Even Sapir

Even Sapir
Even Sapir
Coordinates: 31°45′46.8″N 35°8′4.55″E / 31.763000°N 35.1345972°ECoordinates: 31°45′46.8″N 35°8′4.55″E / 31.763000°N 35.1345972°E
Council Mateh Yehuda
Region Jerusalem corridor
Affiliation Moshavim Movement
Founded 1950
Founded by Kurdish immigrants
Population (2012) 679[1]

Even Sapir (Hebrew: אֶבֶן סַפִּיר, lit. Sapphire) is a moshav on the outskirts of Jerusalem, Israel. It falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In 2012 it had a population of 679.[1]

The moshav was founded in 1950 by immigrants from Kurdistan. It was named after Even Sapir, a book written in 1864 by Yaakov Halevi Sapir, a Jerusalem rabbi and emissary.[2] The book describes his travels to Yemen in the 19th century.[3]

According to another source, the moshav was named for Pinchas Sapir, Israel's finance minister, who encouraged Jewish businessmen from the Diaspora to invest in Palestine and the nascent state.[4]

To the north of the moshav is the Monastery of St. John in the Wilderness and a cave attributed to John the Baptist.[5]

Even Sapir is one end point of the Jerusalem Trail, a 42-kilometer walking route around and through Jerusalem, which intersects with the Israel National Trail. The point of intersection is just outside of Even Sapir at the Ein Hindak spring.[6]

Even Sapir is a home to "Ben Gurion Institute of Science & Technology", Jerusalem Campus, a housing estate designated for 430 local and international students.[7]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Locality File" (XLS). Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. 2012. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
  2. HaReuveni, Immanuel (1999). Lexicon of the Land of Israel (in Hebrew). Miskal - Yedioth Ahronoth Books and Chemed Books. p. 19. ISBN 965-448-413-7.
  3. A Journey to Teman
  4. Judean mountains
  5. Go with the flow, Jerusalem Post
  6. Jerusalem Trail
  7. BGIST