title: Kerem Maharal
text: # Kerem Maharal
  
  Kerem Maharal (Hebrew: כֶּרֶם מַהֲרַ"ל, lit. Maharal Vineyard) is a moshav in northern Israel. Located near Atlit, on the southern side of Mount Carmel, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof HaCarmel Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 768.
  
  ## History
  
  The moshav was established in 1949 by group of Jewish Holocaust survivors from Czechoslovakia, who immigrated to Israel with the help of the Aliya movement after World War II.
  
  Kerem Maharal was named after legendary 16th century Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel, also known by the Hebrew acronym "Maharal" (Moreinu HaRav Loew, translated as Our teacher, the Rabbi Loew). It was built on the site of the depopulated Palestinian Arab villages of Ijzim and Khirbat Al-Manara, which were captured by the Israel Defense Forces in Operation Shoter during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The residents lived in the Arab stone houses until the 1960s and some of the original structures remain today.
  
  ## Notable residents
  
  * Ami Ayalon, former head of Shin Bet
  