Benebarak ("Sons of Barak") ( he, בְּנֵי בְּרַק, ''Bnei Brak'') was a biblical city mentioned in the

Book of Joshua The Book of Joshua ( he, סֵפֶר יְהוֹשֻׁעַ‎ ', Tiberian: ''Sēp̄er Yŏhōšūaʿ'') is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Isra ...

. According to the biblical account it was allocated to the Tribe of Dan. Its archaeological site is . In the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

ic era, Beneberak became the seat of the court of Rabbi Akiva, and is identified as the site of his all-night '' seder'' in the

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that celebrates the The Exodus, Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Ancient Egypt, Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew calendar, He ...

'' Haggadah''. Benebarak was also associated with agriculture, as evident from the Talmudic account of the sage Rami bar Yehezkel, who declared that he understood the meaning of the

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

's description of the ''

Land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine (see also Isra ...

'' as a "land flowing with milk and honey" after a scene he witnessed in Beneberak. He saw

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

s grazing beneath

fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

trees and the

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

oozing from the very ripe figs merged with the milk dripping from the goats and formed a stream of milk and honey.''

Ketubot A ketubah (; he, כְּתוּבָּה) is a Jewish marriage contract. It is considered an integral part of a Jewish views of marriage, traditional Jewish marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom, in relation to the b ...

'' 111b The Palestinian village of ''Ibn Ibraq'' ("Son of Ibraq/Barak") was located on the site of the biblical city and its name was seen as a continuation of the name of the ancient site. In 1924, the Jewish agricultural settlement of

Bnei Brak Bnei Brak or Bene Beraq ( he, בְּנֵי בְּרַק ) is a city located on the central Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean Israeli coastal plain, coastal plain in Israel, just east of Tel Aviv. A center of Haredi Judaism, Bnei Brak covers an are ...

, which was named for the ancient city, was established to the north. Ibn Ibraq's Arab villagers subsequently renamed it ''

al-Khayriyya Al-Khayriyya ( ar, الخيْريّة) was a Palestinian Arab village located 7.5 kilometers east of Jaffa. It became depopulated in April 1948 as a result of a military assault by the Alexandroni Brigade of the pre-state Israeli forces during the ...

'' to distinguish it from Bnei Brak.Cancik, Hubert, Peter Schäfer and Hermann Lichtenberger (1996),
Geschichte-Tradition-Reflexion: Festschrift Für Martin Hengel Zum 70. Geburtstag
'. Mohr Siebeck. . p. 484. Al-Khayriyya was depopulated during a military assault as part of Operation Hametz during the

1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

. A large waste transfer station, known as

Hiriya Ariel Sharon Park () is an environmental park along the lines of Ayalon river, in the area between Ben Gurion Airport and Highway 20 (Ayalon Highway). The area is 8.5 square kilometers big, and was intended to be the "green lung" of the southe ...

, was built at the ancient/modern site, now converted into the

Ariel Sharon Park Ariel Sharon Park () is an environmental park along the lines of Ayalon river, in the area between Ben Gurion Airport and Highway 20 (Ayalon Highway). The area is 8.5 square kilometers big, and was intended to be the "green lung" of the southe ...

Landfill, where once stood the village Benei Barak

References

{{reflist Hebrew Bible cities Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Talmud places Tribe of Dan