Kfar Tapuach (, ''lit.'', Apple-village) is an

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, also called Israeli colonies, are the civilian communities built by Israel throughout the Israeli-occupied territories. They are populated by Israeli citizens, almost exclusively of Israeli Jews, Jewish identity or ethni ...

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 Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

town of

Yasuf Yasuf () is a Palestinian village in the Salfit Governorate of the State of Palestine, in the northern West Bank, northeast of Salfit, southwest of Nablus and adjacent to the Israeli settlement of Kfar Tapuach. According to the Palestinian Centra ...

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 Bareket () is a religious Zionist moshav in the Central District of Israel. Located near the town of Shoham and the Judean Foothills, around five kilometres north-east of Ben Gurion International Airport and covering 2,500 dunams, it falls und ...

, it has since absorbed Jewish immigrants from

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, a large group of Peruvian converts to Judaism from

Trujillo, Peru Trujillo (; ; Mochica language, Mochica: ''Cɥimor'') is a city in coastal northwestern Peru and the capital of the Department of La Libertad. It is the third most populous city and center of the List of metropolitan areas of Peru, third most po ...

, 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 The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Israel from the conquest of Canaan to the Babylonian captivity, Babylonian exile. It tells of the ...

() as one of the first 31 cities conquered by

Joshua Bin-Nun Joshua ( ), also known as Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation'), Jehoshua, or Josue, functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Exodus and Numbers, and later succeeded Moses as leader of th ...

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 Meir David HaKohen Kahane ( ; ; born Martin David Kahane; August 1, 1932 – November 5, 1990) was an American-born Israel, Israeli Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox ordained rabbi, writer and ultra-nationalist politician. Founder of the Israeli pol ...

2010 Tapuah Junction stabbing On 10 February 2010, Preventive Security Force, Palestinian Authority police officer Muhammad Hatib stabbed Druze Israel Defense Forces, Israeli soldier Ihab Khatib to death as the latter was sitting in a jeep at a traffic light.2013 Tapuah Junction stabbing The 2013 Tapuah Junction stabbing occurred on 30 April, in which an armed Israeli settler, Evyatar Borovsky, was stabbed, disarmed and then, according to some witnesses, shot with his own weapon at a bus stop in the northern West Bank by a Pale ...

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