Kfar Menahem (originally
Irgun Menahem) was founded in 1935 by a group of pioneers from
Rehovot. The village was named for
Menachem Ussishkin, that was a
Zionist leader and head of the
Jewish National Fund. During the
Arab revolt in 1936, the place was abandoned by
Jews and destroyed by
Arabs. On 28 July 1937, it was re-established as a moshav but could not sustain itself. In 1939, the Irgun Menachem group was replaced by the Kvutzat Krit group from the
United States, members of
Hashomer Hatzair who were training in the
moshava of
Hadar, near
Ramatayim. That year, members of the Irgun Menachem group who had left Kfar Menahem founded
Kfar Warburg. Kfar Menahem was established as a
Tower and Stockade colony on December 6, 1939 on a 3,650 dunam tract which had been purchased in 1935. The founders were a group of 32 American immigrants. By 1943, there were 245 inhabitants who worked in mixed farming (grains, vegetables, cattle, sheep and poultry) and industry (carpentry and garage). After the
1948 Arab–Israeli War, the kibbutz expanded onto about 9,000 dunams on land of the depopulated Arab village of
Idnibba. The
Yoav Regional Council high school "Tzafit" is located in Kfar Menahem. The kibbutz also operates a regional museum with a model of the original tower and stockade. ==Architecture==