Urim, Israel

Urim

אוּרִים‎
أوريم
Urim אוּרִים‎; أوريم
	Urim Urim
	Coordinates: 31°18′15″N 34°31′25″E / 31.30417°N 34.52361°E
Country	Israel
District	Southern
Council	Eshkol
Affiliation	Kibbutz Movement
Founded	6 October 1946
Founded by	Bulgarian Jews
Population (2022)	510

Urim (Hebrew: אוּרִים, lit. Lights) is a kibbutz in the Negev desert in southern Israel. Located near the border of the Gaza Strip and about 30 kilometers west of Beersheba,^[2] the kibbutz falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In 2022, it had a population of 510.^[1]

History

Kibbutz Urim was founded on 6 October 1946 as one of the 11 points in the Negev by a gar'in of young Jews from Bulgaria,^[3] later joined by North American members of Habonim.^[4] According to Walid Khalidi, Urim was established on land which had belonged to the Palestinian village of Al-Imara. Al-Imara became depopulated in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and Urim was established about 1 km south of the village site.^[5]

Economy

Kibbutz Urim operated a blanket factory that was devastated by fire in the 1980s.^[6] Today Noam Urim manufactures needle-punched nonwoven fabrics.^[7] Kibbutz Urim is a co-owner of Ora Field Crops, which is operates together with Kibbutz Kissufim also in the northwestern Negev. The cultivated area is about 27,000 dunam (almost 6,700 acres). Over two-thirds of the fields are irrigated from water sources supplied by water mains with hydraulic valves, communications and automation networks. Autumn crops include potatoes, carrots, radishes, wheat, barley and onions; spring crops include sunflowers, peanuts and corn. The summer crop is table grapes.^[8]

Equine therapy project; Hamas attack

Olympic equestrian Daniel Bluman has an equine therapy project in Israel that he operates in conjunction with Kibbutz Urim.^[9]

In the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel in 2023, the project was attacked. Bluman said:

This touches very close to home... I am both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine, because I am pro-life, pro-human rights, and unfortunately right now the only way to get to that is by eradicating Hamas and terrorists groups that are fighting religious wars.^[10]

Erez Kalderon from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a student in the equine therapy program, was kidnapped by Hamas when the boy was 11 years old, and is held hostage.^[9] In December 2023, for the first time since the attack on the program, the program was able to work with children.^[11]

Notable residents

J.J. Goldberg (born 1949), editor-in-chief of The Forward, U.S. bureau chief of The Jerusalem Report, managing editor of The Jewish Week.
Yaacov Heller (born 1941), Israeli-American sculptor and jewelry designer
Josie Katz (born 1940), singer, actress, dancer, and painter