Beit Yitzhak-Sha'ar Hefer
Encyclopedia
Beit Yitzhak-Sha'ar Hefer is a moshav
Moshav
Moshav is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists during the second aliyah...

 in central Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 Located in the Sharon plain near Netanya
Netanya
Netanya is a city in the Northern Centre District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is located north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa between the 'Poleg' stream and Wingate Institute in the south and the 'Avichail' stream in the north.Its of beaches have made the...

, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hefer Valley Regional Council
Hefer Valley Regional Council
The Hefer Valley Regional Council is a regional council in the Hefer Valley region of central Israel.The council covers an area adjacent to Hadera in the north, to Netanya in the south, to the Mediterranean in the west and to Tulkarm and the Green Line in the east...

. In 2007, Beit-Yitzhak-Sha'ar Hefer had a population of 1,700.

History

Beit Yitzhak was founded in 1939. According to a 1949 book by the Jewish National Fund
Jewish National Fund
The Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement. The JNF is a quasi-governmental, non-profit organisation...

, the town was originally founded by middle-aged German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

 immigrants who farmed but mainly raised poultry. The book goes on to say: "The moshav was built by RASSCO and financed by the Feuerring legacy." It was named after Yitzhak Feuerring, a German Zionist
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...

 leader. In 1948, it had a population of 300.

It later merged with Sha'ar Hefer, Nira and Gan Hefer. Ganot Hadar
Ganot Hadar
Ganot Hadar is a communal settlement in central Israel. Located in the Sharon plain, it falls under the jurisdiction of Lev HaSharon Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 682....

 was originally part of the merger, but broke away to become independent again. "Hefer" was an administrative district with a district chief in the time of King Solomon (1 Kings 4:10).

Economy

The economy of Beit Yitzhak is based primarily on agriculture, particularly fruits and vegetables. The 778 private jam factory was founded by two English families used to produces a popular line confitures (whole fruit containing jams). 778 was sold and the factory was closed. Today there is another private factory in the moshav under the trade name of Beit Yitzchak Natural Products that produces fruit spreads, preserves, jams and honey. At an annual trade show for kosher products in the United States, Beit Yitzhak Pomegranate Spread was one of the winners of the show's "new products" competition in 2008. Another private enterprise is Alexander winery (owned by Yoram Shalom), using grapes from its vineyards at Kerem Ben Zimra in the Upper Galilee
Upper Galilee
The Upper Galilee is a geographical-political term in use since the end of the Second Temple period, originally referring to a mountainous area overlapping the present northern Israel and southern Lebanon, its borders being the Litani river in the north, the Mediterranean Sea in the west, the Beit...

. In 1961, two brothers from Holland, Benyamin and Harry Meyer, opened a dairy in Beit Yitzhak which produced high quality Gouda cheese. The dairy is now run by Benyamin Meyer's son and his wife.

External links

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