Nehalim

Nehalim נְחָלִים
Nehalim
Coordinates: 32°3′30.6″N 34°54′49.31″E / 32.058500°N 34.9136972°ECoordinates: 32°3′30.6″N 34°54′49.31″E / 32.058500°N 34.9136972°E
Council	Hevel Modi'in
Region	Central Israel
Affiliation	Hapoel HaMizrachi
Founded	1952
Founded by	Jerusalem Organisation members

Nehalim (Hebrew: נְחָלִים, lit. Streams) is a religious moshav in central Israel. Located south of Petah Tikva, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hevel Modi'in Regional Council. In 2007 Nehalim had a population of 2,100.

History

The Nehalim community was formed in 1938 by a core group of young, religious Bnei Akiva members from Jerusalem. They began agricultural training in Menahemia in the Jordan Valley.^[1] In 1944 they moved to a tract of swampy, malaria-infested land and lived in barracks without electricity or running water. Inspiration for the name Nehalim came from the network of brooks and streams in the area. After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the residents were moved to the abandoned German Templer village of Wilhelma. The new moshav, in its present location south of Petah Tikva, was founded in 1953, with each family receiving a two-room house and 25 dunams of land.^[2]

Landmarks

Nehalim has one main synagogue, established by Jews of European background. In 2012, the moshav's growing Mizrahi population wanted to build a second synagogue to reflect its own religious heritage but the chief rabbi of the moshav, David Greenwald, vetoed it.^[3]

See also

• Jewish ethnic divisions

References

1. Nehalim, the wandering moshav
2. Nehalim, the wandering moshav
3. Merilos, Itamar (3 May 2012). בית כנסת בנוסח עדות המזרח? לא בנחלים [A Mizrahi synagogue? Not in Nehalim]. Ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 5 May 2012.