Kibbutz Ruhama lies on the border between Israel 's southern coastal region and the eastern edge of the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council region, approximately 10 km. east of the town of Sderot . Ruhama was first established in 1911, on land purchased in 1911 by the "Remnant of Israel"(Hebrew: שארית ישראל) company, set up by Russian Jews in Moscow to invest money in Jewish agricultural settlements in Israel. The original settlers also included members of the socialist Zionist movement Hashomer Hatzair. The initial settlers were expelled by the Ottoman Turks in 1917, a dilapidated museum building is all that is left of that original settlement.Two subsequent attempts to reestablish the settlement during the period of the British Mandate were curtailed by the Arab riots in 1929 and 1936. Kibbutz Ruhama was re-established in 1944. Agricultural crops do not generate enough income to support the kibbutz, so to earn a living, many of Ruhama's members have taken jobs outside the kibbutz.
In 2005, the Film "Sweet Mud" was filmed in Ruhama.
