Kfar Tapuach (, ''lit.'', Apple-village) is an Orthodox Jewish Israeli settlement in the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, founded in 1978. It sits astride Tapuach Junction, one of the major traffic junctions in the West Bank. The executive director of the village council is Yisrael Blunder, and the chief rabbi is Shimon Rosenzwieg. In , it had a population of . The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.

History

According to ARIJ, Kfar Tapuach was established in 1978 on land which Israel had confiscated from the Palestinian town of Yasuf.

Demographics

Although its population consists entirely of Jews, Kfar Tapuach is one of the more diverse Israeli settlements, with its population coming from a range of backgrounds. Founded by a core of Habbani

Yemenite Jews Yemenite Jews, also known as Yemeni Jews or Teimanim (from ; ), are a Jewish diaspora group who live, or once lived, in Yemen, and their descendants maintaining their customs. After several waves of antisemitism, persecution, the vast majority ...

from the moshav of Bareket, it has since absorbed Jewish immigrants from

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and the

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, a large group of Peruvian converts to Judaism from Trujillo, Peru, and others. Between February 2004 and August 2009, over 90 new families moved to Kfar Tapuach.

Public services

The settlement includes four synagogues, two '' mikvaot'' (ritual baths) for women and men, a nursery school, and three kindergartens.

Biblical Tappuah

Kfar Tapuach is named after biblical Tapuach ( Tappuah or Tapuah), which appears in the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

in the Book of Joshua () as one of the first 31 cities conquered by Joshua Bin-Nun and the children of

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 ...

Kahanism

Kfar Tapuach is noted for its concentration of followers of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane.

References

External links

Tapuach Playground Project

* ttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04tcl5w Olive wars 2014, BBC {{Authority control Kahanism Populated places established in 1978 Religious Israeli settlements Shomron Regional Council 1978 establishments in the Israeli Military Governorate Peruvian diaspora Israeli settlements in the West Bank