Kibbutz Urim is located in the Negev desert not far from the city of Ofakim and the Gaza Strip.
In Hebrew, the word “Urim” means light and it can easily be said that Kibbutz Urim “saw the light” long before the other kibbutzim.
In the early 1960s, Kibbutz Urim was one of the first kibbutzim where the children’s communal dormitories were closed, sending the children to sleep in their parent’s homes, contrary to the position of the kibbutz movement. Years later, all the kibbutz communal dormitories were closed.
Kibbutz Urim operated a blanket factory that was devastated by fire in the 1980s. Today Noam Urim manufactures needle-punched nonwoven fabrics. Kibbutz Urim is a co-owner of Ora Field Crops, which is operates together with Kibbutz Kissufim also in the northwestern Negev. The cultivated area is about 27,000 dunam (almost 6,700 acres). Over two-thirds of the fields are irrigated from water sources supplied by water mains with hydraulic valves, communications and automation networks. Autumn crops include potatoes, carrots, radishes, wheat, barley and onions; spring crops include sunflowers, peanuts and corn. The summer crop is table grapes. (Adapted from Wikipedia and kibbutzvisit.com)
