REVADIM

REVADIM (Heb. רְבָדִים), kibbutz in the southern Coastal Plain of Israel N.E. of Kiryat Malakhi, affiliated with Kibbutz Arẓi ha-Shomer ha-Ẓa'ir. Revadim was originally founded in 1947 as the fourth settlement of the Eẓyon Bloc (see Kefar Eẓyon\>\> ) in the Hebron Hills. The young settlers participated in the bloc's heroic defense and suffered grave losses. On May 13, 1948, their village fell and was totally destroyed. The survivors were taken to Jordan as prisoners of war. After their return, they were allocated the present site where they established a new kibbutz (November 1948). They were soon joined by immigrants from Bulgaria and other countries. In 1970 Revadim had 251 inhabitants; in 2002, 296. The kibbutz economy went over from mainly farming to tourism and small industry (guest rooms, a museum of antiquities, the Roman Glass Co. designing original jewelry for a worldwide market). The name, meaning "Terraces," refers to the landscape of the original site in the Hebron Hills, where terracing and afforestation constituted the settlers' principal occupation. -WEBSITE: www.revadim.org.il\>\> . (Efraim Orni)