Ruhama (Paperback)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Ruhama (Hebrew: ) is a kibbutz in the Negev desert in southern Israel. The original settlement established in 1911, is considered the first modern Jewish settlement in the Negev. Located around ten kilometres east of Sderot and surrounded by a nature reserve, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 399. Ruhama was first established in 1911, on land purchased in the same year by the "Remnant of Israel" (Hebrew: ) company, set up by Russian Jews in Moscow, under the leadership of Simon Velikovsky, the father of Immanuel Velikovsky, to invest money in Jewish agricultural settlements in the Land of Israel. It took its name from the Book of Joshua and the Hebrew word root 'rachmanut', meaning "compassion."