Bar'am

thumb|300px|right|Ruins of the ancient synagogue at Kfar Bar'amthumb|right|Ruins of the depopulated Maronite village '''Bar'am''' () is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located approximately 300 meters from Israel's border with Lebanon near the ruins of the ancient Jewish village of Kfar Bar'am. Bar'am National Park is known for the remains of one of Israel's oldest synagogues. The kibbutz falls under the jurisdiction of Upper Galilee Regional Council and had a population of in .

==History== The site of Bar'am has been inhabited by the Jews and their ancient ancestors the Israelites, since ancient times. The ancient Jewish village of Bar'am existed from the 3rd century BCE at its earliest with Jews maintaining a continuous presence in the village until sometime after the 13th century CE. The village and its Jewish population is referenced in several historic accounts, In 1210 CE, Rabbi Shmuel bar Shimshon wrote of two beautiful synagogues that were in use in the Village of Baram in Galilee. These synagogues still stand today, and on the window over the right hand entrance of the larger synagogue, there is an engraving in Aramaic which reads "Built by Elazar son of Yuden (or Yudan)". Later in 1210, Rabbi Yehiel of Paris recorded his visit to the village in his writings. However by 1522, the Italian Rabbi Moshe Basula writes of the Bar'am's apparent abandonment, as did Rabbi Moshe of Jerusalem in 1769. The Maronite Christians from Lebanon built their village atop the Jewish ruins on the site sometime in the 19th century. Their church stands on top of the hill opposite the large synagogue. the Jewish population left Kfar Bar'am, which became a mainly Christian village called Kafr Bir'im on the Lebanese border, which was bulldozed by Israel in 1949. The Christian Arab inhabitants of the town were evicted from their homes due to the Israel Defense Forces insistence that the border area with Lebanon be empty of Palestinians.