District Jerusalem Affiliation Moshavim Movement Population (2015) 740 Local time Friday 6:40 AM | Council Mateh Yehuda Founded by Kurdish immigrants Founded 1950 | |
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Weather 11°C, Wind NW at 8 km/h, 88% Humidity | ||
Even Sapir (Hebrew: אֶבֶן סַפִּיר, lit. Sapphire) is a moshav in central Israel. Located on the outskirts of Jerusalem, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In 2015 it had a population of 740.
Contents
Map of Even Sapir, Israel
History
The moshav was founded in 1950 by Hebrew repatriants returning from Kurdistan. The name was either taken from Even Sapir, a book written in 1864 by Yaakov Halevi Sapir, a Jerusalem rabbi and emissary, which describes his travels to Yemen in the 19th century, or it was named after Pinchas Sapir, Israel's finance minister, who encouraged Jewish businessmen from the Diaspora to invest in Palestine and the nascent state.
To the north of the moshav is the Monastery of St. John in the Wilderness and a cave attributed to John the Baptist.
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 Even Sapir at the Ein Hindak spring.
Even Sapir is a home to "Ben Gurion Institute of Science & Technology", Jerusalem Campus, a housing estate designated for 430 local and international students.