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°E / 31.9887000; 34.8519972Coordinates: 31°59′19.32″N 34°51′7.19″E / 31.9887000°N 34.8519972°E / 31.9887000; 34.8519972
Council Lod Valley
Affiliation Chabad
Founded 1949
Population (2014) 5,900

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. In 2014, it had a population of 5,900.[1][2]

History

Kfar Chabad was established in 1949 by Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn.[3] The first inhabitants were mostly recent immigrants from the Soviet Union, survivors of World War II and Stalinist oppression. The site was previously a Palestinian Arab village called Al-Safiriyya (known to the Byzantines and Crusaders as Sapharea or Saphyria), which was depopulated in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.[4] As late as 1957, it was referred to in Hebrew as Tzafrir (also spelled Shafrir).[5]

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 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 April 11, 1956, fedayeen terrorists entered the synagogue during evening prayers and started shooting indiscriminately. Five children and one teacher were murdered, 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 Binyomin Lifshitz ("Yami").[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. ↑ "Population and Density per Sq. Km. in Localities Numbering 5,000 Residents and More on 31 XII 2014". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. April 10, 2016. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Course on Holocaust to begin April 27 in Mtn. Lakes". Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  3. ↑ Chabad.org Calendar
  4. ↑ W. Khalidi, 1992, All that remains, p.253
  5. ↑ "Course on Jewish leaders offered in Vail Valley". Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  6. ↑ Jewish Observer and Middle East Review (July 3, 1959),
  7. ↑ "Course in Madison will examine leadership of Talmudic heroes". Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  8. ↑ Rubenstein, Rayle. "The Sincerest Form of Flattery: Replicas around the world". Binah Pesach supplement, 2015, p. 27.
  9. ↑ Yediot Acharonot, Sunday, May 5, 1957 (English translation)
  10. ↑ Bar-On, Mordechai (2012). Moshe Dayan: Israel's Controversial Hero. Yale University Press.
  11. ↑ "Course explores avenues to emerge from times of uncertainty". Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  12. ↑ Despite All Odds: The Story of Lubavitch, Edward Hoffman (New York, 1991, Simon and Schuster), p. 154-5
  13. ↑ "Six-week course in Madison to study leadership of Talmud heroes". Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Class gives portraits of leadership". Retrieved October 1, 2014.
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