Kfar Chabad
Kfar Chabad | |
---|---|
Hebrew transcription(s) | |
• official | Kfar Habad, Kefar Habad |
Full-scale replica of "770" in Kfar Chabad | |
Kfar Chabad | |
Coordinates: 31°59′19.32″N 34°51′7.19″E / 31.9887000°N 34.8519972°ECoordinates: 31°59′19.32″N 34°51′7.19″E / 31.9887000°N 34.8519972°E | |
District | Central |
Council | Lod Valley |
Affiliation | Chabad |
Founded | 1949 |
Population (2017)[1] | 6,214 |
Kfar Chabad (Hebrew: כְּפַר חַבָּ"ד, lit. Chabad Village) is a Chabad-Lubavitch village in central Israel. Located between Beit Dagan and Lod, it falls under the jurisdiction of Lod Valley Regional Council.[2] In 2017 it had a population of 6,214.[1]
History
Kfar Chabad was established in 1949 by Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn.[3] The site had previously been the depopulated Palestinian village of al-Safiriyya (known to the Byzantines and Crusaders as Sapharea or Saphyria),[4] and as late as 1957 it was referred to in Hebrew as Tzafrir or Shafrir.[5]
The first inhabitants were mostly recent immigrants from the Soviet Union, survivors of World War II and Stalinist oppression. Regarding their aliyah, the Jewish Observer reported: “There were several noteworthy aspect of this Aliyah. The Chabad members refused all offers of help from religious and political organizations; they insisted on going on the land. Adapting themselves to modern agricultural methods ... To them it was a point of honor to live as they were taught. This meant subsisting only on what they earned by their own toil".[6]
Kfar Chabad, which is located just outside Lod and about 8 km southeast of Tel Aviv, includes agricultural lands as well as numerous educational institutions. It serves as the headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement in Israel. Kfar Chabad is a Lubavitch community.[7]
Replica of "770"
The village features a full-scale replica of "770", the Chabad headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway, Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York. The building, which serves as a synagogue, includes the exact number of bricks as on the original structure; the brickwork was produced by Teracotta Ofakim Clay Industries in Ofakim. The Lubavitcher Rebbe covered the $700,000 building cost.[8]
Terror attack at the synagogue
On 11 April 1956, fedayeens entered the synagogue during evening prayers and started shooting indiscriminately. Five children and one teacher were killed, another ten injured.[9][10]
Education
Kfar Chabad provides vocational training in printing, mechanics, carpentry, and agriculture for male students, and education for female students. The programs are combined with religious education.[11] Most students, who come from outside the village, are not Hasidic.[12]
Political leadership
Previous mayors include Shlomo Meidanchik and Menachem Lehrer. The current mayor is Nachmen Richman.[13]
Religious leadership
The village rabbi was Mordechai Shmuel Ashkenazi from 1983 until his death in 2015. The previous rabbi was Shneur Zalman Gorelik, from the town's founding until his death.[14]
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kfar Chabad. |
References
- 1 2 "List of localities, in Alphabetical order" (PDF). Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
- ↑ "Course on Holocaust to begin April 27 in Mtn. Lakes". Archived from the original on October 1, 2014. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
- ↑ Chabad.org Calendar
- ↑ Khalidi, Walid (1992). All That Remains:The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948. Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies. p. 253. ISBN 0-88728-224-5.
- ↑ "Course on Jewish leaders offered in Vail Valley". Retrieved 1 October 2014.
- ↑ Jewish Observer and Middle East Review, 3 July 1959
- ↑ "Course in Madison will examine leadership of Talmudic heroes". Retrieved 1 October 2014.
- ↑ Rubenstein, Rayle. "The Sincerest Form of Flattery: Replicas around the world". Binah Pesach supplement, 2015, p. 27.
- ↑ The Rebbe who saved a village Yediot Acharonot, 5 May 1957
- ↑ Bar-On, Mordechai (2012). Moshe Dayan: Israel's Controversial Hero. Yale University Press.
- ↑ "Course explores avenues to emerge from times of uncertainty". Retrieved October 1, 2014.
- ↑ Despite All Odds: The Story of Lubavitch, Edward Hoffman (New York, 1991, Simon and Schuster), pp. 154–5
- ↑ "Six-week course in Madison to study leadership of Talmud heroes". Retrieved 1 October 2014.
- ↑ "Class gives portraits of leadership". Retrieved 1 October 2014.