Sde Nehemia is a small 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 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...

 area of 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 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...

 and in 2006 had a population of 429. The Jordan River originates in the kibbutz's grounds at the point where the Banias

Banias

Banias is an archaeological site by the ancient city of Caesarea Philippi, located at the foot of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights...

 and Hasbani River

Hasbani River

The Hasbani River , also known as Snir Stream within Israel, is a tributary of the Jordan river.The Hasbani River derives most of its discharge from two springs in Lebanon, the Wazzani and the Haqzbieh, the latter being a group of springs on the uppermost Hasbani...

s meet.

History

Sde Nehemia was founded in 1940 by 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...

 from Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

 and the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 on land bought from the Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

 village of al-Dawwara

Al-Dawwara

Al-Dawwara was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Safad. It was depopulated during the 1948 War on May 25, 1948 by the Palmach's First Battalion of Operation Yiftach...

. Differential salaries were implemented in 2005, thus effectively ending the kibbutz tradition of economic equality.

Economy

Located in the Hula Valley between the Golan Heights and 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...

, Sde Nehemia and the surrounding area are Israel's most fertile, making agriculture a significant source of income. The kibbutz also has a plastics factory, "Huliot".

External links

• A site of former volunteers