Beit Arif בֵּית עָרִיף |
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Coordinates: 31°59′40.92″N 34°55′59.88″E / 31.9947000°N 34.9333000°ECoordinates: 31°59′40.92″N 34°55′59.88″E / 31.9947000°N 34.9333000°E | |
District | Central |
Council | Hevel Modi'in |
Affiliation | Moshavim Movement |
Founded | 1949 |
Founded by | Bulgarian immigrants |
Population (2015) | 1,112 |
Beit Arif (Hebrew: בֵּית עָרִיף, lit. House of Cloud) is a moshav in central Israel. Located near Shoham, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hevel Modi'in Regional Council. In 2015 it had a population of 1,112.
The moshav was founded in 1949 by immigrants from Bulgaria on the ruins of the depopulated Arab village of Dayr Tarif (the Romans referred to Dayr Tarif as Bethariph). It was originally named Ahlama (Hebrew: אחלמה) (Exodus 28:19), after one of the twelve stones in the Hoshen, the sacred breastplate worn by a Jewish high priest. Two other nearby settlements, Bareket, Shoham and Nofekh, are also named after such stones.
In the early 1950s some Jewish refugees from Yemen arrived in the area, and built homes about half a kilometre away. After disagreements between the two groups, the original residents left and moved to Ginaton (a moshav also founded by Bulgarian immigrants) in 1953.