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Kefar Ḥananyah

KEFAR ḤANANYAH (Heb. כְּפַר חֲנַנְיָה), ancient Jewish village, situated, according to the Mishnah, on the border between Upper and Lower Galilee (Shev. 9:2). It was known as a village of potters, who utilized the black (Tosef., BM 6:3) or white soil (BM 74a) found there. Vessels of special forms produced in the potters' workshops of Kefar Ḥananyah are mentioned in the Jerusalem Talmud (Pe'ah 7:4, 20a) and the Midrash (Lam. Zuta 1:5). Hawkers living there visited four or five villages in the vicinity, returning home to sleep (TJ, Ma'as. 2:3, 49d). At least one rabbi, Abba Ḥalafta, lived there (BM 94a). Cattle and goats were raised in the vicinity.

Kefar Ḥananyah is usually identified with Kafr ʿAnān, 6 mi. (c. 9½ km.) southwest of Safed. In 1522, according to R. Moses Basola, there were 50 priestly Jewish families and a synagogue in Kafr ʿ Anān. This community is also mentioned in the middle of the 16th century by R. Samuel b. Judah and it seems to have endured until the end of the 17th century. Remains of an ancient synagogue and tomb caves of talmudic times have been found on the site.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Braslavski, in: BJPES, 1 (1933), 18ff.


Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.