Ofra

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This article is about an Israeli settlement. For the singer, see Ofra Haza

Ofra (Hebrew: עפרה) is an Israeli settlement located north-east of Jerusalem in the jurisdiction of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. It is situated on the main road between Jerusalem and Nablus (route 60), 25 km from Jerusalem.It has 3,000 inhabitants.

[edit] Biblical Ofra

The location of Ofra nowadays is very close to the site of biblical Ophrah, also known as Ephron and Ephraim:

• "The tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, had the following cities: Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, Avvim, Parah, Ophrah..." (Book of Joshua 18:21-23)
• "Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took from him the towns of Bethel, Jeshanah and Ephron, with their surrounding villages..." (Second Book of Chronicles 13:19)
• In the New Testament, "Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the Jews. Instead he withdrew to a region near the desert, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples". (Gospel of John 11:54)

[edit] History

The yishuv was founded in 1975 as the first Jewish settlement in Samaria (the northern part of the West Bank)north to Jerusalem. The establishing group worked as fence builders in a nearby military base on Mount Baal Hatsor, the highest mountain in the area (1016 m). The group first lived in a former Jordanian military base which had been abandoned during its construction, when Israel conquered the area from the retreating Jordanian army in the Six Day War. These buildings lost much of their importance after the expansion of the town on the other surrounding hills.

Haaretz reports in June 2007 that 179 of the 600 buildings in Ofra are considered illegal by the Israeli administration; most were built on privately-owned Palestinian land.^[1]

[edit] Education

Today there are kindergartens, elementary schools, a girls high school (Ulpana Ofra), a midrasha (Midreshet Shuva) and a field school (a special school for biology environmental studies). The field school holds a permanent exhibition of the fauna of the area and of ancient agriculture. Ofra also has a bird watching center, located in a reservation near the Givat Tzvi neighborhood.

[edit] Geography

Ofra is situated 850-900 meters above sea level. The climate is mediterranean-mountainous. Cold and humid winters with several days of snow almost every year and a rain yearly average of about 750 millimeters (29.5 inches). The summers are dry and mild. This climate is suitable for growing cherries, nectarines, kiwifruit, grapes and olives. Other branches of agriculture include honey and poultry farming. In the nearby industrial area there are some small light manufacturing workshops of carpentry and welding.

Ofra is situated in a karstic region. These are several stalactite caves and dolinas. These are researched by the Center for Cave Research (HaMerkaz Lekheker Me'arot), which is located in Ofra.

The town is divided into three main neighborhoods: Neve David, Giv'at Tzvi and the core of the town, which is itself devided into four sections. In addition there are three caravan neighborhoods and another neighborhood ("HaShkhuna HaZmanit", lit. the temporary neighborhood) of houses belong to the Ofra Cooperative Society, rented mostly to newcomers including a community of Bnei Menashe from Manipur and Mizoram.[1]

Neighboring Ofra are some Palestinian villages and towns, such as Deir Dibwan, Ein Yabrud, Silwad, Kafr Malik, Deir Jarir and At-Taybeh, the last is identified with the accurate site of biblical Ofra.

Many institutions of the Jewish residents of the Judea and Samaria region were first located or established in Ofra, including the Yesha Council and the Nekuda monthly magazine.

[edit] References

1. ^ Uri Blau: 25% of illegal W. Bank Jewish housing is on Arab-owned land / 25% מהמבנים הלא חוקיים בגדה על קרקע פלשתינית; רק כ-0.5% על קרקע יהודית (Ha'aretz, 5 June 2007)

[edit] External links

• Ofra website (Hebrew)
• Midreshet Shuva (Hebrew)
• Ofra in Google Maps