Hafetz Haim

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title: "Hafetz Haim" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["german-jewish-culture-in-israel", "kibbutzim", "religious-israeli-communities", "populated-places-established-in-1937", "populated-places-established-in-1944", "populated-places-in-central-district-(israel)", "1937-establishments-in-mandatory-palestine", "1944-establishments-in-mandatory-palestine", "yekke"] description: "Kibbutz in south-central Israel" topic_path: "geography/germany" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafetz_Haim" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Kibbutz in south-central Israel ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox Kibbutz"]

Field	Value
name	Hafetz Haim
image	PikiWiki Israel 5772 Synagogue at Kibbutz Chafetz Chaim.JPG
hebname
foundation	15 August 1937 (Kfar Szold)
25 April 1944 (Hafetz Haim)
founded_by	German Jews
Polish Agudat Yisrael Members
country
district	center
council	Nahal Sorek
affiliation	Poalei Agudat Yisrael
popyear
population
pushpin_map	Israel center ta#Israel
coordinates
meaning	desirous of life
::

::callout[type=note] the kibbutz ::

| name = Hafetz Haim | image = PikiWiki Israel 5772 Synagogue at Kibbutz Chafetz Chaim.JPG | hebname = | foundation = 15 August 1937 (Kfar Szold) 25 April 1944 (Hafetz Haim) | founded_by = German Jews Polish Agudat Yisrael Members | country = | district = center | council = Nahal Sorek | affiliation = Poalei Agudat Yisrael | popyear = | population = | population_footnotes= | pushpin_map = Israel center ta#Israel|pushpin_mapsize=250 | pushpin_label_position = top |coordinates = | website = | meaning =desirous of life

Hafetz Haim (, lit. desirous of life) is a religious kibbutz in central Israel. Located in the Shephelah, it falls under the jurisdiction of Nahal Sorek Regional Council. In it had a population of .

History

The land on which Hafetz Haim was established was purchased by the Jewish National Fund. The land had traditionally belonged to the Palestinian village of Al-Mukhayzin.

The first Jewish settlement was established there on 15 August 1937 as part of the tower and stockade movement. It was named Sha'ar HaNegev, "Gate of the Negev", and then Kfar Szold, "Szold Village" (after Henrietta Szold). However, on 13 November 1942 the community moved to the Finger of the Galilee, where they established a new kibbutz, also called Kfar Szold.

On 25 April 1944 a new kibbutz was established. The founders were religious pioneers from Germany and members of the Ezra youth movement and Agudat Yisrael who had been preparing near Kfar Saba. It was the first village founded by Poalei Agudat Yisrael and was named after rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, who was also known as the Hafetz Haim after one of his famous works with the title “Chofetz Chaim”, trans. Desirer of Life. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/חפץ_-חיים-_מראה_כללי-JNF026029.jpeg" caption="Hafetz Haim 1945"] ::

Archaeology

In 2010, a Byzantine-era octagonal wine press measuring 6.5 meters by 16.5 meters was discovered in excavations near Kibbutz Hafetz Haim.

References

References

1. Khalidi, W.. (1992). "All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948". [[Institute for Palestine Studies]].
2. [https://en.davar1.co.il/405893 The People of the Scythe and the Shtreimel]
3. [https://books.google.com/books?id=qd5yzP5hdiEC&pg=PA229 Fundamentalisms Observed, Volume 1, Martin E. Marty, R. Scott Appleby]
4. [https://www.jpost.com/Israel/Byzantine-era-wine-press-discovered-in-Nahal-Sorek-area Byzantine era wine press discovered in Nahal Sorek area] [[Jerusalem Post]]

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::