Mastering the Art of Living
For 60 years, our community has built a living demonstration of what human society can become, aligned with Natural Law, covenant, and the full flourishing of every person.
Our StoryDimona, Negev Desert, Israel · 1969
For 60 years, our community has built a living demonstration of what human society can become, aligned with Natural Law, covenant, and the full flourishing of every person.
In February 1966, on the south side of Chicago, Nasik HaShalom Ben Ammi Ben Israel (HaMashiahk) received a prophetic vision, a Divine Calling to lead a people long displaced back to the Holy Land, back to Natural Law, back to the fullness of their identity. The message was clear and demanding: leave the comfort of Western life and walk toward the Promised Land.
What followed was not a swift return but a purposeful purification. In 1967, approximately 350 families departed Chicago for Liberia, West Africa, committing to a two-and-a-half-year wilderness experience, a stripping away of all that was false, and a rebuilding from the ground of truth. In Liberia, the community forged its foundational covenants: plant-based living, cultural sovereignty, and unwavering faith in the vision they carried.
In August 1969, the first families arrived in Dimona, a desert town in Israel's Negev region. They came not as refugees seeking asylum, but as a people reclaiming their heritage. They planted themselves in the desert, and from that seed, a living community has grown over six decades into one of the most remarkable social models of the modern world. Today, what began in Dimona is a global family of thousands, radiating outward across four continents.
“Mastering the Art of Living is not a slogan. It is an accurate description of what we do every day. Like all arts, it requires study, practice, community, and ongoing refinement. No one arrives at mastery; everyone is always on the journey.”
Village of Peace Dimona
Nasik HaShalom Ben Ammi Ben Israel, the early years of the Village of Peace
Elders in white garments, the covenant lineage, still living, still growing
Ben Ammi Ben Israel (HaMashiahk)
12 October 1939 · 27 December 2014
Nasik HaShalom · The Anointed One
“I go to sleep each night content in the knowledge that my sacrifices were not in vain. Today I look into the faces of my free-born children, secure in the knowledge that my struggles were worth the agony felt along the way.”
Born 12 October 1939 in Chicago, Illinois, Ben Ammi Ben Israel was the Nasik HaShalom of the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem and the visionary architect of the Village of Peace. Working as a metallurgist, he encountered his Hebrew Israelite heritage in 1961 and spent the following years organising a community of return. His 1966 Divine Calling set in motion a journey that has reshaped the lives of thousands across four continents.
Under his leadership the community pioneered plant-based living in Israel, establishing the first plant-based restaurant, the first tofu factory, and the first plant-based ice cream in the country, decades before the rest of the world began to follow. He established the House of Life healthcare model, bio-organic farming guided by Shemita, and the Five Medicines framework. He received Israeli citizenship in a special ceremony with Interior Minister Gideon Sa'ar in 2013. His vision lives on through the Holy Council of Princes and the thousands of Saints continuing his work across four continents.
Born
12 October 1939, Chicago
Transitioned
27 December 2014, Dimona
Legacy
60+ Years, 4 Continents
The Village of Peace does not treat health as crisis management. These five practices, woven into daily Life for 60 years, form a proven framework for preventive, regenerative living, the foundation of a community where chronic illness is the exception, not the norm.
Plant-based live-it as covenant, locally grown fruits, vegetables, and ancient grains aligned with Genesis 1:29. Not a dietary trend but a 60-year proven commitment to the body's natural design.
Begin each day with water before any food. Do not eat and drink simultaneously, allow 30 minutes minimum between. Water is the body's first and most essential medicine.
Rest more to enhance and extend life. Shabbat observed weekly as a full day of restoration. The body's need for rest is not weakness, it is covenant wisdom.
Mandatory physical movement for all adults three times weekly, jogging, walking, sport, dance. Monthly massage for every community member. The body was designed to move.
Cleanliness of body, home, community, and spirit. Physical cleanliness and spiritual integrity are inseparable, both support health, dignity, and the fullness of covenant Life.
“The human body is composed of approximately 70% water and 30% minerals, it is, in essence, earth in another form. If the body is of the earth, then it thrives on what the earth provides in its natural state.”
Ben Ammi Ben Israel (HaMashiahk)
In February, Nasik HaShalom Ben Ammi Ben Israel (HaMashiahk) receives a prophetic vision on the south side of Chicago, a Divine Calling to lead a people long displaced back to the Holy Land, back to Natural Law, back to the fullness of their identity.
Approximately 350 families depart Chicago for Liberia, West Africa, marking the beginning of a sacred exodus. Families leave behind the only life they have known, committed to a vision that demands everything.
Two and a half years in Liberia, a modern-day wilderness experience. The community strips away all that is false, forging foundational covenants: plant-based living, cultural sovereignty, and unwavering faith. The early plant-based covenant begins here.
In August, the first families reach Dimona in the Negev Desert. They arrive not as refugees but as a people reclaiming their heritage. Dimona becomes Dimona 1, the seed of what will grow into a global community across four continents.
The Soul Messengers perform for IDF soldiers during the Yom Kippur War. The community's music, Songs of Deliverance, begins reaching the world, opening ears and hearts to the village's message of Innerattainment.
The community's first organic farm is established. Chemical-free farming guided by Shemita (7-year field sabbatical), crop rotation, and intercropping, a living covenant with the earth that would become a globally recognised model of sustainable agriculture.
The community's own healthcare centre opens its doors, pioneering natural childbirth outside the conventional hospital system. Over 1,150 births would follow, welcomed through Hebrew Midwifery guided entirely by natural principles and the Five Medicines.
On April 22, 600 armed police, civil defence troops, and border police surround the community to prevent a planned march to Jerusalem. Nasik HaShalom instructs the people to stand firm, sing, and fast. The peaceful standoff resolves without violence. The most sacred moment in community history.
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri visits Dimona and publicly acknowledges the community as a positive influence on Israeli society, a turning point marking the shift from confrontation toward cooperation and formal recognition.
Two community members represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest, a powerful moment of cultural recognition on a global stage, bringing the spirit of Dimona's Songs of Deliverance to millions of viewers worldwide.
After more than 34 years in Dimona, the Israeli government grants permanent residency to community members, formal recognition of a people who built a life, a healthcare system, schools, farms, and businesses from the desert ground up.
The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr./SCLC, Ben Ammi Institute for a New Humanity Non-Violent Conflict Resolution Centre opens in Dimona in February. A partnership with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, honouring two legacies of non-violent transformation.
Nasik HaShalom Ben Ammi Ben Israel (HaMashiahk) transitions on 27 December 2014. The Holy Council of Princes carries the vision forward. The community he built, 3,000 Saints, twelve communities, four continents, is his living testament, and it is growing still.
The community marks 60 years from the original vision, a living, thriving, multi-generational community spanning four continents. Dimona 1: the source. The proof. A community Mastering the Art of Living.
Long before the world began celebrating plant-based living, before it entered mainstream health conversations, the Village of Peace was already building a 60-year living proof of what the human body, aligned with Natural Law, can achieve.
Seven daily whole-food supplements · 3 salt-free days weekly · Monthly massages for all adults
Six pillars that have guided the Village of Peace for over sixty years, not as ideals, but as daily lived commitments, proven across generations.
60+ years of plant-based living as covenant, not a trend, but a foundational alignment between the human body and the laws of nature. The body (adam) is drawn from the earth (adamah) and thrives on what the earth provides.
Multi-generational bonds rooted in shared purpose and Divine Covenant. The community is a living family, where each generation carries responsibility for those who come after, grandmothers, mothers, daughters raising servant-leaders.
The House of Life: over 1,150 births outside the conventional hospital system since 1973, welcomed through Hebrew Midwifery that honours the body's design and the sacred nature of bringing new life into the world.
African Hebrew heritage, language, music, natural dress, and identity, preserved and expressed with pride. Songs of Deliverance, Kente textile traditions, and the African Edenic Heritage Museum extend this living culture worldwide.
Chemical-free farming guided by Shemita field sabbaticals, crop rotation, and intercropping. The earth is cared for as a living covenant. The community is recognised as a global leader in Divine Organic Farming across Israel, Kenya, Ghana, and the USA.
VOP Dimona as Dimona 1, the source of a worldwide community spanning four continents. Through the MLK Jr./SCLC Ben Ammi Institute, partnerships in preventable health, bio-organic agriculture, and non-violent conflict resolution, the vision reaches the world.
The Village of Peace has hosted musicians, statesmen, athletes, artists, and thousands of Life Seekers from every nation.
What began in Dimona 1 has grown into a worldwide network of communities, partnerships, and enterprises, each extending the Village of Peace's mission of Mastering the Art of Living to their own corner of the world.
Primary home, the Negev Desert
Agricultural and cultural partnerships
Community hubs and eco-tourism
Culinary tradition reaches Britain
MLK Jr./SCLC Ben Ammi Institute
Non-Violent Conflict Resolution · Dimona, 2005
ABI Organic Agriculture (Kenya)
Bio-organic farming consultation · Nairobi
Rid-All Green Partnership
Urban agriculture & youth education · Cleveland, Ohio
This is not a charity case. It is a living civilisation, 60 years of proven results in health, agriculture, peace-building, and cultural sovereignty. Your support sustains and extends this work to the world.
Sustain 60 years of plant-based living, natural healthcare, and bio-organic agriculture for the generations that follow. Monthly gifts from $18 are the foundation of our ongoing work.
$18 · $54 · $180 monthly
Give NowExperience the Village of Peace firsthand, guided walking tours, Shishi (Friday) Bazaar, plant-based cooking classes, and multi-day retreat programmes. Life Seekers come from across the world.
Open to all, every day of the week
Plan Your VisitSupport 11 VOP-affiliated businesses spanning Israel, Kenya, Belize, the UK, and the USA. Teva Deli, Gahn Eden Belize, Rid-All Green Partnership, Soul Vegetarian UK, and more.
Every purchase is a vote for community economics
Explore MarketplaceAcademic institutions, NGOs, health organisations, and media outlets are welcome partners. Book our Speakers Bureau for international development, non-violent conflict resolution, or plant-based health.
Speakers Bureau · Research · Media Access
Become a PartnerCommunity elders, health practitioners, farmers, and musicians available for universities, corporate wellness, faith communities, and international conferences. Topics: International Development · Non-Violent Conflict Resolution · Preventive Health · Bio-Organic Agriculture · Healthy Lifestyles
Join us for a Sacred Visitation, guided tours, plant-based meals, cultural workshops, and sixty years of living history, all in one place. Life Seekers are welcome every day.
