Yad Binyamin

Overview

Yad Binyamin (Hebrew: יד בנימין, lit. Binyamin's Hand) is a village located in central Israel and the seat of Nahal Sorek Regional Council. Yad Binyamin is located adjacent to the junction of three major thoroughfares; Highway 3, Highway 6 and Highway 7 and a thirty minute drive to Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Beersheba. The railroad from Tel Aviv to Beersheba passes nearby. The nearest cities and commercial areas are Gedera and Rehovot.

The community size has more than doubled between 2002-2008. The total planned size for the entire Yad Binyamin community is approximately 700 families.

History

Yad Binyamin was originally founded as a religious settlement and educational center. It was founded in 1962 by Poalei Agudat Yisrael (Agudat Israel Workers) in partnership with the municipality of Nahal Soreq. It was named after the Minister of Postal Services, Binyamin Mintz. For many years, the community was a center of higher Jewish learning based around the yeshiva in Yad Binyamin, which for 40 years had between 250-300 students until 2002. The yeshiva today has been subsumed into Torat Chaim and Yad Binyamin has effectively been rezoned for residential purposes. Many of the public areas have been upgraded with parks and play areas added, roads repaved and new public buildings. While 5 years ago, the number of residents comprised 2500 people, today the community size has more than doubled.

There are now hundreds of new houses in Yad Binyamin and a new community is developing.

Facilities

Municipal : Clinic (Clalit), Dentist, Eye Clinic, hospice, Baby Wellness Centre, Kindergartens, Nurseries, School, Library, Town Hall, Swimming Pool, Basketball courts
Shops & Services: Mini-market, greengrocers, toy shop, hardware store, Judaica store, lawyer, pizza shop, Gift, Jewelry and Hat shop, Women's hair Salon, Beautician, clothes shop
Other: Yeshiva, Seminary (Midreshet Tohar), Kollel, Mikvaot (Mens, Womens, Keilim), Guest Houses, Matza Factory

Torah Classes: Many classes are give in both English and Hebrew.

Location

Yad Binyamin is located 3 kilometers from the Re’em Junction on route 3 and one kilometer from the intersection of route 6 and route 7 - a thirty minute drive to Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Be’er Sheva. The railroad from Tel Aviv to Be’er Sheva passes by Yad Binyamin at a distance of less than a kilometer.

The nearest towns are Gedera (10 mins by car) and Rechovot (15 mins by car).

Israel Railroads plan to upgrade and double the track on this route and build a station at Kfar Menachem to serve the area, but it is unclear when this will happen.

There are a number of Egged bus routes that provide transport links to Jerusalem, Ashkelon and other cities.

Community composition

There are a number of communities who live in Yad Binyamin. At this time no overall community Rabbi has been selected for Yad Binyamin.

New Residents These are approximately 100 families who are a combination of native Israelis and Olim. Languages commonly spoken are Hebrew and English. The Olim come from a variety of countries including the US, Australia, the UK and South Africa. At present, there are a number of contractors who are building projects in Yad Binyamin that are scheduled for completion throughout 2008 and 2009. The main contractors are: Dona, Chazon & Gallili, Rachamim, Meshulami and Adir. Additionally there are Bnei Beitcha plots although individual plots of land can only be purchased second-hand and are difficult to obtain. When construction is complete, the new residents will form the largest community.

Gush Katif residents Over 200 former families who were evicted from Gush Katif reside in temporary pre-fabricated housing within the village. Some of them, the families of the Ganei Tal community, are slated to move en masse to Hafetz Haim, 100 families will be moving to Netzer Hazani adjacent to Yesodot, while others will be building permanent homes in Yad Binyamin.

Yad Binyamin Vatikim comprises the original “vatik” residents of Yad Binyamin.

Yeshivat Torat Hachaim:

Yeshivat Torat Hachaim is made of up more than 120 married kollel students and 100 yeshiva students under the leadership of Rabbi Shmuel Tal

Sha’arei Tzion comprises the Yemenite residents of Yad Binyamin

External links

Other Sites on Yad Binyamin

Hebrew Wikipedia Entry
Satellite Map
Sunrise and Sunset Data
Nefesh B'Nefesh 2006 Community Guide to Yad Binyamin
Tehilla 2005 Community Guide to Yad Binyamin