Yeruham ירוחם | |
|---|---|
| Hebrew transcription(s) | |
| • ISO 259 | Yroḥam |
 View of Yeruham | |
 Coat of arms | |
  Yeruham  Yeruham | |
| Coordinates:30°59′19″N34°55′41″E / 30.98861°N 34.92806°E /30.98861; 34.92806 | |
| Country |  Israel |
| District | Southern |
| Subdistrict | Beersheba |
| Founded | 1000 BCE(Tel Rahma) 1951(Israeli town) |
| Government | |
| • Head of Municipality | Tal Ohana |
| Area | |
• Total | 38,584dunams (38.584 km2; 14.897 sq mi) |
| Population (2023)[1] | |
• Total | 11,911 |
| • Density | 308.70/km2 (799.54/sq mi) |
| Website | www.yeroham.muni.il |
Yeruham (Hebrew:ירוחם) is atown in theSouthern District ofIsrael, in theNegev desert. It covers 38,584 dunams (38.584 km2; 14.897 sq mi), and had a population of 11,911 in 2023.[1] It is named after theBiblicalJeroham.
Until early 2011 the mayor of Yeruham wasAmram Mitzna, and he was succeeded byMichael Biton ofKadima, who was elected mayor in November 2010.[2] In 2018, dark horse candidateTal Ohana was elected the first female mayor of Yeruham.
For many years, Yeruham was economically depressed and suffered from image problems, but major efforts to improve the quality of life took place during the early 2000s.[3]
Yeruham is the site of Tel Rahma, dating back to the 10th century BCE. On the outskirts of Yeruham is an ancient well, Be'er Rahma.[citation needed]
During the Nabatean, Roman and Byzantine periods there was a village in the western outskirts of the town and its ruins can be seen today.[4] The site, known Qasr Rekhmeh or Mesad Yeruham, was excavated in 1966 by R. Cohen.[5]
Modern Yeruham was founded on 9 January 1951 asKfar Yeruham and was one of Israel's firstdevelopment towns, created to settle frontier areas in the early days of the state. It was located near theLarge Makhtesh, an area thought at the time to be rich with natural resources.[6]
At the head of the settlement was Pinchas Maanit (Muchnik), one of the founders ofNahalal, who moved to the place with his family afterBen-Gurion request to assist and help to settle and establish new home to Israeli new-comers. The crossing was established in the area where the Bedouins migrated from Mata al-Azama, some of whose residents now live in Rekha, an unknown village located in the Yeruham area.
In 1959, the settlement was dismantled, and a permanent settlement was established in its place, which was declared a local council. Maanit continued to serve as head of the council. Two years later, another settlement was established in the settlement, and almost 3000 residents were added.
The first influx ofolim (Jewish immigrants) came fromRomania, many of themHolocaust survivors, followed by immigrants fromNorth Africa,Iran,India and elsewhere, who make up the majority of the town's population today (appr. 40%, 5%, 20%, 10% respectively). By 1961, the town's population was 1,574. In 1962, when about 1,700 residents lived in the settlement, the name was changed to Yeruham.[6]
Yeruham was founded on thePetroleum Road in the Negev desert and its initial growth was stymied by the construction ofHighway 25 and theBeersheba –Mitzpe Ramon section ofHighway 40, which created a new route toEilat and made the Petroleum Road obsolete.[7] Because of these factors, in addition to Yeruham's distance from the center of the country, many young people left its territory and it suffered for many years from negative immigration.
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Since autumn 1990, Yeruham had actively been involved in absorbing hundreds of olim from the formerUSSR, who came to comprise 25% of the town's nearly 10,000 residents.[citation needed] In recent years,[when?] young couples and families from other localities have moved to Yeruham, and some have purchased lots and built their homes in the town's new neighborhoods.
Members of the Young People in Yeruham Student Settlement Group are involved in local social action projects, organize cultural events for young people, and attract young people to settle in Yeruham. In April 2008, theAyalim Student Village opened in Yeruham to allow students in Negev institutions of higher education to live and volunteer in the town. North American students fromNativ College Leadership Program engage in volunteer community service in Yeruham every spring. They help teach English in the local high schools and yeshivot, work with theMagen David Adom ambulance corps, teach in preschools and much more.
Yeruham is situated in the northernNegev, 15 km fromDimona, 600 meters above sea level.
It is located within the Negev desert and has erosioncirques or ‘craters’ and close by is the Yeruham Iris Nature Reserve, where the rare native irisIris petrana is found.[8]
The main employers are local and regional industry (53% of employed residents) and services and commerce. Most of those are employed in industry work in local factories such as Agis-Perrigo (Careline cosmetics and pharmaceuticals), Negev Ceramics, Phoenicia Glass Works (which moved to Yeruham from Haifa in 1968)[9] Brand Metals, Ackerstein, Yehu Clays, TTK electronics, and Tempo (some of which utilize raw materials from the region). The rest of those employed work in the surrounding region in companies such as,Ramat Hovav,Negev Nuclear Research Center,Dead Sea Works,Soroka Medical Center in Beer Sheva,Ben-Gurion University, and inSde Boker. Yeruham has suffered in the past from high unemployment rates, although today the rate is lower than the national average.
Tourism projects include development of the Lake Park aroundYeruham Dam and Large Makhtesh. Professional training programs in computers, chemistry, engineering and other fields needed by industry. Local industrial zones have doubled in size and offer space for rental and construction.
Up to 2011, residential construction in Yeruham had been done in a non-profit manner, either byAmidar or the residents themselves. In anticipation of military personnel moving into Yeruham to server in the future adjacentCity of Training Bases, land had been released for private for-profit construction.[10]
In 2015, a tech incubator, MindCET, was established in Yeruham as a center for leadership and innovation in educational technology to foster specialized cooperation between entrepreneurs, researchers, teachers and students.[11] MindCET operates a high-tech accelerator for edtech startups.[12]
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Yeruham has 5 elementary schools (State-General and State-Religious), 3 Ultra-Orthodox schools, and a comprehensive high school affiliated withORT. Since the inauguration of the "Anyone Can Do It" program, the number of high school students eligible forBagrut matriculation certificates has risen. All schools in Yeruham use GBS, an online system which enables pupils to work at home on material from school. The "City Plays Music" program provides music education in all the elementary schools, and operates two youth orchestras.
Bilvav Shalem high schoolyeshiva for boys and Kamah junior high for girls attract pupils from all over the country.Yeshivat HaHesder Yerucham (institute of higher Jewish religious education for men combining study with army service), also attracts students from all over the country and runs a special leadership program for Ethiopian young men. Midreshet Be'er offers a post-high school track for young religious women that combines study with community volunteering. The women do two years ofIDF or National Service, and a final half-year of social action projects in Yeruham.
Education and training for over-30 adults are coordinated by the Ofek Center for Human Resources Development.
Joint programs with the Weizmann Institute,Ben-Gurion University, theOpen University, theHebrew University Center for Enrichment in Education, and volunteer tutoring by scientists at the Nuclear Research Center aim to improve educational achievements and provide enrichment, especially in the sciences.
The YeruhamMatnas (localcommunity center) organizes plays, performances, summer events, music lessons, sports activities, nature-oriented extracurricular activities, neighborhood clubs, immigrant absorption activities, a Yiddish choir and communal theater group. The library has 60,000 books inHebrew,Russian andEnglish, and offers enrichment activities for pre-school and elementary school students, meetings with authors, computer training, workshops for parents and children and creative writing groups.
The Matnas Youth Department runs the Machsan 52 youth club, youth rock bands and two youth councils (for different age groups). The Israeli scout movementTzofim andBnai Akiva both have branches in the city. Midreshet Beyahad Seminar Center and youth hostel arranges hikes, workshops and other programming for visiting groups, mainly students, as well as Jewish programming in local schools.
Other cultural programs are the Teudat Zehut Yeruham project for community empowerment through documentation and the Bamidbar Regional Center for creative, pluralistic Judaism.
Yeruham istwinned with:
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