Yad Mordechai (Hebrew: יַד מָרְדְּכַי, lit. Memorial of Mordechai) is a kibbutz in Southern Israel. Located 10 km (6.2 mi) south of Ashkelon, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. In 2019 it had a population of 737.[1]

Yad Mordechai יַד מָרְדְּכַי‎ ياد مردخاي
Memorial to Mordechai Anielewicz next to the destroyed Water tower at Yad Mordechai
Etymology: Memorial of Mordechai
Yad Mordechai Show map of Ashkelon region of Israel Yad Mordechai Show map of Israel
Coordinates: 31°35′19″N 34°33′30″E
Country	Israel
District	Southern
Council	Hof Ashkelon
Affiliation	Kibbutz Movement
Founded	1936 (as Mitzpe Yam) 1943 (as Yad Mordechai)
Founded by	Hashomer Hatzair members
Population  (2019)	737[1]
Website	www.yadmor.org.il

History

The community was founded in 1936 by Hashomer Hatzair members from Poland and initially organized themselves in a kibbutz called Mitzpe Yam close to Netanya, which was also founded in 1936. However, the 14 dunams allocated to the kibbutz were insufficient to develop the kibbutz. As part of settlement in the Negev, the community moved to its site near Ashkelon in December 1943. The kibbutz was renamed in memorial to Mordechai Anielewicz, who was the first commander of the Jewish Fighting Organization in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the kibbutz was attacked by Egypt in the Battle of Yad Mordechai.

Among the many Holocaust memorials in Israel, the "From Holocaust to Revival Museum" especially commemorates Jewish resistance against the Nazis as well as the 1948 Battle of Yad Mordechai.[2] The statue of Anielewicz by Nathan Rapoport[3] clutching a grenade, next to the water tower which was destroyed by the Egyptians in May 1948, is a noted symbol of the kibbutz.[4]

After 1948, Yad Mordechai expanded on the land of the Palestinian village of Hiribya, which the Palestinians abandoned during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.[5]

• 
  Yad Mordechai Museum
• 
  Yad Mordechai in 1941

Economy

The Yad Mordechai honey, jam and olive oil brands have been partnered with the Strauss food group.[6][7]

Notable people

• Motty Perry (born 1949), Israeli academic

References

Further reading

• Larkin, Margaret (1968) The Hand of Mordechai New York/South Brunswick; originally published as "The Six Days of Yad Mordechai" by the Yad Mordechai Museum in Hebrew in 1963, and in English in 1965.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yad Mordechai.

• Official website (in Hebrew)
• “From Holocaust to Revival Museum in Kibbutz Yad Mordechai" website
• Yad Mordechai Travelnet

На других языках

[de] Jad Mordechai

[ru] Яд-Мордехай