Kfar Tapuach

Kfar Tapuach ( _he. כפר תפוח, "lit." Apple-ville) is a Jewish town (Israeli settlement) in the Shomron region of the West Bank, founded in 1978. It is one of a collection of Jewish towns in the region south of Nablus/Shechem, and sits astride one of the most vital traffic junctions in the West Bank. The executive director of the village council is Yisrael Blunder. As of 2007 it had nearly 600 residents. The chief rabbi is Rabbi Shmuel Cohen.

The town located near the archaeological site of the biblical Kfar Tapuach appears in the Bible in the book of Joshua chapter 12 as one of the first 31 cities conquered by Joshua Bin-Nun and the children of Israel when they entered the land. The book of Joshua chapter 17 places Tapuach the border between the territory of the sons of Joseph, the tribes Menashe and Ephraim.citation

Community members background

Kfar Tapuach is one of the most ethnically diverse Israeli settlements.citation Founded by a core of Habani Yemenite Jews from Bareket, it has since absorbed Russian and American Jews, a large group of Peruvian converts to Judaism from Trujillo, Peru, and others . Between February 2004 and August 2007, over 60 new families have moved to Kfar Tapuach.

Kahanism

Although the majority of residents are not active supporters of Kahanism, Kfar Tapuach is often associated with Kahanism since Rabbi Binyamin Kahane and his family moved there in 1990 with other core members of Kach and Kahane Chai organizations. Many of them still reside in the settlement and are active in public life and administration of the town.

Public services

*Five synagogues, two of which have three minyanim (prayer gatherings) daily and evening Torah classes; all five are fully functional on Shabbat.
*Two Mikvaot (ritual baths), one for women and one for men.
*A nursery and two kindergartens.
*A voluntary emergency medical and anti-terrorist team, ready and on call for whatever needs might occur.

Private businesses

Grocery store, mechanic garage, moving company, goat farm, honey bee farm, Klaf (leather parchment) factory, perfume factory.

Tapuach West

Kfar Tapuach's nearby hilltop outpost, Tapuach West, located halfway between the main part of the town on the Yehuda and Shomron University campus in Ariel, is home to some ten young families. Some of whom run organic farms producing honey, olive oil and wine.

In 2004, a synagogue built on the hill in memory of Binyamin Kahane and his wife, who were slain by Arab terrorists. The building housed a very special Torah scroll that was written in their memory. Shortly after the building was complete the Israeli government declared the synagogue an illegal structure and sent in the IDF to demolish it.

A temporary structure was rebuilt after the original synagogue was destroyed and is in use by the community for prayer and Torah reading.

External links

*he icon [http://www.geocities.com/kfar.tapuach Town website]
* [http://www.tapuach.org Tapuach Playground Project]