Beneberak

Mentioned as one of the cities in the portion of the Tribe of Dan (Joshua 19:45), Beneberak is famous in the Talmud ("Sanhedrin" 32b) as the seat of Rabbi Akiva's court, and in the Passover "Haggadah" as the site of the all-night "Seder" of Rabbi Akiva and his distinguished colleagues.

The city had an agricultural dimension as well, as appears from the account ("Ketubot" 111b) of the sage Rami bar Yechezkel who declared that he understood the meaning of the Torah's description of the "Land of Israel" as a "land flowing with milk and honey" after witnessing a scene during a visit to Beneberak. He observed goats grazing beneath fig trees. The honey oozing from the very ripe figs merged with the milk dripping from the goats and formed a stream of milk and honey.

The ancient Beneberak was not in the same location as the current namesake, Bnei Brak, Israel.

ee also

*Hiriya