PikiWiki Israel 7348 Visiting President Herzog in Beit-itzhak

Beit Yitzhak-Sha'ar Hefer (, lit. ''House of Isaac – Hefer Gate'') is a

moshav A moshav (, plural ', "settlement, village") is a type of Israeli village or town or Jewish settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 and 1 ...

in central Israel. Located in the Sharon plain near

Netanya Netanya () () or Natanya (), is a city in the "Planet Bekasi" Central District (Israel), Setanyahu of Israel, Israel BAB ih, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between the Poleg stre ...

, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Hefer Valley Regional Council The Hefer Valley Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Azorit Emek Hefer'') is a regional council in the Sharon region of the Central District of Israel. It is named after an administrative district in this area in the time of King Solomon (). The co ...

. In Beit-Yitzhak-Sha'ar Hefer had a population of .

History

Historically, the territory of Beit Yitzhak-Sha'ar Hefer formed part of northern fringes the Forest of Sharon, a hallmark of the region's historical landscape. It was an open

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

dominated by Mount Tabor Oak (

Quercus ithaburensis ''Quercus ithaburensis'', the Mount Tabor oak, is a tree in the beech family Fagaceae. It is found from southeastern Italy to the Levant. It is the national tree of Jordan. Two subspecies are accepted, ''Quercus ithaburensis'' subsp. ''ithaburens ...

), which extended from

Kfar Yona Kfar Yona () is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel. It is located between the cities Netanya and Tulkarm, about 8 km east of Netanya in the central junction between Highway 6 (Israel), Highway 6 and Highway 4 ...

in the north to Ra’ananna in the south. The local Arab inhabitants traditionally used the area for

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Types of pasture Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, c ...

firewood Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not heavily processed, and is in some sort of firelog, recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellet fuel, pellets. ...

and intermittent cultivation. The intensification of settlement and agriculture in the

coastal plain A coastal plain (also coastal plains, coastal lowland, coastal lowlands) is an area of flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and an upland area. Formation Coastal plains can f ...

during the 19th century led to

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...

and subsequent

environmental degradation Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

known from Hebrew sources. Beit Yitzhak was founded in 1939. According to a 1949 book by the

Jewish National Fund The Jewish National Fund (JNF; , ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael''; previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') is a non-profit organizationProfessor Alon Tal, The Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, The Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben Gurion ...

, the village was founded by middle-aged German immigrants who farmed but mainly raised poultry. The book goes on to say "the moshav was built by Rassco and financed by the Feuerring legacy." It was named after Yitzhak Feuerring, a German

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

leader. By 1948 it had a population of 300. It later merged with the nearby villages of Sha'ar Hefer, Nira and Gan Hefer.

Ganot Hadar Ganot Hadar () is a community settlement in central Israel. Located in the Sharon plain, it falls under the jurisdiction of Lev HaSharon Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The village was founded in 1954 and was designated ...

was originally part of the merger, but broke away to become independent again. "Hefer" was an administrative district with a district chief in the time of King Solomon (1 Kings 4:10).

Economy

The economy of Beit Yitzhak is based primarily on agriculture, particularly fruits and vegetables. The 778 private jam factory was founded by two English families used to produces a popular line of confitures (jams containing whole fruit or very large fruit pieces). 778 was sold and the factory was closed. Today there is another private factory in the moshav under the trade name of Beit Yitzchak Natural Products that produces fruit spreads, preserves, jams and honey. At an annual trade show for

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...

products in the United States, Beit Yitzhak Pomegranate Spread was one of the winners of the show's "new products" competition in 2008. Another private enterprise is Alexander winery (owned by Yoram Shalom), using grapes from its vineyards at

Kerem Ben Zimra Kerem Ben Zimra () is a moshav in northern Israel. Near Safed in the Upper Galilee, it falls under the jurisdiction of Merom HaGalil Regional Council. In , it had a population of . History The moshav was founded in 1949 by immigrants to Israel f ...

in the

Upper Galilee The Upper Galilee (, ''HaGalil Ha'Elyon''; , ''Al Jaleel Al A'alaa'') is a geographical region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Part of the larger Galilee region, it is characterized by its higher elevations and mountainous terra ...

. In 1961, two brothers from the Netherlands, Benyamin and Harry Meyer, opened a dairy in Beit Yitzhak which produced high quality Gouda cheese. The dairy is now run by Benyamin Meyer's son and his wife.Beit Yitzhak dairy

Notable residents

Shahar Milfelder Shahar Milfelder (Hebrew: שחר מילפלדר; born 17 September 1997) is an Israeli Paralympic medalist rower. She competed for Israel at the 2024 Paris Paralympics in the PR2 mixed double sculls and won the bronze medal with her rowing par ...

(born 1997), Paralympic medalist rower

References

External links

Official website
* {{Authority control Moshavim Populated places established in 1939 Jewish villages in Mandatory Palestine 1939 establishments in Mandatory Palestine Populated places in Central District (Israel) German-Jewish culture in Israel