plastic, though it is managed by an external company.
located in the kibbutz. The area has also been touted as the best for birdwatching
in northern Israel because it is on one of the most important bird migration
flyway
s between Europe and Africa. A bird ringing
station is also located there.
Near the kibbutz is an archaeological site
called Tel Tsaf
, a 7,000 year old prehistoric
village which has produced the largest database of materials from the Neolithic
to the Chalcolithic
periods.
describes a visit, in which he quotes a kibbutznik as saying, as he looked across the river, "I have sat here almost every day of my life, watching them do the same work as us, wake up with us, go to sleep with us...And I do not even know their names, I do not even know the name of their village...Do you think neighbors anywhere else in the world life like this?".
Kibbutz
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...
in the Beit She'an Valley about 5 km (3.1 mi) southeast of Beit She'an in northern Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. A member of the Kibbutz Movement
Kibbutz Movement
The Kibbutz Movement is the largest settlement movement for kibbutzim in Israel. It was formed in 1999 by a partial merger of the United Kibbutz Movement and Kibbutz Artzi.-United Kibbutz Movement:...
, it falls under the jurisdiction of Valley of Springs Regional Council.
History
The kibbutz was founded in 1938 as part of the tower and stockadeTower and stockade
Tower and stockade was a settlement method used by Zionist settlers in the British Mandate of Palestine during the 1936–39 Arab revolt, when the establishment of new Jewish settlements was restricted by the Mandatory authorities...
movement by a group, named "Massad", of immigrants
Aliyah
Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...
to Mandate Palestine from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. It was named in honour of Arthur Ruppin
Arthur Ruppin
Arthur Ruppin was a Zionist thinker and leader. He was also one of the founders of the city of Tel Aviv, and a pioneering sociologist credited as being "The Father Of Jewish Sociology", directing Berlin's Bureau for Jewish Statistics and Demography from 1902 to 1907...
, who helped to develop Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
.
The kibbutz is home to 450 residents as of 2006. It covers an area larger than 4,000 dunam
Dunam
A dunam or dönüm, dunum, donum, dynym, dulum was a non-SI unit of land area used in the Ottoman Empire and representing the amount of land that can be plowed in a day; its value varied from 900–2500 m²...
.
Aside from agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and fish farming
Fish farming
Fish farming is the principal form of aquaculture, while other methods may fall under mariculture. Fish farming involves raising fish commercially in tanks or enclosures, usually for food. A facility that releases young fish into the wild for recreational fishing or to supplement a species'...
, the kibbutz has a factory that produces plastic, though it is managed by an external company.
Local attractions
Some of the attractions of Kfar Ruppin and surrounding area include the Kfar Ruppin Gardens, 50 acres (202,343 m²) of splendid public gardensGarden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...
located in the kibbutz. The area has also been touted as the best for birdwatching
Birdwatching
Birdwatching or birding is the observation of birds as a recreational activity. It can be done with the naked eye, through a visual enhancement device like binoculars and telescopes, or by listening for bird sounds. Birding often involves a significant auditory component, as many bird species are...
in northern Israel because it is on one of the most important bird migration
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
flyway
Flyway
A flyway is a flight path used in bird migration. Flyways generally span over continents and often oceans.-Flyways of the Americas:*Atlantic Flyway*Central Flyway*Mississippi Flyway*Pacific Flyway*Allegheny Front...
s between Europe and Africa. A bird ringing
Bird ringing
Bird ringing or bird banding is a technique used in the study of wild birds, by attaching a small, individually numbered, metal or plastic tag to their legs or wings, so that various aspects of the bird's life can be studied by the ability to re-find the same individual later...
station is also located there.
Near the kibbutz is an archaeological site
Archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record.Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...
called Tel Tsaf
Tel Tsaf
Tel Tsaf is an archaeological site located in the central Jordan Valley, south-east of Beit She'an. It was first tested in 1978–1980 by Ram Gophna of Tel Aviv University. In 2004–2007 a large excavation project was conducted at the site by Yosef Garfinkel of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Tel...
, a 7,000 year old prehistoric
Prehistory
Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
village which has produced the largest database of materials from the Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
to the Chalcolithic
Copper Age
The Chalcolithic |stone]]") period or Copper Age, also known as the Eneolithic/Æneolithic , is a phase of the Bronze Age in which the addition of tin to copper to form bronze during smelting remained yet unknown by the metallurgists of the times...
periods.
Trivia
Tony HorwitzTony Horwitz
Tony Horwitz is an American journalist and writer. His works include Blue Latitudes or Into the Blue, One for the Road, Confederates In The Attic, Baghdad Without A Map, and A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World. His next book Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked...
describes a visit, in which he quotes a kibbutznik as saying, as he looked across the river, "I have sat here almost every day of my life, watching them do the same work as us, wake up with us, go to sleep with us...And I do not even know their names, I do not even know the name of their village...Do you think neighbors anywhere else in the world life like this?".