Sde Eliyahu


Sde Eliyahu is a religious kibbutz in northern Israel. Located five kilometres south of Beit She'an, it falls under the jurisdiction of Valley of Springs Regional Council. In it had a population of.

History

Sde Eliyahu was founded on 8 May 1939 by Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany as a tower and stockade settlement. It was named after the 19th-century Rabbi Eliyahu Guttmacher, one of the early leaders of Religious Zionism, and together with Ein HaNatziv, Shluhot and Tirat Zvi forms a group of religious kibbutzim in the area.
After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Sde Eliyahu have used the land of the depopulated Palestinian village of Arab al-'Arida.
Immigrants from many other countries have since joined Sde Eliyahu.

Economy

The kibbutz produces dates, grapes, pomegranates, spices and field crops, as well as dairy cattle and poultry. Organic farming methods and non-pesticide management are used. It also mass-breeds and sells insects that are natural enemies of pests, sterile males of the Mediterranean fruit fly for pest control using the sterile insect technique, and bumblebees for pollination in greenhouses and open farmfields.
The "Shaked" regional religious school is located in the kibbutz, serving students from the surrounding area, as well as a beit midrash for graduates of the Israel Defense Forces who combine Jewish studies with farm work.
The kibbutz also has an ulpan and volunteer program; Students work three days a week and study three days a week, and are provided with their own dormitories, break room, and living area.

Notable residents