Alon Shvut
Encyclopedia
Alon Shvut is an Israeli settlement
located southwest of Jerusalem, one kilometer northeast of Kfar Etzion
, in the West Bank
. Established in June 1970 in the heart of the Etzion bloc, Alon Shvut became the prototype for Jewish settlements in the region. It is administered by the Gush Etzion Regional Council
and neighbors the settlements of Neve Daniel
, Elazar
and Efrat
. In 2010, Alon Shvut had a population of 700 families. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law
, although the Israeli government disputes this.
ian Arab Legion
in 1948 following the Kfar Etzion massacre
. The 700-year old Kermes Oak
(Quercus calliprinos) is sacred to the Arabs with the name Ballutet el Yerzeh (oak of Yerzeh). It was a central feature of Gush Etzion and became known as "lone oak". The town was constructed adjacent to the oak, which is considered a symbol of renewal and continuity. The oak is incorporated in the municipal emblem.
Yigal Allon
, who sponsored the establishment of the town, claimed that the name was chosen in order to honour him.
, fought between the Maccabees
and the Seleucid army
after the defeat of the Seleucids in Jerusalem. The ancient town of Beth Zecharia, in northern Judea
, is identified with the ruins of Khirbet Zechariah, less than a kilometer north of Alon Shvut. It was considered the nearest area to Jerusalem whose topography could be exploited by the Maccabees
to block the northward advance of the Seleucid army
, after the Maccabee defeat in the Battle of Beth-Zur.
Alon Shvut sits on the ancient road to Jerusalem, which is still marked by Roman
milestone
s. Many mikvehs believed to have been used by pilgrims on the way to the Temple in Jerusalem
have been found in the surrounding hills. Dozens of ancient grape and olive presses, as well as cisterns hewn out of the bedrock, testify to a long history of agriculture.
The hill at the east end of Alon Shvut is known as Khirbet Beit Sawir (ruins of Beit Sawir) or in recent times Giv'at HaHish. An excavation by Yuval Peleg found a columbarium, a winepress and a ritual bath (mikveh) from the Hellenistic or Roman period. In 1596, Beit Sawir appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Quds of the Liwa
of Quds. It had a population of 8 Muslim households and paid taxes on wheat, barley, olives or vines or fruit trees, and goats or beehives. The much larger Arab village of Fagur was nearby to the north-east. In the late 19th century, Beit Sawir was reported as abandoned and Fagur (Beit Fejjar) was also abandoned by 1922. To the south of Beit Sawir was the remains of a megalithic stone tower of great antiquity but unknown purpose.
The settlement of Alon Shvut was planned by Moshe Moskovic, who had been a member of the Masu'ot Yitzhak
settlement in the Etzion Bloc before 1948. The army invited him back to the area in the immediate aftermath of the Six Day War. He set forth a plan for the reconstruction of Gush Etzion as a regional centre, envisaging a business centre to service agricultural settlement, a tourist centre and educational institutions with dormitory facilities for students from all over the country. The educational structures would consist of (a) a High Yeshiva in a military framework (Nahal
), (b) a Jewish study academy, (c) a seminar for activists and (d) a school for teaching Har Hebron.
Yigal Allon
became its political sponsor, and paved the way for the realization of Moskovic's programme, which was designed to replace the demolished Masu'ot Yitzhak with a new community, Alon Shvut. Funding came directly from the government, and from the Rothschild Foundation
. Half of the surviving members of the prewar settlements of Masu'ot Yitzhak and Ein Tsurim, preferred not to return. The first settlers moved in on June 25, 1970, and the official founding ceremony was held on the 5th. of July.
From the outset it was conceived of as a combined educational centre and a residential quarter for families associated with the then-nascent Yeshivat Har Etzion
hesder
yeshiva
, an institution that by special arrangement with the government combines a five year programme of religious study with army service. Graduates from these Gush Etzion yeshivot make up a disproportionately high percentage of fighting men in the elite units of Israeli Defense Forces.
It developed as a communal and service center in a predominantly agricultural region. For many years Alon Shvut housed the only health clinic, grocery, post office and bank in the area.
's prohibition on the transfer of an occupying power's civilian population into occupied territory and are as such illegal under international humanitarian law
. Israel disputes that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the Palestinian territories as they had not been legally held by a sovereign prior to Israel taking control of them. This view has been rejected by the International Court of Justice
and the International Committee of the Red Cross
.
Peace Now reports that private Palestinian property makes up 24.13% of the land that Alon Shvut, along with the nearby Israeli outpost of Givat Hahish, is built on. One resident, Yaacov Katz, affirms that the land on which Alon Shvut was built had been purchased from Palestinians in the 1920s, and that on principle, they only build on land that can be proven to belong to Jews, adding, 'Morally and ethically, that is how it should be done.'
Alon Shvut is located a few hundred meters west of the Gush Etzion Junction
, where Route 60, the north–south artery which roughly follows the watershed
from Nazareth
through Jerusalem to Beersheba
meets Route 367, which descends west into the Elah Valley
to the coastal plain
and Tel Aviv area
. Travel time to Jerusalem is approximately 15 minutes.
"), especially from the United States. In the summer 2002, a group of 90 Incan Jewish immigrants, former Christians who converted to Judaism and who hail from Trujillo
, Peru
moved into mobile homes on the site. Donna Rosenthal writes of this community:
A third neighbourhood is planned for the Giv'at HaHish (גִּבְעַת הָחִי"שׁ) area northeast of the town, named after the Haganah
's HISH
unit's operations there.
. In addition to the families of faculty, many of its students have made their homes in the town. The yeshiva, housed in a large, white building overlooking the valley, also attracts many English-speaking students from around the world. Its founders are considered of the more moderate educators in the Hesder Yeshiva program and have gained a reputation of tolerance and modernity for the institute. Alon Shvut rabbinical school encouraged the family of a yeshiva student killed in a Tel Aviv Hamas bus bombing incident to donate his organs, and a Palestinian girl was the recipient of his liver. The teachers are respected authorities on biblical commentary, traditional law and Jewish philosophy. Herzog College for Teachers
is located in Alon Shvut. Tsomet Institute
is a research institute based in Alon Shvut that seeks ways of reconciling Jewish religious law with modern technology to enable hospitals, police, fire departments and the military to carry out their duties on the Sabbath
.
The Lone Tree microbrewery, established in 2010, is located in Alon Shvut. In 2007, the Gush Etzion winery, a modern facility on the road to Alon Shvut, won a gold medal for its Cabernet Franc
in the annual Mediterranean International Wine and Spirit Challenge, also known as Terravino.
, hermeneutics, linguistics, poetry, history, geography, kabbalah
and Jewish religious law
. The use of the Olympic-size swimming pool is gender-segregated.
Alon Shvut and the neighboring community of Neve Daniel are linked by a path called Derech Ha’Avot (Path of the Forefathers).
Israeli settlement
An Israeli settlement is a Jewish civilian community built on land that was captured by Israel from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and is considered occupied territory by the international community. Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank...
located southwest of Jerusalem, one kilometer northeast of Kfar Etzion
Kfar Etzion
Kfar Etzion is a religious Israeli settlement and kibbutz located in the Judean Hills between Jerusalem and Hebron in the southern West Bank. It has a population of 400 and falls under the jurisdiction of Gush Etzion Regional Council...
, in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
. Established in June 1970 in the heart of the Etzion bloc, Alon Shvut became the prototype for Jewish settlements in the region. It is administered by the Gush Etzion Regional Council
Gush Etzion Regional Council
The Gush Etzion Regional Council is a regional council in the northern Judean Hills, the northern part of the southern area of the West Bank, administering the settlements in the Gush Etzion region, as well as others nearby...
and neighbors the settlements of Neve Daniel
Neve Daniel
Neve Daniel is an Israeli settlement and communal settlement located in western Gush Etzion in the southern West Bank. Located south of Jerusalem and just west of Bethlehem, it sits atop one of the highest points in the area - close to 1,000 meters above sea level, and has a view of much of the...
, Elazar
Elazar, Gush Etzion
Elazar is an Israeli settlement in the Judean Hills region of the West Bank, 18 kilometers south of Jerusalem in the Gush Etzion cluster of settlements. A communal settlement, it has around 450 families living there...
and Efrat
Efrat
Efrat , or officially Efrata , is an Israeli settlement established in 1983 and a local council in the Judean Mountains of the West Bank. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this...
. In 2010, Alon Shvut had a population of 700 families. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law
International law and Israeli settlements
The international community considers the establishment of Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied territories illegal under international law, but Israel maintains that they are consistent with international law because it does not agree that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the...
, although the Israeli government disputes this.
Etymology
Alon Shvut, literally "oak of return," is a reference to the return of the Jews expelled from Gush Etzion by the JordanJordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
ian Arab Legion
Arab Legion
The Arab Legion was the regular army of Transjordan and then Jordan in the early part of the 20th century.-Creation:...
in 1948 following the Kfar Etzion massacre
Kfar Etzion massacre
The Kfar Etzion massacre was an act committed by Arab armed forces on May 13, 1948, the day before the Declaration of Independence of the state of Israel.-Background:...
. The 700-year old Kermes Oak
Kermes Oak
Quercus coccifera, the Kermes Oak, is an oak in the Turkey oak section Quercus sect. Cerris. It is native to the western Mediterranean region and Northern African Maghreb, from Morocco and Portugal east to Libya and Greece.-Description:...
(Quercus calliprinos) is sacred to the Arabs with the name Ballutet el Yerzeh (oak of Yerzeh). It was a central feature of Gush Etzion and became known as "lone oak". The town was constructed adjacent to the oak, which is considered a symbol of renewal and continuity. The oak is incorporated in the municipal emblem.
Yigal Allon
Yigal Allon
Yigal Allon was an Israeli politician, a commander of the Palmach, and a general in the IDF. He served as one of the leaders of Ahdut HaAvoda party and the Israeli Labor party, and acting Prime Minister of Israel, and was a member of the Knesset and government minister from the 10th through the...
, who sponsored the establishment of the town, claimed that the name was chosen in order to honour him.
History
Alon Shvut is located on the site of the Battle of Beth-zechariahBattle of Beth-zechariah
The Battle of Beth-Zechariah was fought between the Jewish Maccabeans and Greek forces during the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid Empire.-Background:...
, fought between the Maccabees
Maccabees
The Maccabees were a Jewish rebel army who took control of Judea, which had been a client state of the Seleucid Empire. They founded the Hasmonean dynasty, which ruled from 164 BCE to 63 BCE, reasserting the Jewish religion, expanding the boundaries of the Land of Israel and reducing the influence...
and the Seleucid army
Seleucid army
The Seleucid army was the army of the Seleucid Empire, one of the numerous Hellenistic states that emerged after the death of Alexander the Great....
after the defeat of the Seleucids in Jerusalem. The ancient town of Beth Zecharia, in northern Judea
Judea
Judea or Judæa was the name of the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel from the 8th century BCE to the 2nd century CE, when Roman Judea was renamed Syria Palaestina following the Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt.-Etymology:The...
, is identified with the ruins of Khirbet Zechariah, less than a kilometer north of Alon Shvut. It was considered the nearest area to Jerusalem whose topography could be exploited by the Maccabees
Maccabees
The Maccabees were a Jewish rebel army who took control of Judea, which had been a client state of the Seleucid Empire. They founded the Hasmonean dynasty, which ruled from 164 BCE to 63 BCE, reasserting the Jewish religion, expanding the boundaries of the Land of Israel and reducing the influence...
to block the northward advance of the Seleucid army
Seleucid army
The Seleucid army was the army of the Seleucid Empire, one of the numerous Hellenistic states that emerged after the death of Alexander the Great....
, after the Maccabee defeat in the Battle of Beth-Zur.
Alon Shvut sits on the ancient road to Jerusalem, which is still marked by Roman
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
milestone
Milestone
A milestone is one of a series of numbered markers placed along a road or boundary at intervals of one mile or occasionally, parts of a mile. They are typically located at the side of the road or in a median. They are alternatively known as mile markers, mileposts or mile posts...
s. Many mikvehs believed to have been used by pilgrims on the way to the Temple in Jerusalem
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
have been found in the surrounding hills. Dozens of ancient grape and olive presses, as well as cisterns hewn out of the bedrock, testify to a long history of agriculture.
The hill at the east end of Alon Shvut is known as Khirbet Beit Sawir (ruins of Beit Sawir) or in recent times Giv'at HaHish. An excavation by Yuval Peleg found a columbarium, a winepress and a ritual bath (mikveh) from the Hellenistic or Roman period. In 1596, Beit Sawir appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Quds of the Liwa
Liwa (arabic)
Liwa or Liwa is an Arabic term meaning district, banner, or flag, a type of administrative division. It was interchangeable with the Turkish term "Sanjak" in the time of the Ottoman Empire. After the fall of the empire, the term was used in the Arab countries formerly under Ottoman rule...
of Quds. It had a population of 8 Muslim households and paid taxes on wheat, barley, olives or vines or fruit trees, and goats or beehives. The much larger Arab village of Fagur was nearby to the north-east. In the late 19th century, Beit Sawir was reported as abandoned and Fagur (Beit Fejjar) was also abandoned by 1922. To the south of Beit Sawir was the remains of a megalithic stone tower of great antiquity but unknown purpose.
The settlement of Alon Shvut was planned by Moshe Moskovic, who had been a member of the Masu'ot Yitzhak
Masu'ot Yitzhak
Masu'ot Yitzhak is a moshav shitufi in southern Israel. It is located near Ashkelon, within the municipal jurisdiction of the Shafir Regional Council. The original kibbutz in Gush Etzion was destroyed and depopulated in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. A new settlement was established in 1949 in a...
settlement in the Etzion Bloc before 1948. The army invited him back to the area in the immediate aftermath of the Six Day War. He set forth a plan for the reconstruction of Gush Etzion as a regional centre, envisaging a business centre to service agricultural settlement, a tourist centre and educational institutions with dormitory facilities for students from all over the country. The educational structures would consist of (a) a High Yeshiva in a military framework (Nahal
Nahal
Nahal is an Israel Defense Forces infantry brigade. Historically, it refers to a program that combines military service and establishment of new agricultural settlements, often in outlying areas...
), (b) a Jewish study academy, (c) a seminar for activists and (d) a school for teaching Har Hebron.
Yigal Allon
Yigal Allon
Yigal Allon was an Israeli politician, a commander of the Palmach, and a general in the IDF. He served as one of the leaders of Ahdut HaAvoda party and the Israeli Labor party, and acting Prime Minister of Israel, and was a member of the Knesset and government minister from the 10th through the...
became its political sponsor, and paved the way for the realization of Moskovic's programme, which was designed to replace the demolished Masu'ot Yitzhak with a new community, Alon Shvut. Funding came directly from the government, and from the Rothschild Foundation
Rothschild family
The Rothschild family , known as The House of Rothschild, or more simply as the Rothschilds, is a Jewish-German family that established European banking and finance houses starting in the late 18th century...
. Half of the surviving members of the prewar settlements of Masu'ot Yitzhak and Ein Tsurim, preferred not to return. The first settlers moved in on June 25, 1970, and the official founding ceremony was held on the 5th. of July.
From the outset it was conceived of as a combined educational centre and a residential quarter for families associated with the then-nascent Yeshivat Har Etzion
Yeshivat Har Etzion
Yeshivat Har Etzion, ', commonly known as "Gush," is a hesder yeshiva located in Alon Shvut, a community in Gush Etzion in the West Bank, near Jerusalem, Israel. With a student body of 484, it is one of the largest hesder yeshivas in Israel...
hesder
Hesder
Hesder is an Israeli yeshiva program which combines advanced Talmudic studies with military service in the Israel Defense Forces, usually within a Religious Zionist framework...
yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
, an institution that by special arrangement with the government combines a five year programme of religious study with army service. Graduates from these Gush Etzion yeshivot make up a disproportionately high percentage of fighting men in the elite units of Israeli Defense Forces.
It developed as a communal and service center in a predominantly agricultural region. For many years Alon Shvut housed the only health clinic, grocery, post office and bank in the area.
Legal status
The international community considers Israeli settlements a violation of the Fourth Geneva ConventionFourth Geneva Convention
The Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, commonly referred to as the Fourth Geneva Convention and abbreviated as GCIV, is one of the four treaties of the Geneva Conventions. It was adopted in August 1949, and defines humanitarian protections for civilians...
's prohibition on the transfer of an occupying power's civilian population into occupied territory and are as such illegal under international humanitarian law
International humanitarian law
International humanitarian law , often referred to as the laws of war, the laws and customs of war or the law of armed conflict, is the legal corpus that comprises "the Geneva Conventions and the Hague Conventions, as well as subsequent treaties, case law, and customary international law." It...
. Israel disputes that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the Palestinian territories as they had not been legally held by a sovereign prior to Israel taking control of them. This view has been rejected by the International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
and the International Committee of the Red Cross
International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross is a private humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. States parties to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005, have given the ICRC a mandate to protect the victims of international and...
.
Peace Now reports that private Palestinian property makes up 24.13% of the land that Alon Shvut, along with the nearby Israeli outpost of Givat Hahish, is built on. One resident, Yaacov Katz, affirms that the land on which Alon Shvut was built had been purchased from Palestinians in the 1920s, and that on principle, they only build on land that can be proven to belong to Jews, adding, 'Morally and ethically, that is how it should be done.'
Geography
Located in the northern Judean Hills at about 950 m above sea level, Alon Shvut is a cool and dry in summer. Winters are mild, with rainfall and a few inches of snow about once a year. The old and new neighborhoods are contiguous and lie on a northwest–southeast axis along the ridge of a hill, with a gradual plain descending to its south and dramatic gullies dropping to its north. The Givat HaHish neighborhood is on an extension of the ridge which abuts a gully to the northeast of the town.Gush Etzion Junction
Gush Etzion Junction ' also known as Gush Junction is a business, commercial and tourism center in the southern West Bank which serves as the entry point to the Gush Etzion bloc of settlements. It is administered by the Gush Etzion Regional Council...
, where Route 60, the north–south artery which roughly follows the watershed
Water divide
A drainage divide, water divide, divide or watershed is the line separating neighbouring drainage basins...
from Nazareth
Nazareth
Nazareth is the largest city in the North District of Israel. Known as "the Arab capital of Israel," the population is made up predominantly of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel...
through Jerusalem to Beersheba
Beersheba
Beersheba is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the seventh-largest city in Israel with a population of 194,300....
meets Route 367, which descends west into the Elah Valley
Valley of Elah
The Valley of Elah, "the valley of the oak or terebinth" , best known as the place described in the Bible where the Israelites were encamped when David fought Goliath . It was near Azekah and Socho...
to the coastal plain
Israeli Coastal Plain
The Israeli coastal plain is the narrow coastal plain along Israel's Mediterranean Sea coast which houses 70% of the country's population. The plain extends north to south and is divided into a number of areas; the Plain of Zebulun , Hof HaCarmel , the Sharon plain , and the Plain of Judea The...
and Tel Aviv area
Gush Dan
The Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area , or Gush Dan , is a metropolitan area including areas from both the Tel Aviv and the Central Districts of Israel. The area is closely linked to the city of Tel Aviv through social, economic, and cultural ties. It is located along the Israeli Mediterranean coastline...
. Travel time to Jerusalem is approximately 15 minutes.
Demography
Not all of Alon Shvut's settlers were born in Israel, or born Jewish. There are residents speaking English, Russian, French, Amharic and Spanish. In 2000, a second neighborhood doubled the size of the town to accommodate an increased demand for housing.Among the new residents were those who had been unable to acquire lots in the original neighborhood, as well as many young families that had moved to Israel from abroad ("made aliyahAliyah
Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...
"), especially from the United States. In the summer 2002, a group of 90 Incan Jewish immigrants, former Christians who converted to Judaism and who hail from Trujillo
Trujillo, Peru
Trujillo, in northwestern Peru, is the capital of the La Libertad Region, and the third largest city in Peru. The urban area has 811,979 inhabitants and is an economic hub in northern Peru...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
moved into mobile homes on the site. Donna Rosenthal writes of this community:
Not all settlers were born Jewish; in summer 2002, Peruvian Indians left huts and were welcomed into new trailer homes in this Judean hills settlement. Although these former Christians have taken Hebrew names, they do not yet know the difference between Herzl
HerzlHerzl is originally a Yiddish given name.* Herzl Berger* Herzl Bodinger* Theodor Herzl Gaster* Cyrus Herzl Gordon* Yehudah Herzl Henkin* Herzl Rosenblum* Herzl Yankl Tsam- Family name :* Theodor Herzl, most famous "Herzl"** Herzl Award...
and HamasHamasHamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
. The "Inca Jews" already have been taught the "holy trinity": the Torah, the People, the Land. And they call the West Bank of the Jordan river by its Biblical names, Judea and Samaria. "We knew we were coming to a place called 'territories' because we know other Peruvians who immigrated earlier and are living in the settlements," said a kippa-wearing convert who carried a Spanish-Hebrew prayer book. "But I have no problem because I don't consider the territories to be occupied. You cannot conquer what has belonged to you since the time of the patriarch Abraham."
A third neighbourhood is planned for the Giv'at HaHish (גִּבְעַת הָחִי"שׁ) area northeast of the town, named after the Haganah
Haganah
Haganah 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 :...
's HISH
HISH
The Hish was a corps formed by the Haganah in the British Mandate of Palestine in 1939 following the disbandment of the smaller mobilized force known as the Fosh. It was the Haganah's main surface corps, alongside Him and the Palmach....
unit's operations there.
Educational and religious institutions
Much of Alon Shvut's growth has been tied to the presence of Yeshivat Har EtzionYeshivat Har Etzion
Yeshivat Har Etzion, ', commonly known as "Gush," is a hesder yeshiva located in Alon Shvut, a community in Gush Etzion in the West Bank, near Jerusalem, Israel. With a student body of 484, it is one of the largest hesder yeshivas in Israel...
. In addition to the families of faculty, many of its students have made their homes in the town. The yeshiva, housed in a large, white building overlooking the valley, also attracts many English-speaking students from around the world. Its founders are considered of the more moderate educators in the Hesder Yeshiva program and have gained a reputation of tolerance and modernity for the institute. Alon Shvut rabbinical school encouraged the family of a yeshiva student killed in a Tel Aviv Hamas bus bombing incident to donate his organs, and a Palestinian girl was the recipient of his liver. The teachers are respected authorities on biblical commentary, traditional law and Jewish philosophy. Herzog College for Teachers
Herzog College
Herzog College is a teacher's college located in Alon Shevut, Gush Etzion, in the West Bank. It is named for the diplomat Yaakov Herzog...
is located in Alon Shvut. Tsomet Institute
Zomet Institute
The Zomet Institute is an Israeli high-tech non-profit organization specializing in IT equipment and electronic appliances designed to meet Halakha.-The company:...
is a research institute based in Alon Shvut that seeks ways of reconciling Jewish religious law with modern technology to enable hospitals, police, fire departments and the military to carry out their duties on the Sabbath
Sabbath
Sabbath in Christianity is a weekly day of rest or religious observance, derived from the Biblical Sabbath.Seventh-day Sabbath observance, i.e. resting from labor from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, is practiced by seventh-day Sabbatarians...
.
Economy
Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone - as in the Loire's Chinon...
in the annual Mediterranean International Wine and Spirit Challenge, also known as Terravino.
Local culture
The annual Bible-learning seminar at Herzog College is a 5-day event that attracts thousands of participants from all over the country. In 2010, over 100 leading scholars delivered 150 lectures. In 2011, the seminar drew 5,000 participants and offered 200 lectures in such subjects as Biblical archaeologyBiblical archaeology
For the movement associated with William F. Albright and also known as biblical archaeology, see Biblical archaeology school. For the interpretation of biblical archaeology in relation to biblical historicity, see The Bible and history....
, hermeneutics, linguistics, poetry, history, geography, kabbalah
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
and Jewish religious law
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
. The use of the Olympic-size swimming pool is gender-segregated.
Alon Shvut and the neighboring community of Neve Daniel are linked by a path called Derech Ha’Avot (Path of the Forefathers).