Sde Eliyahu is a religious

Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...

 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 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 5 km south of Beit She'an, it falls under the jurisdiction of Valley of Springs Regional Council.

History

Sde Eliyahu was founded on 8 May 1939 by German immigrants

Aliyah

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...

 as a tower and stockade

Tower and stockade

Tower and stockade was a settlement method used by Zionist settlers in the British Mandate of Palestine during the 1936–39 Arab revolt, when the establishment of new Jewish settlements was restricted by the Mandatory authorities...

 settlement. It was named after Rabbi Eliyahu Gutmacher, who was one of the first leaders of Religious Zionism

Religious Zionism

Religious Zionism is an ideology that combines Zionism and Jewish religious faith...

, and together with Ein HaNatziv

Ein HaNatziv

Ein HaNatziv is a kibbutz in the Bet She'an Valley in Israel. Located about three kilometers south of the ancient city of Beit She'an, it is 130 meters below sea level. The kibbutz, a member of the Religious Kibbutz Movement, has a population of 700...

, Shluhot

Shluhot

Shluhot is an Orthodox kibbutz in the Beit She'an Valley in northern Israel. Located about three kilometres south of the city of Beit She'an, it falls under the jurisdiction of Valley of Springs Regional Council.- History :...

 and Tirat Zvi

Tirat Zvi

Tirat Zvi is a religious kibbutz in the Beit She'an Valley, ten kilometers south of the city of Beit She'an, Israel, just west of the Jordan River and the Israel-Jordan border. It falls under the jurisdiction of Valley of Springs Regional Council. In 2006, the kibbutz had a population of...

 forms a group of religious kibbutzim in the area.

Immigrants from many other countries have since joined Sde Eliyahu. As of 2007, it is home to about 800 members and 150 families.

Economy

The kibbutz produces dates, grape

Grape

A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...

s, pomegranate

Pomegranate

The pomegranate , Punica granatum, is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing between five and eight meters tall.Native to the area of modern day Iran, the pomegranate has been cultivated in the Caucasus since ancient times. From there it spread to Asian areas such as the Caucasus as...

s, spice

Spice

A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetative substance used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for flavor, color, or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or prevents their growth. It may be used to flavour a dish or to hide other flavours...

s and field crops, as well as dairy cattle

Dairy cattle

Dairy cattle are cattle cows bred for the ability to produce large quantities of milk, from which dairy products are made. Dairy cows generally are of the species Bos taurus....

 and poultry

Poultry

Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of producing eggs, meat, and/or feathers. These most typically are members of the superorder Galloanserae , especially the order Galliformes and the family Anatidae , commonly known as "waterfowl"...

. The kibbutz uses organic farming

Organic farming

Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm...

 methods and non-pesticide management

Biological pest control

Biological control of pests in agriculture is a method of controlling pests that relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms...

.

The "Shaked" regional religious school is located in the kibbutz. It serves students from the surrounding area. The kibbutz recently established a beit midrash for graduates of the 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...

 who wish to combine Jewish studies with farm work.

The Kibbutz also has a Ulpan and Volunteer program. Students in the Kibbutz Ulpan work three days a week and learn three days a week. The students are provided with their own dormitories, break room, and living area. Volunteers are given similar accommodation and are paid 300 shekels a month, room and board, and use of facilities in exchange for a 40+-hour work week. Ulpan students pay 1300 shekels for five months and work approximately 12 hours a week in exchange for 12 hours of Hebrew lessons.