ẒOFIT

ẒOFIT (Heb. צוֹפִית; "Lookout Point"), moshav in central Israel, in the southern Sharon N. of Kefar Sava, affiliated with Tenu'at ha-Moshavim. Ẓofit was founded in 1933 by farm laborers from Eastern Europe within the framework of the Thousand Families Project (see israel , State of: Settlement). Before 1948 the settlers earned their livelihood mainly by working as hired laborers on farms in the vicinity, but gradually developed their auxiliary farms into full-fledged holdings based mainly on citrus groves, dairy cattle, and poultry. Newcomers from Poland enlarged the moshav after 1948. In 1970, Ẓofit had 330 inhabitants. By the mid-1990s the population had grown to 405 approximately, rising further to 720 in 2002. In 1998 the moshav initiated an expansion program aimed at children of moshav members and newcomers. Barely 15% of Zofit residents earned their livings in farming: field crops, beehives, poultry, and plantations. The rest were employed in various occupations. -WEBSITE: www.tsofit.org.il . (Efraim Orni / Shaked Gilboa (2nd ed.)