Beit Oren ( or ,
lit. House of
PinePines are coniferous trees in the genus Pinus , in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Distribution:...
) is a
kibbutzA 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 northern
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
. It falls under the jurisdication of
Hof HaCarmel Regional CouncilHof Hacarmel Regional Council is a regional council located in the northern Israeli coastal plain. The council serves a large area, from Tirat HaCarmel in the north to Caesarea in the south. Its offices are located in Ein HaCarmel to the south of Haifa...
.
Kibbutz Beit Oren is located in the heart of Carmel mountain range, right next to the Carmel Nature Reserve national park, an area often called "little Switzerland".
In 1934 a single Arab house stood on the site of what is today Beit Oren. It was purchased with the surrounding lands, settled by a group of 15 Jewish workers, and served as a watch tower and camp.
Beit Oren ( or ,
lit. House of
PinePines are coniferous trees in the genus Pinus , in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Distribution:...
) is a
kibbutzA 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 northern
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
. It falls under the jurisdication of
Hof HaCarmel Regional CouncilHof Hacarmel Regional Council is a regional council located in the northern Israeli coastal plain. The council serves a large area, from Tirat HaCarmel in the north to Caesarea in the south. Its offices are located in Ein HaCarmel to the south of Haifa...
.
Geography
Kibbutz Beit Oren is located in the heart of Carmel mountain range, right next to the Carmel Nature Reserve national park, an area often called "little Switzerland".
History
In 1934 a single Arab house stood on the site of what is today Beit Oren. It was purchased with the surrounding lands, settled by a group of 15 Jewish workers, and served as a watch tower and camp. The workers intended to build a city and name it Yaarot HaCarmel, but a number were killed when the site was attacked during the 1936 Arab Revolt.
Kibbutz Beit Oren was founded in 1939 by immigrants from
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, part of the Hebrew Socialist Adolescence movement. Over time these were joined by other groups from Dror and Aliyat HaNoar, as well as by a group from Kibbutz
Ma'agan MichaelMa'agan Michael is a kibbutz in Israel. It is currently the largest kibbutz in the country, with a population of over 1,400 residents , and falls under the jurisdiction of Hof HaCarmel Regional Council.-Geography:The kibbutz is located 30 km south of Haifa and 70 km north of Tel Aviv and lies east...
.
Prior to Israel's indepedence, the kibbutz served the
HaganahHaganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
as a
PalmachThe Palmach was the regular fighting force of the Haganah, the unofficial army of the Yishuv during the period of the British Mandate of Palestine. The Palmach was established on May 15, 1941...
base for underground activities against the British. On 9 October 1945, a Palmach unit set out from Beit Oren to free 208 illegal immigrants detained at the
Atlit detainee campThe Atlit detainee camp was a detention center for Jewish immigrants seeking refuge in Palestine during the period of the British Mandate for Palestine. Atlit is located on the Mediterranean coast of Israel, 20 km south of Haifa.-History:...
. After overcoming the guards, the freed immigrants were led past Beit Oren to Kibbutz
YagurYagur is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located on the slopes of Mount Carmel about 9 km southeast of Haifa, it is one of the two largest kibbutzim in the country, with a population of 1,100. It falls under the jurisdiction of Zevulun Regional Council....
, where they were hidden from the British. The attack was the first anti-British action undertaken by the
PalmachThe Palmach was the regular fighting force of the Haganah, the unofficial army of the Yishuv during the period of the British Mandate of Palestine. The Palmach was established on May 15, 1941...
.
During the 1980s Beit Oren went practically bankrupt, leaving the senior members without any income or means of subsistence, in a great deal of debt and with commitments for which they had no way to cover. The kibbutz movement stopped financial support to the kibbutz, then in severe economic and social crisis, and suggested that veteran members leave. The United Kibbutz Movement allowed a group of young individuals to change the kibbutz fundamentally. In 1999, eight members of Beit Oren, applied to the High Court of Justice, to order the registrar of cooperative societies, to abolish the classification of Beit Oren as a kibbutz and classify it as a different kind of cooperative society. It later underwent privatization, shifting from a
kibbutzA 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...
to a community village.
Beit Oren currently has about 200 members.
Economics
The kibbutz operates a hotel and a horse riding centre.
Other sources of revenue in the community include a lead factory with an on-site
glass work shop. The kibbutz also features an extensive, privately-owned events venue
that formerly served as its community dinning hall. Beit Oren's large outdoor membership-based swimming pool also manages to attract large amounts of people from
HaifaHaifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 264,900. Haifa has a mixed population of Jews and Arabs giving an example for peaceful co-existence. The Arab population used to be predominantly Christian, while some of the Jewish...
and surrounding communities.
In addition, the kibbutz also features a locally-owned pub with live bands and a professional mountain-bike store offering new bike models, bike repairs and modification as well as guided trips within the Carmel mountain range.
Attractions
Khirbet Oren (Shalale) is an ancient city in the center of Mount Carmel, on a steep hill overlooking Oren valley. There are few remains at the site indicating that the city flourished during Hellenistic and Roman times. Canaanite findings (25th-10th centuries BC) have also been found in the area.