Tel Yosef

TEL YOSEF (Heb. תֵּל יוֹסֵף), kibbutz in northern Israel, in the Harod Valley, 8 mi. (13 km.) S.E. of Afulah, affiliated with Iḥud ha-Kevuẓot ve-ha-Kibbutzim. Named in memory of Joseph *Trumpeldor, Tel Yosef was founded in 1921 as a work camp of *Gedud ha-Avodah ("Labor Legion"), together with *En-Harod, at the foot of Mt. Gilboa. Its members participated in draining the local malaria-infested swamps. In the ensuing years, En-Harod seceded from Gedud ha-Avodah. After 1928 Tel Yosef joined Ha-Kibbutz ha-Me'uḥad. In 1929 both kibbutzim moved to their present site on the slope of the Ẓeva'im Ridge. In the 1936–39 Arab riots, Tel Yosef suffered frequent attacks. In the 1951–52 split in Ha-Kibbutz ha-Me'uḥad, Tel Yosef joined Iḥud ha-Kevuẓot ve-ha-Kibbutzim, and a group from the kibbutz moved to nearby Bet ha-Shittah. In 1970 the kibbutz had 515 inhabitants; in 2002, 400. Its economy was based on irrigated field and fodder crops, mainly cotton and sugar beet; deciduous fruit orchards, carp ponds, etc. It housed the Iḥud ha-Kevuẓot ve-ha-Kibbutzim printing press and was a partner with En-Harod in a truck garage and cooperative. Bet Trumpeldor, containing the archives of Gedud ha-Avodah and other historical documents, was located in Tel Yosef. The kibbutz, together with En-Harod, maintained the regional museum, Bet Sturman, and a regional theater stage. Tel Yosef has educated Youth Aliyah groups.