Kfar Hananya ( he, כְּפַר חֲנַנְיָה) is 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 ...
in the
Galilee
Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Galil ...
in northern
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. It belongs to the
Merom HaGalil Regional Council
The Merom HaGalil Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית מרום הגליל, ''Mo'atza Azorit Merom HaGalil'') is a regional council in the northern Galilee of northern Israel. The regional council was established in 1950. The head of the ...
. In it had a population of .
The village marks the border between the historic Upper and Lower Galilee regions. Lower Galilee is defined in the
Mishnah
The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...
(
Shevi'it
The sabbath year (shmita; he, שמיטה, literally "release"), also called the sabbatical year or ''shǝvi'it'' (, literally "seventh"), or "Sabbath of The Land", is the seventh year of the seven-year agricultural cycle mandated by the Torah ...
9:2) as the area south of Kfar Hananya where the Sycamore Fig tree grows (
Ficus sycomorus
''Ficus sycomorus'', called the sycamore fig or the fig-mulberry (because the leaves resemble those of the mulberry), sycamore, or sycomore, is a fig species that has been cultivated since ancient times.
The term ''sycamore'' spelled with an A ...
).
Name
The village is named after the ancient village of the same name, a little further to its north, which is mentioned in the
Mishnah
The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...
(now a ruin; see below at
Landmarks
A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances.
In modern use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures or f ...
).
History
Background
Roman and Byzantine Kfar Hanania
Ancient Kfar Hananya was a Jewish village during the period of Roman and Byzantine rule in the Galilee. It was a center of pottery production in the Galilee and most of the cooking ware in the Galilee between the 1st century BCE and the beginning of the 5th century CE was produced there.
It is mentioned for its pottery production in
Rabbinic literature
Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writ ...
. Archaeological excavations revealed shafts and bases of columns, caves, a pool, and a burial ground.
Crusader to Ottoman village
The village was mentioned in various accounts throughout the following centuries. A 12th century Jewish visitor wrote of the ruins of a synagogue quarried into the hill. In 1522, the Jewish traveller
Moses ben Mordecai Bassola Moses ben Mordecai Bassola or simply Moses Bassola, alternative spelling: Moshe Basola, Basilea, Basila (Hebrew באסולה or simply: משה באסולה; alternative Hebrew spelling: באזלה ,איש באזולה ,ב(א)סולה ,באסל ,בא ...
found about 30 families of
Musta'arabi Jews
Musta'arabi Jews (Musta'aribun اليهود المستعربة in Arabic; Musta'arvim מוּסְתערבים in Hebrew) were the Arabic-speaking Jews, largely Mizrahi Jews and Maghrebi Jews, who lived in the Middle East and North Africa prior to ...
living there, most of them of
priestly
Priestly is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Miranda Priestly, a character in ''The Devil Wears Prada''
* Paul Priestly, a character in ''EastEnders''
See also
* Priestley (disambiguation)
* Priestly source, one of the propose ...
stock, making it the fifth-largest Jewish community in the country at the time, out of eight places named by him. A 1525 Ottoman census recorded 14 Jewish families in the village.
After the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
conquered Palestine, the village came to be known as
Kafr 'Inan
Kafr ʿInān ( ar, كفر عنان), is a former Palestinian village, depopulated in the 1948 Arab–Israeli war. It was located around east of Acre.
In ancient times, it was known as Kfar Hananiah, and was a large Jewish village and a signi ...
and very soon became an all-Muslim village. In Ottoman tax records from either 1549 or 1596 it was described as a village with an entirely Muslim population estimated at 259. In 1881, the
PEF Survey of Palestine
The PEF Survey of Palestine was a series of surveys carried out by the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) between 1872 and 1877 for the Survey of Western Palestine and in 1880 for the Survey of Eastern Palestine. The survey was carried out after the ...
described it as a Muslim village of 150-200 residents.
British Mandate and 1948 war
During the
British Mandate era, Kafr 'Inan was recorded as having an all-Muslim population of 360 in the
1945 Village Statistics. 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 ...
, Kafr 'Inan was captured by the
Golani Brigade
The 1st "Golani" Brigade ( he, חֲטִיבַת גּוֹלָנִי) is an Israeli military infantry brigade that is subordinated to the 36th Division and traditionally associated with the Northern Command. It is one of the five infantry brigade ...
of the
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...
as part of
Operation Hiram
Operation Hiram was a military operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It was led by General Moshe Carmel, and aimed at capturing the Upper Galilee region from the Arab Liberation Army (ALA) forces ...
and the area was subsequently incorporated into the
State of Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. The villagers were expelled.
Modern Kfar Hananya
Modern Kfar Hananya was founded in 1977 as a
moshav
A moshav ( he, מוֹשָׁב, plural ', lit. ''settlement, village'') is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 an ...
of the movement
Hapoel HaMizrachi
Hapoel HaMizrachi ( he, הַפּוֹעֵל הַמִּזְרָחִי, lit. '' Mizrachi Workers'') was a political party and settlement movement in Israel. It was one of the predecessors of the National Religious Party and the Jewish Home.
History ...
for members of nearby moshavim on land that belonged to Kafr 'Inan, about 1 km south of the village site. In 1992 it became a community settlement. A new neighborhood built in the 2000s is called "Maale Hen" (מעלה חן).
Landmarks
Near the community is a burial place attributed to Rabbi Hananya ben Akashya, a sage of the
Tannaim
''Tannaim'' ( Amoraic Hebrew: תנאים , singular , ''Tanna'' "repeaters", "teachers") were the rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 10–220 CE. The period of the ''Tannaim'', also referred to as the Mis ...
period.
The ruins of ancient
Kefar Hanania are situated about one kilometre north of the modern village. Kefar Hanania is mentioned in the Mishnah as a community on the border between the
Lower Galilee The Lower Galilee (; ar, الجليل الأسفل, translit=Al Jalil Al Asfal) is a region within the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. The Lower Galilee is bordered by the Jezreel Valley to the south; the Upper Galilee to t ...
and
Upper Galilee
The Upper Galilee ( he, הגליל העליון, ''HaGalil Ha'Elyon''; ar, الجليل الأعلى, ''Al Jaleel Al A'alaa'') is a geographical-political term in use since the end of the Second Temple period. It originally referred to a mountai ...
(see
Mishnah
The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...
''Shevi'it'
9:2.
[''The Mishnah'' (ed. ]Herbert Danby
Herbert Danby (20 January 1889 – 29 March 1953) was an Anglican priest and writer who played a central role in the change of attitudes toward Judaism in the first half of the twentieth century.
Education
Danby was educated at Church Middle Cl ...
), Oxford University Press: Oxford 1933, s.v. Tractate ''Shebiit'
9:2
/ref>
See also
*Kafr 'Inan
Kafr ʿInān ( ar, كفر عنان), is a former Palestinian village, depopulated in the 1948 Arab–Israeli war. It was located around east of Acre.
In ancient times, it was known as Kfar Hananiah, and was a large Jewish village and a signi ...
References
External links
Village website
{{Merom HaGalil Regional Council
Community settlements
Populated places in Northern District (Israel)
Jewish pilgrimage sites
Populated places established in 1977
1977 establishments in Israel