Shefayim

Shefayim (Hebrew: שְׁפָיִים‎, lit. High Hills) is a kibbutz in central Israel located 2.5 miles north of Herzliya along the Mediterranean coast. Shefayim falls under the jurisdiction of Hof HaSharon Regional Council. In 2019 it had a population of 1,302.[1]

Shefayim

שְׁפָיִים‎
Shefayim
Coordinates: 32°13′01.9″N 34°49′28.2″E
CountryIsrael
DistrictCentral
CouncilHof HaSharon
AffiliationKibbutz Movement
Founded1935
Founded byPolish-Jewish immigrants
Population
 (2019)[1]
1,302
Websitewww.shefayim.co.il/english.html (in English)

History

Kibbutz Shefayim was established in 1935 by Jewish immigrants from Poland.[2] The name is taken from the Book of Isaiah: "I will open rivers in high hills." (Isaiah 41:18). During the British Mandate for Palestine, Shefayim was a base for clandestine immigration.

Members of Palmach loading gravel in Shefayim, July 1947

In the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, it absorbed refugees from the abandoned kibbutz Beit HaArava near the Dead Sea.

Shefayim 1944 1:20,000 (bottom left)

In the early 1970s, the kibbutz established Polycad, a plastics factory. In the early 1980s, it established the Shafit biotechnology plant. In the mid-1990s, it acquired the Zirei Israel plant, which has become a leader in the Israeli cotton-ginning industry.[3]

In 2012 IBM acquired New York- and Shefayim-based mobile application developer Worklight Ltd., founded in 2006 by Shahar Kaminitz, formerly of Amdocs.[4]

Economy
Shefayim cultural center

Kibbutz Shefayim is among the wealthiest kibbutzim and was one of the few that did not require debt assistance from the state and banks during the recession in the 1980s. On the contrary, Shefayim contributed NIS 4 million to help failing kibbutzim. The main income source of the kibbutz is Hutzot Shefayim, a shopping mall, on real-estate previously classified as agricultural land. Other sources of income are a hotel and conference center, and a water park.[5]

Notable residents

References
  1. "Population in the Localities 2019" (XLS). Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  2. Shefayim at Jewish Virtual Library
  3. Kibbutz Shefayim history
  4. "IBM acquires mobile app co Worklight for $50-60m". Globes. 31 January 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  5. Cohen, Amiram (April 13, 2009). "The ideology is dead. Long live the deal". Haaretz. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
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