GIVAT BRENNER

GIVAT BRENNER (Heb. גִּבְעַת בְּרֶנֶר), kibbutz in central Israel, south of Reḥovot , affiliated with Ha-Kibbutz ha-Me'uḥad. It was founded in 1928 by pioneers from Lithuania and Italy who were later joined by immigrants from Germany and several other countries. The members initially derived a livelihood mainly as hired laborers on farms and in industries nearby, but they quickly developed their own intensive farming branches (plant nurseries, field crops, and orchards) and industrial enterprises (including plants for metal sprinkler parts, textiles, fruit and vegetable preserves, ceramics, furniture, baby food), and became the largest collective settlement in the country. Following the split in ha-kibbutz ha-Me'uḥad in 1951–52, a number of its members joined a new kibbutz, Neẓer Sereni . In 1968, Givat Brenner had 1,520 inhabitants, declining to approximately 1,340 in the mid-1990s, and 1,180 in 2002. Its Bet Yesha rest home and resort was the first of its kind in a labor settlement. The kibbutz has a cultural center named after enzo sereni , who was one of its members. The settlement is named after Joseph Ḥ. Brenner . -WEBSITE: www.gbrener.org.il . (Efraim Orni / Shaked Gilboa (2nd ed.)