Masada (kibbutz)

Masada (Hebrew: מַסָּדָה‎) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the northern Jordan Valley near the Sea of Galilee, it falls under the jurisdiction of Emek HaYarden Regional Council. In 2019 it had a population of 360.[1] Although stll called a kibbutz, it has privatised itself in 2006.

Not to be confused with Masada.
Masada

מַסָּדָה‎
Masada
Masada
Coordinates: 32°41′0.23″N 35°35′54.6″E
Country Israel
DistrictNorthern
CouncilEmek HaYarden
AffiliationKibbutz Movement
Founded1937
Founded byRomanian immigrants
Population
 (2019)[1]
360

Etymology

The name of the kibbutz was taken from the epic poem "Masada" by Yitzhak Lamdan, itself named after the fortress of Masada by the Dead Sea. It has nothing to do with the Hebrew word for base or foundation, "massad". The fortress of Masada is called in Hebrew "Metzadá", but Yitzhak Lamdan, although writing in Hebrew, used the name as it is known from the works of Josephus, "Masada". Lamdan's poem was extremely influential among Zionist Jews at the time the kibbutz was founded.

History

The kibbutz was founded in 1937 as part of the tower and stockade program by immigrants from Romania and members of kibbutz Sha'ar HaGolan.

As with Sha'ar HaGolan, the kibbutz's defenders retreated during the Battles of the Kinarot Valley of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War after holding on for four days of fighting. The two kibbutzim were captured and briefly held by the Syrian Army, during which time they were looted and burned down. Although the members made every reasonable effort to defend their kibbutz and returned soon after the events, a stigma was attached to them, and vindication in the form of released military records only arrived in recent years, decades too late.

Masada, like dozens of the kibbutzim near the Sea of Galilee, existed under the threat from both the Syrian Golan Heights towering from the east, and the Jordanians across the Yarmouk River. On 29 March 1968 a tractor from Masada hit a landmine, killing the driver and three passengers. Israeli forces came to evacuate the casualties, and Jordanian forces opened fire on them. In retaliation, the Israel Air Force attacked Jordanian targets east of Beit She'an. Several planes were damaged by anti-aircraft fire yet returned safely to base.

Masada suffered greatly under the economic collapse of the 1980s which affected it more harshly than other kibbutzim. In 2006 the kibbutz was privatised.

  • Masada under construction 1937, Shaʽar HaGolan in distance
  • Masada under construction 1937
  • Masada barracks under construction 1937
  • Masada tower under construction 1937
  • Masada 1939

Notable residents

References
  1. "Population in the Localities 2019" (XLS). Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
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