Yad HaShmona
Yad HaShmona guesthouse
Founded	1971
Founded by	Finnish Christians
Council	Mateh Yehuda
Region	Jerusalem corridor
Affiliation	Agricultural Union

Yad HaShmona (Hebrew: יַד הַשְּׁמוֹנָה‎, lit. Memorial for the Eight) is a small moshav shitufi in central Israel, located in the Judean Mountains on the outskirts of Jerusalem, within the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. The village was originally founded in the early 1970s by Finnish Christians but is today populated mainly by native Israeli Messianic Jews. In 2006 it had a population of 93.

[edit] History

Yad HaShmona was founded in 1971 as a gesture of solidarity with the State of Israel. It is named for eight Jewish refugees from Austria who escaped to Finland in 1938. The Finnish government, collaborating with the Nazis, handed the refugees over to the Gestapo in 1942. Seven of them died in Auschwitz.^[1]

[edit] Economy

The community runs a guesthouse, convention center and banquet hall. In 2000, a biblical village was inaugurated with the assistance of the Swiss Beth Shalom society and the Israel Antiquities Authority.^[2] A Biblical garden planted on the hillside provides a glimpse of agriculture in ancient times.^[3]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official website

Coordinates: 31°48′37.08″N 35°5′20.39″E / 31.8103°N 35.0889972°E / 31.8103; 35.0889972