EIN HAROD, ISRAEL

courtesy Wikipedia

Ein Harod is a kibbutz in the lower Galilee, roughly 18 miles southwest from the Sea of Galilee, abutting Kibbutz Tel Yosef on the west and nestled near the northern foothills of Mount Gilboa. This was the first kibbutz in the Jezreel Valley, founded in 1921 by Russian Jews. The early settlers would utilize the nearby stone quarry in the building of roads and other local infrastructure. The kibbutz was built near the site of Maayan Harod where, according to Judges 7:1, Gideon, judge of Israel, brought his army to drink at the nearby spring in order to choose the most ablest of men to fight against the Midianites. Several millenia later, at what became the Battlefield of Ayn Jalut, the Mongols were defeated for the first time in 1260, by the Egyptian Mamelukes. Today, the community is split in 2 – Ein Harod Ihud and Ein Harod Me’uhad – and has a total population of roughly 1000.
Sites include:
Kumi Hill, in the northeast of the kibbutz, part of a hilly area covering the entire eastern border of both the kibbutz and Tel Yosef;
Ein Harod Ihud covers the northern half of Ein Harod. It was formed in 1952 over ideological differences with the southern half of the kibbutz and became part of the Ihud HaKvutzot v’HaKibbutzim movement;
Ein Harod Meuhad covers the southern half of Ein Harod. It was formed in 1952 over ideological differences with the northern half of the kibbutz and became part of the Kibbutz Meuhad movement;
Mishkan Le'omanut, one of the first art museums in Israel, founded by the early kibbutz members. It was inaugurated in 1948 and has on display, thousands of artwork collections and is home to many art shows throughout the year;
The Bet Shturman Museum contains collections of local human and natural history as well as local archaeological exhibits;
The Old Railroad Station, which is nothing more than a shed, served the Jezreel Valley railway during the British Mandate period;
Nahal Harod, an ancient stream from which, the Biblical town of Harod was named. It stretches from the Jordan River a few miles south of the Sea of Galilee, past Ein Harod on the south side where it waters several large fish ponds, and ends on the south side of Kfar Yehezkel;
Mount Gilboa, part of a mountain range that almost follows the course of Nahal Harod. It is the home of HaGilboa Nature Reserve;
Maayan Harod, today, an archaeological site that also contains an ancient amphitheater, lies a few miles west of Ein Harod between Kfar Yehezkel and Kibbutz Yizre’el.