Amirim

Amirim is a moshav

Moshav

Moshav is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists during the second aliyah...

 in the Galilee

Galilee

Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...

 established by vegetarians

Vegetarianism

Vegetarianism encompasses the practice of following plant-based diets , with or without the inclusion of dairy products or eggs, and with the exclusion of meat...

. Today 150 families live on the moshav.Amirim is located 650 m. above sea level on a hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee

Sea of Galilee

The Sea of Galilee, also Kinneret, Lake of Gennesaret, or Lake Tiberias , is the largest freshwater lake in Israel, and it is approximately in circumference, about long, and wide. The lake has a total area of , and a maximum depth of approximately 43 m...

. It is 15 km. from Safed

Safed

Safed , is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and of Israel. Due to its high elevation, Safed experiences warm summers and cold, often snowy, winters...

.

History

Early attempts by Jewish immigrants from Morocco

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

 to establish a settlement in the 1950s were not successful. The original name was Shefa Bet. In 1958, a group of people of various backgrounds banded together to create a moshav based on a vegetarian, vegan, and organic lifestyle and ideology. Among them were numerous Branch Davidian Seventh Day Adventist

Branch Davidian

The Branch Davidians are a Protestant sect that originated in 1955 from a schism in the Davidian Seventh Day Adventists , a reform movement that began within the Seventh-day Adventist Church around 1930...

 families under the leadership of Ben Roden and Lois Roden

Lois Roden

Lois Irene Scott Roden was a president of the Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Church, an apocalyptic Christian sect which her husband, Benjamin Roden founded. The sect began in Texas in 1955 as a succession to the Shepherd's Rod movement led by Victor T...

. The founders of Amirim were among the pioneers of the vegetarian movement in Israel. The Rodens established "The Branch Organic Agricultural Association," one of the first organizations to encourage organic gardening in Israel, which produces an abundance of crops for the area and for Europe.

Economy

One of the moshav's main sources of income is tourism. The moshav runs guesthouses and restaurants featuring vegetarian and vegan food. In the early 1960s, the Jewish Agency helped 10 families build the first zimmerim, as the guest chalets are known.

See also

• Vegetarianism in Judaism