Sha'ar ?efer-Beit Yi??ak
SHA'AR ?EFER-BEIT YI??AK
SHA'AR ?EFER-BEIT YI??AK (Heb. ?????? ?????; "Gateway to ?efer [plain]"), moshav in central Israel, E. of Netanyah, affiliated with Ha-Mo'e?ah ha-?akla'it. The moshav consists of four separate settlements: Beit Yi??ak founded in 1939 by a group of settlers from Germany; Gan ?efer, inhabited by second-generation farmers, mostly from Netanyah, belonging to the *Benei Binyamin association founded in 1940; Sha'ar ?efer, established by immigrants from Czechoslovakia founded in 1940; and Nirah, established in 1941 by middle-class immigrants from Czechoslovakia. At the beginning, each settlement was independent, but soon after their establishment, it was proposed to unite them. First Gan ?efer was united with Sha'ar ?efer. Later on, in the 1950s, Sha'ar ?efer merged with the adjacent moshav Nirah. In 1970 the combined Sha'ar ?efer had 350 inhabitants. In 1972, Sha'ar ?efer and Beit Yitzhak were united as a single settlement, Sha'ar ?efer-Beit Yi??ak. The population of the united settlement was 1,560 inhabitants at the end of 2002, thanks to new housing and the absorption of newcomers. The moshav's economy was based on citrus groves, vegetables, milch cattle, and poultry. Beit Yi??ak was known for its natural confiture factory.
website:
[Efraim Orni /
Shaked Gilboa (2nd ed.)]
