The wonderful cities of the desert: Amazing facts about Arad and Yeruham

You might have passed by these cities on your way to Mitzpe Ramon, or maybe you stopped there to take a deep breath when driving from Haifa to Eilat. But how much do you know about the wonderful stories Arad and Yeruham have to share? Are you aware of the Biblical importance Arad has? Did you know that Yeruham received numerous Holocaust survivors from Romania?

If you are expecting to live the stylish life of Tel Aviv or the mystical life of Tzfat when visiting Yuraham or Arad you will be disappointed. BUT – if you are open to being surprised with the numerous astonishing aspects these destinations have to offer, we guarantee you’ll have a phenomenal time.

Are you ready to learn more about Yeruham and Arad? Because we are always ready to teach you something new. Wear a hat, drink lots of water, and be sure you have some sunscreen on your bag… Why? You are about to discover the reason!

Cool facts about Arad and Yeruham you didn’t know before!

Arad and Yeruham are way more than just two cities in which you can when stargazing.

1. Believe it or not, Yeruham’s sister city is Miami, Florida. You might encounter a few Palm Trees in Yeruham, but do not expect a parallel to Ocean Drive. Yeruham is indeed cool, but a different kind of cool than what Miami is.

2. Arad is known to be the annual home of Israel’s oldest musical festivals. For three days every year, the city becomes a musical oasis!

3. Since the early 1990s, numerous olim (immigrants) from the Former USSR have come to Yeruham to start a new life. Nowadays, nearly 30% of Yerusham’s population have those roots.

4. Arad can be considered one of the cities with bigger rates of coexistence within the many Judaism branches. The population of approximately 27,000 people consists of both Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews, religious and secular, immigrants and born-and-raised, and even a large Bedouin community.

5. Yeruham offers lots of cultural activities to its citizens. One of the greatest things they have is a Yiddish musical choir and a communal theater group that has performed in other cities of the area. Would you like to sing in Yiddish? Come live in Yeruham!

6. According to a large archaeological and Biblical research, the Tanach describes Arad as a Canaanite fortress whose king kept the Israelites from moving from the Negev to the Judean Mountains.

7. In Yeruham there are 6 books per capita. In their public library, there are over 60,000 books, enabling the people from Yeruham to develop a genuine love for reading, culture, and research.

8. Arad was declared an official city in June of 1995 by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Did you know that Rabin was a Nobel laureate? Before becoming an official city, and just like Yeruham, Arad absorbed, at the beginning of the 1990s, 6000 people coming from the former Soviet Union.

9. Institutions like the Open University, the Ben-Gurion University, the Hebrew University and even the Weizmann Institute are volunteering in Yeruham intending to improve educational achievements, and to provide a strong education in the STEAM fields, specifically in sciences.

10. Arad has its own soccer team! The Hapoel Arad, currently playing in the “Liga Bet” of the Israeli soccer scene, does part of its training in an area of the city called Kiryat haSport that is fully dedicated to promoting a healthier and active lifestyle.

Learn Hebrew. Enjoy the desert!

You’ve made your mind just yet? Are you already making your suitcases and grab the next available flight to Israel to visit Arad and Yeruham? Well, learning Hebrew should be the first step!

Today, learning Hebrew is very easy! You can enroll in one of the live and online Hebrew classes offered by the Rosen School of Hebrew and become fluent in the language of your ancestors in no time.

Our well-trained Hebrew instructors will create a safe learning environment in which interaction will become natural and necessary to start mastering this ancient language. Hebrew is just around the corner, now it is up to you!