Kibbutz Urim is located in the Negev desert not far from the city of Ofakim and the Gaza Strip.
In Hebrew, the word “Urim” means light and it can easily be said that Kibbutz Urim “saw the light” long before the other kibbutzim.
In the early 1960s, Kibbutz Urim was one of the first kibbutzim where the children’s communal dormitories were closed, sending the children to sleep in their parent’s homes, contrary to the position of the kibbutz movement. Years later, all the kibbutz communal dormitories were closed.
Another confrontation with the leadership of the kibbutz movement was in the mid-1960s. The children of Kibbutz Urim were sent to study at a non-kibbutz school with non-kibbutz children (oh no!) at the community settlement and youth village Eshel Hanasi, where the kids of the moshavim in the area were studying.
So a visit to Kibbutz Urim will sure lighten up your day and although there are no longer communal dormitories, there is a great country lodge.
Photos: Kibbutz Urim