Misgav Am
Encyclopedia
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 Upper Galilee
Upper Galilee
The Upper Galilee is a geographical-political term in use since the end of the Second Temple period, originally referring to a mountainous area overlapping the present northern Israel and southern Lebanon, its borders being the Litani river in the north, the Mediterranean Sea in the west, the Beit...
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...
. Located close to the border with Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
near the town of Kiryat Shmona
Kiryat Shmona
Kiryat Shmona is a city located in the North District of Israel on the western slopes of the Hula Valley on the Lebanese border. The city was named for the eight people, including Joseph Trumpeldor, who died in 1920 defending Tel Hai....
, it falls under the jurisdiction of Upper Galilee Regional Council
Upper Galilee Regional Council
The Upper Galilee Regional Council is a regional council in Israel's Upper Galilee region.The area has a population of 15,500 and has been headed for 14 years by Aharon Valenci. Its headquarters are located in Kiryat Shmona, an independent city not included in the council's jurisdiction.-Regional...
.
Misgav Am is 840 m (2,760 feet) above sea level and therefore overlooks on one side the Hula Valley and on the other side the neighboring Lebanese village of El Adisseh.
History
Misgav Am was founded in 1945. One of its founders was Dr. Reuven Moskovitz. He was born 1928 in RomaniaRomania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, survived the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
and immigrated to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. He founded several organisations, including Neve Shalom, where he has lived since 1972.
On 7 April 1980, five terrorists from the Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i-backed Arab Liberation Front
Arab Liberation Front
Arab Liberation Front is a minor Palestinian political faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , politically tied to the Iraqi Ba'ath Party formerly headed by Saddam Hussein.- Historical background :...
penetrated Misgav Am in the night and entered the nursery. They killed the kibbutz secretary and an infant boy. They held the rest of the children hostage, demanding the release of about 50 terrorists held in Israeli prisons. The first raid of an IDF
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
infantry unit was unsuccessful, but a second attempt, a few hours later, succeeded, and all the terrorists were killed.
Two kibbutz members and one soldier were killed, four children and 11 soldiers were wounded.
Immediately after the attack, Israeli troops entered southern Lebanon to wipe out terrorist nests and to intensify the pressure on the Palestinian terrorists in Lebanon. Israel withdrew after five days, because of heavy political pressure by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
In the years of Israeli presence in southern Lebanon (1982-2000), the kibbutz had cordial relations with the people on the other side of the border, despite the state of war between Lebanon and Israel since Israel's birth in 1948.
During the Second Lebanon war in 2006, several thousands of IDF troops were deployed around Misgav Am, which brought heavy logistical problems: food, water and sanitary facilities.
Education
The kibbutz offers an education system beginning at the age of 3 and ending after high school.There is a daycare center for babies, another for infants and also a kindergarten. Elementary school is at Kibbutz Kfar Giladi
Kfar Giladi
-External links:* * Jewish Agency for Israel*...
, junior and senior high school is located at kibbutz Dafna
Dafna
Dafna is a kibbutz in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 7 km east of Kiryat Shmona. It was founded on 3 May 1939, after the tower and stockade principle, it was the first tower and stockade settlement in the northern Hula Valley...
.
With the new policy of a longer schooling day, children receive various enrichment classes in the region: dance and music Kfar Blum
Kfar Blum
Kfar Blum is a kibbutz in the Hula Valley part of the Upper Galilee in Israel. Located about southeast of the town of Kiryat Shmona, it falls under the jurisdiction of Upper Galilee Regional Council. In 1994 the population was 615.-History:...
, ice-skating Canada centre of Metula
Metula
Metula is a town in the Northern District of Israel. Metula is located between the sites of the Biblical cities of Dan, Abel Bet Maacah, and Ijon, bordering Lebanon.-Early history:...
, karate Ramot Naftali
Ramot Naftali
Ramot Naftali is a moshav in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, near Israel's border with Lebanon. It belongs to Mevo'ot HaHermon Regional Council....
.
Kibbutz life
Only around 90 of the 300 people living in Misgav Am are members. Many residents study in the nearby Academic College of Tel HaiTel Hai
Tel Hai is the modern name of a settlement in northern Israel, the site of an early battle in the Arab–Israeli conflict, and of a noted monument, tourist attraction, and a college...
. The kibbutz celebrates some of the Jewish holidays together and are a kind of kibbutz tradition: Lag Ba'omer
Lag Ba'omer
Lag BaOmer , also known as Lag LaOmer amongst Sephardi Jews, is a Jewish holiday celebrated on the thirty-third day of the Counting of the Omer, which occurs on the 18th day of Iyar. One reason given for the holiday is as the day of passing of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Modern Jewish tradition links...
, Yom Ha'atzmaut
Yom Ha'atzmaut
Yom Ha'atzmaut commemorates Israel's declaration of Independence in 1948. It is celebrated on 5 Iyar according to the Hebrew calendar. Yom Ha'atzmaut is preceded by Yom Hazikaron, the Israeli Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism Remembrance Day.-History:...
, Hanukkah
Hanukkah
Hanukkah , also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE...
, Tu Bishvat
Tu Bishvat
Tu Bishvat or Tu B'Shevat is a minor Jewish holiday, occurring on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shevat . It is also called "The New Year of the Trees" or...
and Shavuot
Shavuot
The festival of is a Jewish holiday that occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan ....
.
The kibbutz has a covered swimming pool, a library, a mini-market and sports courts. Besides a 24-hour Magen David Adom
Magen David Adom
The Magen David Adom is Israel's national emergency medical, disaster, ambulance and blood bank service. The name means "Red Star of David"...
emergency station, there is also a health clinic which belongs to Clalit Health Services (Kupat Holim Clalit).