Bar'am 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...

 located 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...

. Located approximately 300 meters from Israel's border

Blue Line (Lebanon)

The Blue Line is a border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel published by the United Nations on 7 June 2000 for the purposes of determining whether Israel had fully withdrawn from Lebanon...

 with Lebanon

Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

 near the ruins of the ancient Jewish village of Kfar Bar'am

Kfar Bar'am

Kfar Baram , also Kafr Bir'im or Kafar Berem, is the site of an ancient Jewish village in Northern Israel, 3 kilometers from the Lebanese border...

. Bar'am National Park is known for the remains of one of Israel's oldest synagogue

Oldest synagogues in the world

The designation oldest synagogue in the world requires careful definition. Many very old synagogues have been discovered in archaeological digs. Some synagogues have been destroyed and rebuilt several times on the same site, so, while the site or congregation may be ancient, the building may be...

s. The kibbutz falls under the jurisdiction of Upper Galilee Regional Council

Upper Galilee Regional Council

The Upper Galilee Regional Council is a regional council in Israel's Upper Galilee region.The area has a population of 15,500 and has been headed for 14 years by Aharon Valenci. Its headquarters are located in Kiryat Shmona, an independent city not included in the council's jurisdiction.-Regional...

.

History

At an unknown point subsequent to the Arab conquest of the seventh century but before the thirteenth century, the Jewish population had left the village , which was an entirely Christian village called Kafr Bir'im

Kafr Bir'im

Kafr Bir'im, also Kefr Berem , was an Arab Christian village in Palestine located south of the Lebanese border and northwest of Safed. The village was situated above sea level, with a church overlooking it at an elevation of . The church was built on the ruins of an older church destroyed in an...

 on the Lebanese border when the inhabitants were expelled by Israel Defense Forces

Israel Defense Forces

The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...

 in November 1948. In 1949, with cross-border infiltration a frequent occurrence, the government of the new State of Israel decided not to allow Arab villagers to return to the border zone, which included Bir'im, for security reasons.

Bar'am was founded on 14 June 1949 to guard and hold the border with Lebanon by demobilized

Demobilization

Demobilization is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and military force will not be necessary...

 Palmach

Palmach

The Palmach was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv during the period of the British Mandate of Palestine. The Palmach was established on May 15, 1941...

 soldiers. The kibbutz was established as a secular settlement of the Hashomer Hatzair

Hashomer Hatzair

Hashomer Hatzair is a Socialist–Zionist youth movement founded in 1913 in Galicia, Austria-Hungary, and was also the name of the group's political party in the Yishuv in the pre-1948 British Mandate of Palestine...

 movement. The kibbutz, with more than 250 members and 200 children, continues to expand despite its close proximity to Israel's northern border.

Economy

Bar'am has orchards where apples, pears, nectarines, plums, and kiwi are grown, and a packing plant, where the fruit is sorted, packed and kept in cold storage until it is delivered to markets throughout Israel. Other crops include corn, peanuts and sunflower seeds. In addition, the kibbutz has ponds for fish farming.

The kibbutz also has a factory that manufactures plastics for medical purposes. Elcam Medical produces precision injection-molded, disposable medical devices - http://www.elcam-medical.com

Culture

The kibbutz operates the Bar David Museum, which houses bi-annual exhibitions from the large permanent collection of paintings and Jewish ritual objects, plus temporary exhibitions of fine art, sculpture and photography, and a small Archeology Room that exhibits objects from the region, such as ceramic and glass artifacts and jewelry and statuettes.

See also

• Kafr Bir'im
  Kafr Bir'im
  Kafr Bir'im, also Kefr Berem , was an Arab Christian village in Palestine located south of the Lebanese border and northwest of Safed. The village was situated above sea level, with a church overlooking it at an elevation of . The church was built on the ruins of an older church destroyed in an...
  
  , a Palestinian Christian Arab village, depopulated in 1948.
• Oldest synagogues in the world
  Oldest synagogues in the world
  The designation oldest synagogue in the world requires careful definition. Many very old synagogues have been discovered in archaeological digs. Some synagogues have been destroyed and rebuilt several times on the same site, so, while the site or congregation may be ancient, the building may be...
  
  

External links

• Official website
• Kibbutzniks trade in socialism for stocks Atlanta Jewish Times, 4 November 2005
• Rockets fell on the new Tuscany The Economist, 17 August 2006
• CANADA AWAKENING the Fourth Annual Inuit-Israeli Tour