Ruhama
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רוחמה שרמוטה רֻחָמָה, רוחמה |
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 רוחמה שרמוטה
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| Coordinates: 31°29′48.04″N 34°42′20.3″E / 31.4966778°N 34.705639°ECoordinates: 31°29′48.04″N 34°42′20.3″E / 31.4966778°N 34.705639°E | |
| District | Southern |
| Council | Sha'ar HaNegev |
| Affiliation | Kibbutz Movement |
| Founded | 1911 (original settlement) 1944 (modern settlement) |
| Founded by | Hashomer Hatzair members |
| Population (2015) | 577 |
Ruhama (Hebrew: רֻחָמָה, "Mercy") is a kibbutz in the Negev desert in southern Israel. The original settlement, established in 1911, is considered the first modern Jewish settlement in the Negev. Located around ten kilometres east of Sderot and surrounded by a nature reserve, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council. In 2015 it had a population of 577.
Ruhama was first established in 1911, on land purchased in the same year by the "Remnant of Israel" (Hebrew: שארית ישראל) company, set up by Russian Jews in Moscow, under the leadership of Simon Velikovsky, the father of Immanuel Velikovsky, to invest money in Jewish agricultural settlements in the Land of Israel. The name derives from the Biblical book of Hosea, verse 1:6 and from the verse: " "And I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy" (Hos. 2:23)". "An artesian well was dug in 1912, and a rather plentiful supply of water was found at a depth of fifty meters." The group also included members of the socialist Zionist movement Hashomer Hatzair. However, the initial settlers were expelled by the Ottoman Empire in 1917; a dilapidated museum building is all that is left of that original settlement.
However, the artesian well prompted the Allied forces under General Allenby to select Ruhama as their headquarters from which base "the British Army and the Jewish-American Legion conquered Palestine".
HaShomer used the Ruhama farm as its main forward base along the Gaza-Beersheva line.
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