Har Brakha ( he, הַר בְּרָכָה, ''lit.'' Mount fBlessing) is an

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...

located on the southern ridge of

Mount Gerizim Mount Gerizim (; Samaritan Hebrew: ''ʾĀ̊rgā̊rīzēm''; Hebrew: ''Har Gərīzīm''; ar, جَبَل جَرِزِيم ''Jabal Jarizīm'' or جَبَلُ ٱلطُّورِ ''Jabal at-Ṭūr'') is one of two mountains in the immediate vicinit ...

at an elevation of above sea level, in the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

's Samarian mountains, near the

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

city of

Nablus Nablus ( ; ar, نابلس, Nābulus ; he, שכם, Šəḵem, ISO 259-3: ; Samaritan Hebrew: , romanized: ; el, Νεάπολις, Νeápolis) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a populati ...

. Har Brakha is named after one of the two mountains that are mentioned in

Deuteronomy Deuteronomy ( grc, Δευτερονόμιον, Deuteronómion, second law) is the fifth and last book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called (Hebrew: hbo, , Dəḇārīm, hewords Moses.html"_;"title="f_Moses">f_Moseslabel=none)_and_th ...

on which half of the

twelve tribes of Israel The Twelve Tribes of Israel ( he, שִׁבְטֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל, translit=Šīḇṭēy Yīsrāʾēl, lit=Tribes of Israel) are, according to Hebrew scriptures, the descendants of the biblical patriarch Jacob, also known as Israel, throu ...

ascended in order to pronounce blessings, and shares the Mount Gerizim ridge with

Kiryat Luza Kiryat Luza ( ar, قرية لوزة, he, קרית לוזה) is a Samaritan village situated on Mount Gerizim near the city of Nablus in the West Bank. It is under the joint control of Israel and the Palestinian National Authority, and is ...

, the main Samaritan village. It is organised as a

community settlement A community settlement ( he, יישוב קהילתי, ''Yishuv Kehilati'') is a type of village in Israel and the West Bank. While in an ordinary town anyone may buy property, in a community settlement the village's residents are organized in ...

and falls under the jurisdiction of

Shomron Regional Council The Shomron Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית שומרון, ''Mo'atza Azorit Shomron'', English ''Samaria Regional Council'') is an Israeli regional council in the northern portion of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Thirty-five Isra ...

. In it had a population of . The rabbi of Har Bracha and the Har Bracha Yeshiva is Rabbi

Eliezer Melamed Eliezer Melamed ( he, אליעזר מלמד, born 28 June 1961) is an Israeli Orthodox Zionist rabbi and the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Bracha, rabbi of the community Har Bracha, and author of the book series ''Peninei Halakha''. Biography Eli ...

, author of the

Peninei Halakha Eliezer Melamed ( he, אליעזר מלמד, born 28 June 1961) is an Israeli Orthodox Zionist rabbi and the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Bracha, rabbi of the community Har Bracha, and author of the book series ''Peninei Halakha''. Biography Eli ...

book series. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law. The Israeli government disputes this. The land of Har Brakha was confiscated by the Israelis from three nearby

villages: mostly from Burin, but also from

Kafr Qallil Kafr Qallil ( ar, كفر قلّيل) is a Palestinian town in the Nablus Governorate of the State of Palestine, in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town had a population of 2,491 inhabita ...

and

Iraq Burin Iraq Burin is a Palestinians, Palestinian village in the Nablus Governorate of the State of Palestine. History A tomb on the flanks of the village, to the north side, contained Bronze Age#Near East timeline, Late Bronze II and IA I pieces. Rema ...

History

Har Brakha was first established as a pioneer

Nahal Nahal ( he, נח"ל) (acronym of ''Noar Halutzi Lohem'', lit. Fighting Pioneer Youth) is a program that combines military service with mostly social welfare and informal education projects such as youth movement activities, as well as training ...

military outpost, and demilitarized when turned over to residential purposes on

Yom Ha'atzmaut Independence Day ( he, יום העצמאות ''Yom Ha'atzmaut'', lit. "Day of Independence") is the national day of Israel, commemorating the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948. The day is marked by official and unofficial ceremonies ...

in 1983. The rapid expansion of the village is universally attributed to the Yeshivat Har Brakha, which was built in 1991 as well as its

rosh yeshiva Rosh yeshiva ( he, ראש ישיבה, pl. he, ראשי ישיבה, '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primar ...

, Rabbi

, who is also the chief rabbi of Har Brakha. While the vast majority of students (about 150 annually) are not originally from settlements, many graduates of the yeshiva return to live on the settlement.

Evangelical Christians Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "born again", in which an individual experi ...

from the United States have joined the community, with the support of Rabbi Melamed, and their presence has aroused some controversy among residents.

Neighborhoods

After the construction of several hundred private houses on Har Bracha, the members of the settlement decided to start building four-story, five-story and six-story buildings. This decision was made in order to lower the prices of apartments and give the opportunity for young couples to buy houses in the village. As part of the construction, a boys school and a girls school were also established in Har Bracha, together with eleven kindergartens.A life of blessing In the mountain of blessing
in

Arutz Sheva ''Arutz Sheva'' ( he, ערוץ 7, lit=''Channel 7''), also known in English as ''Israel National News'', is an Israeli media network identifying with religious Zionism. It offers online news articles in Hebrew, English, and Russian as well as l ...

References

External links

Har Brakha profile
Shechem
A winning economic formula

Israel Hayom ''Israel Hayom'' ( he, יִשְׂרָאֵל הַיּוֹם, lit=Israel Today) is an Israeli national Hebrew-language free daily newspaper. First published in 2007, ''Israel Hayom'' is Israel's most widely distributed newspaper. Owned by the fam ...

, September 20, 2012 {{Authority control Nahal settlements Religious Israeli settlements Populated places established in 1983 1983 establishments in the Palestinian territories