Alma is a religious Jewish 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 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...

. It falls under the jurisdiction of the Merom HaGalil Regional Council

Merom HaGalil Regional Council

The Merom HaGalil Regional Council is a regional council in the northern Galilee of northern Israel. The regional council was established in 1950...

.

Alma was founded on September 1, 1949 by immigrants to Israel from Libya

History of the Jews in Libya

The history of the Jews in Libya stretches back to the 3rd century BCE, when Cyrenaica was under Greek rule. During World War II, Libya's Jewish population was subjected to anti-Semitic laws by the Fascist Italian regime and deportations by German troops...

. In 1953 a group of converts to Judaism

Conversion to Judaism

Conversion to Judaism is a formal act undertaken by a non-Jewish person who wishes to be recognised as a full member of the Jewish community. A Jewish conversion is both a religious act and an expression of association with the Jewish people...

, known as the Jews of San Nicandro

Jews of San Nicandro

The Jews of San Nicandro are a small community of Jews from San Nicandro Garganico, Italy. All of the San Nicandro Jews are descended from local neofiti families from the 15th century...

, arrived from Italy. They later abandoned Alma to live in other nearby moshavim. After the Italians left, Cochin Jews

Cochin Jews

Cochin Jews, also called Malabar Jews , are the oldest group of Jews in India, with roots claimed to date to the time of King Solomon, though historically attested migration dates from the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Historically, they lived in the Kingdom of Cochin in South India, now part of the...

 arrived from India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

.

The name Alma is based on the Arab village that existed nearby, which was also named Alma. Under the Judaea Province

Judaea (Roman province)

Judaea or Iudaea are terms used by historians to refer to the Roman province that extended over parts of the former regions of the Hasmonean and Herodian kingdoms of Israel...

, the place was a Jewish town. The name Alma is first mentioned in the crusader

Crusades

The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...

 era. A Jewish community existed until the 17th century. Benjamin of Tudela

Benjamin of Tudela

Benjamin of Tudela was a medieval Jewish traveler who visited Europe, Asia, and Africa in the 12th century. His vivid descriptions of western Asia preceded those of Marco Polo by a hundred years...

 said that during his visit, he found 50 Jewish families to be living in Alma.

Near the moshav's cemetery lie the remnants of what has been identified as a synagogue

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...

, perhaps dating to the 3rd century, though it has never been systematically excavated or properly researched. Also nearby are several tombs, including that of Eleazar ben Arach

Eleazar ben Arach

Eleazar ben Arach was one of the tannaim of the second generation . Being first among the disciples of Yochanan ben Zakai , he delighted his master with his wisdom and penetration, so that the most extravagant encomiums were lavished upon him...

, and one which is traditionally recognized as Eliezer ben Hurcanus

Eliezer ben Hurcanus

Eliezer ben Hurcanus or Eliezer ben Hyrcanus , a Kohen, was one of the most prominent tannaim of the 1st and 2nd centuries, disciple of R. Johanan ben Zakkai and colleague of Gamaliel II, whose sister he married , and of Joshua ben Hananiah...

' tomb.

The Palestinian

Palestinian people

The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...

 Arab village of Alma

Alma, Palestine

Alma was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Safad. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War on October 30, 1948 during Operation Hiram. It was located 10 km north of Safad.In 1945 it had a population of 950...

, whose land Alma stands on, was destroyed in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War

1948 Arab-Israeli War

The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...

.

Alma is located about 600 m above sea level, in an area called Alma Heights, bordered by the Dishon Stream. The Dishon Stream Nature Reserve is located next to the village, as well as the Circassian village Rehaniya

Rehaniya

Rehaniya is a predominantly Circassian village about 8 km north of Safed in northern Israel. It belongs to the Merom HaGalil Regional Council.-Background and history:...

.