Even Sapir ( he, אֶבֶן סַפִּיר, lit. ''Sapphire'') is a moshav in central

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 ...

. Located on the outskirts of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, it falls under the

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. J ...

of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In it had a population of . EvenSapirFeb22022 02

History

Even Sapir was established in 1949 on land that had belonged to the depopulated

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 ...

village of 'Ayn Karim. The moshav was founded by Hebrew repatriants returning from

Kurdistan Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages ...

. The name was either taken from ''Even Sapir'', a book written in 1864 by Yaakov Halevi Sapir, a Jerusalem rabbi and emissary, which describes his travels to

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

in the 19th century, or it was named after

Pinchas Sapir Pinchas Sapir ( he, פנחס ספיר, born Pinchas Kozlowski 15 October 1906 – 12 August 1975) was an Israeli politician during the first three decades following the country's founding. He held two important ministerial posts, Minister of Fi ...

, Israel's finance minister, who encouraged Jewish businessmen from the Diaspora to invest in Palestine and the nascent state. To the north of the moshav is the Monastery of St. John in the Wilderness and a cave attributed to

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

. Even Sapir is one end point of the Jerusalem Trail, a 42-kilometer walking route around and through Jerusalem, which intersects with the

Israel National Trail The Israel National Trail ( he, שביל ישראל, ''Shvil Yisra'el'') is a hiking path that was inaugurated in 1995. The trail crosses the entire country of Israel. Its northern end is at Dan, near the Lebanese border in the far north of the co ...

. The point of intersection is just outside Even Sapir at the Ein Hindak spring. Even Sapir is a home to "Ben Gurion Institute of Science & Technology", Jerusalem Campus, a housing estate designated for 430 local and international students.

References

{{Mateh Yehuda Regional Council Kurdish-Jewish culture in Israel Moshavim Populated places established in 1950 Populated places in Jerusalem District 1950 establishments in Israel