Kfar Hassidim

Kfar Hasidim (), also known as Kfar Hasidim Alef to distinguish it from Kfar Hasidim Bet, is a moshav in northern Israel. Located near Kiryat Ata, it falls under the jurisdiction of Zevulun Regional Council. In it had a population of .

History

Ottoman-period village of Harbaj

During the Ottoman period there was a Muslim village called ''Harbaj'' at this place. In 1162 A.H. (~1748 CE) it was fortified by Zahir al-Umar, and traces of the wall still existed in the late 19th century.Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p
285
/ref> The village appeared as ''El Harchieh'' on the map that Pierre Jacotin compiled in 1799.

In 1875, Victor Guérin found here about 30 inhabited houses. In the centre of the village was a large well, partly filled. In 1881, the Palestine Exploration Fund's ''Survey of Western Palestine'' described El Harbaj as "a small adobe village, on the plain, with a well to the north and olives to the east."

A population list from about 1887 showed that ''el Harbaj'' had about 75 inhabitants; all Muslims.

British Mandate period

Harbaj village

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Harbaj had a population 177, all Muslims.Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Haifa, p
33
/ref>

Kfar Hasidim and the end of Harbaj

Kfar Hasidim was founded in 1924 by two groups of Polish Hasidic immigrants of the Fourth Aliyah, followers of Rabbi Yehezkel Taub and Rabbi Israel Hoffstein, the rabbis of Yablono and Kozienice. They bought land east of Haifa Bay with the help of Rabbi Yeshayahu Shapira of Hapoel Hamizrachi and established Nahalat Ya’akov and Avodat Yisrael, which later merged into Kfar Hasidim.

In 1925 the Palestine Jewish Colonization Association purchased 70 feddans in Harbaj from Alexander Sursuk, as part of a larger series of land purchases from the Sursuk family of Beirut. At the time, there were 50 families living there. 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.

In the 1931 census, Kfar Hassidim had a population of 420, all Jews, in a total of 104 houses.
By the 1945 statistics, Kfar Hasidim had 980 residents, all Jewish.Department of Statistics, 1945, p
14
/ref>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p
48

In 1935, Makhouly visited ''Tal Harbaj'' on behalf of the Department 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."

File:כפר חסידים - בניה.-JNF043173.jpeg, Kfar Hasidim first houses 1925
File:בנין בתים כפר-חסידים-JNF004225.jpeg, Kfar Hasidim 1925
File:כפר חסידים - הכבשן-JNF043962.jpeg, Kfar Hasidim lime kiln 1925
Image:Early days in Kfar Hasidim.jpg, Nahalat Ya'akov, 1926
File:כפר חסידים - צילום מן האויר-JNF030644.jpeg, Kfar Hasidim 1929
File:כפר חסידים - מראה כללי-JNF029045.jpeg, Kfar Hasidim 1930
File:Jewish colonies. K'far Hassidim, synagogue exterior. matpc.16838.jpg, Kfar Hasidim synagogue, 1934-1939
File:כפר חסידים - בחצר המשק-JNF037181.jpeg, Kfar Hasidim 1937

State of Israel

In 1950, Kfar Hasidim Bet was established nearby by non-agricultural residents of Kfar Hasidim.

Kfar HaNoar HaDati youth village, founded in 1937, lies adjacent to the moshav.Kefar Hasidim
/ref> Yityish Titi Aynaw, an Ethiopian Jew who won the Miss Israel beauty pageant in 2013, was a graduate of the school.

The immigrant absorption center in Kfar Hasidim is the first stop for members of the Bnei Menashe community from North-Eastern India who settle in Israel.

Prominent residents

Shlomo Goren, future head of the Military Rabbinate of the Israel Defense Forces and subsequently Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1973 to 1983, was raised in Kfar Hasidim, which his father helped to found.Rabbi Shlomo Goren Dead at 77 was a Colorful, Controversial Figure
/ref>

References

Bibliography

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External links

*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 5:
IAAWikimedia commons

{{Zevulun Regional Council

Hasidic Judaism in Israel
Moshavim
Populated places established in 1924
1924 establishments in Mandatory Palestine
Populated places in Haifa District
Polish-Jewish culture in Israel