EIN ẒURIM

EIN ẒURIM (Heb. עין צוּרִים; "Rock Spring"), kibbutz in S. Israel, 9.3 mi. (15 km.) N.E. of Ashkelon, affiliated with Ha-Kibbutz ha-Dati, originally founded in 1946 in the Hebron Hills by members of the religious youth movement Bnei Akiva. With other Eẓyon Bloc settlements, it fought and fell   during the War of Independence (1948), and its survivors were taken to Jordan as prisoners of war. On July 6, 1949, upon their release, they established their kibbutz at its new site as part of the Shafir region of religious settlements. Besides intensive farming, which included field crops, citrus groves, fruit orchards, dairy cattle, and turkeys, the kibbutz operated the Tadmor air-conditioning plant, a catering service and holiday guest house, and the Bottle Tree company, which specialized in the development and production of gifts incorporating citrus fruit and blossoms in specially designed bottles. Two religious institutions operate in the kibbutz: a yeshivah and the Jacob Herzog Center for Jewish Studies. In 1969 the population of Ein Ẓurim was 330, increasing to 527 in 2002. A new settlement (Rosh Ẓurim) was established on the original site in August 1969 by Naḥal Youth affiliated with Bnei Akiva. -WEBSITE: www.ein-tzurim.org.il . (Efraim Orni / Shaked Gilboa (2nd ed.)