Figure 1.--Here we see children working at Mishmar HaSharon Kibbutz in 1953.

Mishmar HaSharon (מִשְׁמַר הַשָּׁרוֹן‎ )meaning 'Guard of the Sharon' is an Israeli kibbutz located in strategically in central Israel on the the Sharon plain at the most narrow point in Israeli territory. It is part of the Hefer Valley Regional Council. There were aboutg 560 people ij the kibbitz (2015). The kibbutz as founded by 10 Russian immigrants after World War I (1924). We assume they were fleeing the Bolsheviks that had seized control of Russia. They were subsequntly joined by Polish immigrants. Poland achieved its independence from Russia after World War I, but the new Polish state ingerited anto-Semetic tendencies from Tsarist Rusia. They had initially settled in the Galilee to obtain some experience with farming. Jews in Europe were acprimarily urban population. Thus an importtabt part of moving tonIsrel was to develop frm skills and thevkibbutzes played an importnt role in this effort. The kibbutz was estnlished in its current location was established lster (1933). They were subsequently joined by members of Gordonia, aolish youth movement. Mishmar was the birthplace of Prime Minister and war hero Ehud Barak. Mishmar is best known as the home of an important Ulpam school. Ulpan was an educational program overseen by the Jewish Agency before the creation of Israel. Ilpam was a program to teach younger adult immigrants (aged 18-28 years). These students learn Hebrew while working on the kibbutz. Mishmar has a long history of Ulpan groups and Ulpan students have become an accepted life at the kibbutz.

Created: 8:49 AM 1/23/2017
Last updated: 8:49 AM 1/23/2017