Kfar Tavor ( he, כְּפַר תָּבוֹר, ar, كفر تافور) is a village in the
Lower Galilee region of
Northern Israel, at the foot of
Mount Tabor. Founded in 1901, it was awarded local council status in 1949. In it had a population of . As of 2017, nearly all of its citizens are
Jewish.
History
Ceramics from the
Byzantine era have been found here.
In the early 9th century, under
Abbasid rule, Abu Salih Khayr al-Khadim, a
eunuch of Caliph
al-Mu’tazz b’illah, left all his property in Kfar Tavor (then called ''Kafr Tabaria'') and another
Galilee village,
Kafr Kanna, to a
waqf (religious endowment). The endowments were supposed to be eternal, but were presumably ended by the conquest of the
Crusaders in 1099.
Ottoman period
Arab village
In the
Ottoman era there was a village here called ''Mes'ha''. In 1596 the village appeared under the name of "Masha" in the
tax registers as part of the ''
nahiya'' (subdistrict) of Tabariyya in the ''
Sanjak'' (district) of
Safad. It was noted as "hali"(=empty), but a fixed tax-rate of 25% on agricultural product was paid. These products included wheat, barley and cotton; the taxes totalled 3,300
akçe. In 1799 it appeared as ''Mechi'' on the map
Pierre Jacotin
Pierre Jacotin (1765–1827) was the director of the survey for the '' Carte de l'Égypte (Description de l'Égypte)'', the first triangulation-based map of Egypt, Syria and Palestine.
The maps were surveyed in 1799-1800 during the campaign in ...
compiled that year.
In 1881, the
Palestine Exploration Fund's ''Survey of Western Palestine'' described "Meshah" village with a population of 100
Muslims, with houses chiefly of
basalt stone, and a few of
adobe and stone. The village was situated on an arable plain, without trees. The water supply was from a
cistern in the village.
[Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p]
361
/ref>
Jewish village
Kfar Tavor was established in 1901 by pioneers of the First Aliya
The First Aliyah (Hebrew: העלייה הראשונה, ''HaAliyah HaRishona''), also known as the agriculture Aliyah, was a major wave of Jewish immigration ('' aliyah'') to Ottoman Syria between 1881 and 1903. Jews who migrated in this wave cam ...
under the auspices of the Jewish Colonization Association. Twenty-eight farmers settled in the area with the assistance of the philanthropist Baron Edmond de Rothschild. The new settlement was originally known as Mes'ha, the name of the nearby Arab village. It was renamed in 1903 at the urging of Zionist leader Menachem Ussishkin who visited the site and was surprised to find it had no Hebrew name. At first, there was some debate over whether to use the term ''kfar'' ("village"), which some residents thought would bode badly for future growth. Ussishkin responded that he had visited the German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
town of Düsseldorf, which had also originated as a ''Dorf'', or village, but was now a full-fledged city.
The Rothschild administration determined that the site was ideal for cultivating grapes. The vineyards of Kfar Tavor became a supplier of grapes to the country's wineries
A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, ...
.
On 12 April 1909 a group of Bar Giora
Bar Giora () is a moshav in the Judean Mountains in Israel. Located between Beit Shemesh and Jerusalem, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In it had a population of .
History
The village was initially founded b ...
members left Sejera, were they had been based, and met in secret at Kfar Tavor. Led by Israel Shochat
Israel Shochat (;1886–1962) was a founder of and a key figure in Bar-Giora and Hashomer, two of the precursors of the Israel Defense Forces.
Biography Russia and Germany
Israel Shochat was born in 1886 in Lyskovo, in the Grodno Governorate of ...
and Yitzhak Ben-Zvi it was decided to establish an armed militia - Hashomer. Its members were to act as guards for Jewish colonies and work as laboured towards establishing further colonies.[ Segev, Tom (2018 - 2019 translation Haim Watzman) ''A State at Any Cost. The Life of David Ben-Gurion.'' Apollo. p.96]
File:חומת המושבה בכפר-תבור-JNF000302.jpeg, Kfar Tavor 1908
File:כפר תבור - מראה-JNF000318.jpeg, Kfar Tavor 1909
File:בגורן בכפר-תבור-JNF003406.jpeg, Kfar Tavor 1910
File:כפר תבור והר תבור - מראה מלמעלה-JNF000545.jpeg, Kfar Tavor 1920
File:נוטרים בכפר-תבור-JNF003404.jpeg, Kfar Tavor guards 1938
British Mandate era
In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, ''Mesha (Kufr Tabur)'' had a population of 274; all Jews.[Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Tiberias, p]
39
/ref> The 1931 census of Palestine recorded 328 persons in ''Mas-ha'' living in 54 houses: 304 Jews, 20 Muslims and 4 Christians.
In the 1945 statistics Kfar Tavor had 230 inhabitants, all Jews. Mas-ha was noted as an alternative name.[Department of Statistics, 1945, p]
8
/ref>[Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p]
62
/ref>
Landmarks
In the Hameyasdim neighborhood, the core of the village, there is a museum and other sites, including the HaShomer house, the first school and teacher's house (now a library) and a synagogue that was built in 1937. Another school, built in 1911, now serves as the Shenkar Tzfira Music Center. The main street of the neighborhood has houses left from the village's early days, as well as parts of the wall that surrounded it.
Notable residents
* Yigal Allon (1918–80), politician, commander of the Palmach, and general in the IDF
IDF or idf may refer to:
Defence forces
*Irish Defence Forces
*Israel Defense Forces
*Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006
*Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917
Organizations
*Israeli Diving Federation
*Interaction ...
, was born in Kfar Tavor.
* Oz Blayzer (born 1992), basketball player
*Itay Segev
Itay Segev ( he, איתי שגב; born June 15, 1995) is an Israeli professional basketball player for Hapoel Jerusalem of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. He was named the Israeli League Most Improved Player in 2016.
Early years
Segev was ...
(born 1995), basketball player
References
Bibliography
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External links
Photo of Mes'ha (Kfar Tavor) from 1910
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 6
IAA
Wikimedia commons
{{Authority control
Local councils in Northern District (Israel)
Populated places established in 1901
Lower Galilee
Mount Tabor