Background

Nokdim, originally named El-David, was founded on July 5, 1982 in commemoration of the deaths of two residents of Tekoa. Eli Pressman, a new immigrant from France who lived in Tekoa with his wife and a four-month-old son, was killed in June, 1982 during the war in Lebanon. David Rosenfeld, an immigrant from the USA, also lived in Tekoa with his wife and two little children. He operated the Herodion museum and tourist-site, and was murdered in July, 1982 by two of his Arab employees - people who lived nearby and whom he had known very well.

Right after the funeral of David Rosenfeld, six families pitched tents at the foot of Herodion. This was deemed an appropriate Jewish and Zionist response to Arab terror. Instead of panic and fear on the part of Jews, the Arabs got a new settlement and new settlers.

The tents and their inhabitants remained for six months, until December 1982. On the second day of Hanukkah, "caravans" (prefabricated mobile homes) were brought to the site. They became the basis of the new temporary settlement.

By the second year the number of families had grown to 15. The settlement continued to expand, and in 1993 the government finally granted approval for permanent housing. Construction began on one of the nearby hills, and soon the first houses appeared - the beginning of the permanent settlement. The government committee charged with authorizing names for new areas changed the official name of the settlement to "Nokdim" - home of the prophet Amos (Amos 1:1).