The Adam V'Adama network, part of Hashomer Hachadash, announced that it is establishing a new educational-agricultural branch at Kibbutz Matzuba in the Mateh Asher Regional Council, near the Lebanon border.
The network's announcement comes amid a ceasefire that has been in place for several weeks between Israel and Lebanon, although in practice, residents of the north remain under ongoing Hezbollah rocket fire.
The new branch will in effect be a high school for grades nine through 12, operating as a boarding school. It will combine matriculation studies with agricultural work and direct assistance to farmers along the Lebanon border. Students will work the land as part of efforts to strengthen food security, and the important civilian presence in the area.
A year ago, Adam V'Adama established a similar branch at Kibbutz Yir'on in the Upper Galilee, where male and female students are already helping farmers along the border. Additional Adam V'Adama branches operate across the country, where students also provide daily assistance to farmers.
"A national mission"
"We are calling on teenage boys and girls from across Israel to join us: to study, work the land and be part of a real national mission," said Amit Meir, CEO of Adam V'Adama, part of Hashomer Hachadash. "This is an opportunity to experience education with meaning and strengthen the country's borders from within. Israel's food security is no less important than border and domestic security, and being part of Adam V'Adama means being part of strengthening Israel's food security. The school operates in a unique format and each year produces graduates who go on to serve in the IDF's elite units."
Moshe Davidovich, head of the Mateh Asher Regional Council, said, "Even when the sirens are still sounding and the security reality along the confrontation line is far from being quiet, our answer is to deepen our roots. The establishment of an Adam V'Adama branch at Kibbutz Matzuba is a clear declaration: We are not giving up, we are building. The resilience of the Western Galilee is measured by our ability to create continuity, agriculture and education precisely in the face of the most difficult challenges.
"A strategic anchor"
"For us in Mateh Asher, this is much more than an educational institution; it is a strategic anchor that protects food security and our civilian presence on the front line. This is the only way to ensure a future for this region, through the hands that work the land and the youth who choose to lead."
Partners in establishing the school include bodies from Israel and abroad, among them the Mateh Asher Regional Council, Raya Strauss and the Spirit of the Galilee Association, JNF-USA, Kibbutz Matzuba and the Settlement Education Administration in the Education Ministry. The new branch is intended to strengthen settlement and agriculture in the Western Galilee and cultivate a new generation of farmers.
