Kfar Hasidim | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Kfar Hasidim  Kfar Hasidim | |
| Coordinates:32°44′36″N35°5′37″E / 32.74333°N 35.09361°E /32.74333; 35.09361 | |
| Country | Israel |
| District | Haifa |
| Council | Zevulun |
| Founded | 1924 |
| Founded by | Polish Jews |
| Population (2022)[1] | 840 |
Kfar Hasidim (Hebrew:כְּפַר חֲסִידִים,lit. 'Village ofHasidim'), also known asKfar Hasidim Alef to distinguish it fromKfar Hasidim Bet, is amoshav in northernIsrael. Located nearKiryat Ata, it falls under the jurisdiction ofZevulun Regional Council. In 2022 it had a population of 840.[1]
During theOttoman period there was aMuslim village calledHarbaj at this place.[2] In 1162 A.H. (~1748 CE) it was fortified byZahir al-Umar, and traces of the wall still existed in the late 19th century.[3] The village appeared asEl Harchieh on the map thatPierre Jacotin compiled in 1799.[4]
In 1875,Victor Guérin found here about 30 inhabited houses. In the centre of the village was a largewell, partly filled.[5] In 1881, thePalestine Exploration Fund'sSurvey of Western Palestine described El Harbaj as "a smalladobe village, on the plain, with a well to the north and olives to the east."[3]
A population list from about 1887 showed thatel Harbaj had about 75 inhabitants; all Muslims.[6]
In the1922 census of Palestine conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities, Harbaj had a population 177, all Muslims.[7]
Kfar Hasidim was founded in 1924 by two groups ofPolish Hasidicimmigrants of theFourth Aliyah, followers ofRabbi Yehezkel Taub and Rabbi Israel Hoffstein, the rabbis of Yablono andKozienice.[8][9] They bought land east of Haifa Bay with the help of Rabbi Yeshayahu Shapira ofHapoel Hamizrachi and established Nahalat Ya’akov and Avodat Yisrael,[10] which later merged into Kfar Hasidim.[11]
In 1925 thePalestine Jewish Colonization Association purchased 70feddans in Harbaj from Alexander Sursuk, as part of alarger series of land purchases from theSursuk family ofBeirut. At the time, there were 50 families living there.[12] From 1931, and lasting several years, the Jewish Agency struggled to evict the tenant farmers from Harbaj, from the land which was to become Kfar Hasidim.[13]
In the1931 census, Kfar Hassidim had a population of 420, all Jews, in a total of 104 houses.[14]By the1945 statistics, Kfar Hasidim had 980 residents, all Jewish.[15][16]
In 1935, Makhouly visitedTal Harbaj on behalf of theDepartment of Antiquities. He noted that: "the portion of the outer wall on the eastern top of the site was demolished and all stones from it were taken away."[17]
In 1950,Kfar Hasidim Bet was established nearby by non-agricultural residents of Kfar Hasidim.[18]
Kfar HaNoar HaDati youth village, founded in 1937, lies adjacent to the moshav.[18]Yityish Titi Aynaw, an Ethiopian Jew who won theMiss Israel beauty pageant in 2013, was a graduate of the school.[19]
Theimmigrant absorption center in Kfar Hasidim is the first stop for members of theBnei Menashe community from North-Eastern India who settle in Israel.[20]
Shlomo Goren, future head of the Military Rabbinate of the Israel Defense Forces and subsequentlyAshkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1973 to 1983, was raised in Kfar Hasidim, which his father helped to found.[21]
