Yakum
Encyclopedia
Yakum is a kibbutz
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 central Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, south of the Netanya
Netanya
Netanya is a city in the Northern Centre District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is located north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa between the 'Poleg' stream and Wingate Institute in the south and the 'Avichail' stream in the north.Its of beaches have made the...

. It is under the jurisdiction of the Hof HaSharon Regional Council
Hof HaSharon Regional Council
Hof HaSharon Regional Council , is a regional council in the Center and Tel Aviv districts of Israel. It is located on the coastline in the Sharon area between Netanya and Herzliya.The local authority is located in kibbutz Shefayim....

 and had a population of 555 in 2006.

Geography

Yakum is located in the central part of Israel's shore strip, about 30 km from Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...

, and only 5 km from the south suburbs of Netanya
Netanya
Netanya is a city in the Northern Centre District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is located north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa between the 'Poleg' stream and Wingate Institute in the south and the 'Avichail' stream in the north.Its of beaches have made the...

.

History

In 1934 a group of young German
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...

 immigrants were gathered at kibbutz Ein Harod
Ein Harod
Ein Harod was a kibbutz in Israel. It was located in northern Israel near Mount Gilboa. It is notable for being built near the battlefield of Ayn Jalut , a battle of huge macro-historical importance where the Mongols were defeated for the first time, in 1260.-History:The kibbutz was founded by...

 to form the nucleus for the new kibbutz. In 1938 Yakum was founded as Kibbutz Eretz-Israel Dalet in the town of Hadera
Hadera
Hadera is a city located in the Haifa District of Israel approximately from the major cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. The city is located along of the Israeli Mediterranean Coastal Plain...

. However, the kibbutz was not allocated any land until 1947, when some land near Wadi Falik was designated for the establishment of the kibbutz. During the waiting period, the members were joined by groups of newcomers from Germany, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

, and Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe 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...

. Until the pre-state institutions decided where to settle them, the members were sent to work at established settlements 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...

, such as Yavne'el
Yavne'el
Yavne'el is a moshava and a local council in the North District of Israel. It is named after a village in the tribe Naphtali , which was probably located on the tel north of the moshava. Located south-west of Tiberias, it was declared a local council in 1951...

.

In 1947, the kibbutz was finally established at its current location, and it was named "Yakum" by the Central Naming Committee of Israel. The members were not fond of the name and appealed to the committee to have it changed. At a kibbutz gathering on 5 May 1947, alternative names were proposed by the members, but the committee rejected the appeal, and the name stood.

Economics

The kibbutz struggled financially during the first years, dependent on growing oranges, managing the herd of milking cows, cultivating field crops and mining "Zif-zif" (used as sand for building in Israel).

Agriculture was the main occupation of the kibbutz until 1964, when the kibbutz acquired a small private plastic factory." This was the mark for the process of industrialization of the kibbutz, a process which is entering its second stage in recent years, as Yakum is supporting new ventures like the Europark, the gas & service station, and other real estate ventures.

In 1947 the kibbutz operated a small underground weapons factory, manufacturing Sten guns.

In 1964, the kibbutz established "Plastiv", a blow-molding and injection plastic factory, and years later signed contracts with "Reid Plastics" for the manufacture and distribution of Lexan containers, and with "Elopak", a Norwegian firm, for the manufacture and distribution of plastic caps for paper containers.

In 1992, the members of kibbutz Yakum began the process of privatization. The process was initiated in order to supply the members of the kibbutz with enough financial resources to purchase services previously supplied free-of-charge by the community resources, such as: clothing, furniture, home appliances, and food.

Yakum is now an industrial collective, and tries to take advantages of its local real-estate instead of agriculture. A main income source is the salaries earned by kibbutz members working for companies outside the kibbutz.

Attractions

Yad Recha Frier is a two-building cultural center named in memory of Recha Freier
Recha Freier
Recha Freier founded the Youth Aliyah organization in 1933...

, a youth aliyah
Youth Aliyah
Szold was initially skeptical about the merits of Freier's proposal, as she believed that Germany offered better educational opportunities for Jewish children than Palestine. However, Hitler's rise to power convinced her otherwise. The Nuremberg Laws were enacted in 1935 and on 31 March 1936 German...

 heroine during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. The center is devoted to educating youth about the history of Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...

 and serves as the home of the Youth Aliyah Orchestra and for performing groups from 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:...

.

Volunteers

Since the late 1960's Kibbutz Yakum has hosted thousands of volunteers from around the world. These volunteers came to Yakum to experience Kibbutz life, and to learn about Israel in general. Through their shared experience, over the years, international volunteers have created a fraternity of friendship between the volunteers themselves, as well as with Kibbutz members. Inevitably, a number of Kibbutz members married international volunteers and have created families.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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