Gefen () 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 Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. Located between

Beit Shemesh Beit Shemesh () is a city council (Israel), city located approximately west of Jerusalem in Israel's Jerusalem District. A center of Haredi Judaism and Modern Orthodoxy, Beit Shemesh has a population of 170,683 as of 2024. The city is named afte ...

and Kiryat Malakhi, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Mateh Yehuda Regional Council Mateh Yehuda Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Azorit Mateh Yehuda'', ) is a Regional council (Israel), regional council in the Jerusalem District of Israel. In 2024 it was home to 51,125 people. The name of the regional council stems from the fact t ...

. In it had a population of .

History

The village was established in 1955 by Jewish immigrants from

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

on land that had belonged to the depopulated Palestinian Arab village of Mughallis. The name is taken from

Psalm 80 Psalm 80 is the 80th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint an ...

:15: "God Almighty, look down from heaven and see; watch over this grapevine."Yizhaqi, Arie (ed.): Madrich Israel (Israel Guide: An Encyclopedia for the Study of the Land), Vol.9: Judaea, Jerusalem 1980, Keter Press, p.379 (Hebrew)

References

{{Authority control Moshavim Populated places established in 1955 Populated places in Jerusalem District 1955 establishments in Israel Moroccan-Jewish culture in Israel