KEFAR NEBURAYA

KEFAR NEBURAYA (Nibborayya; Heb. כְּפַר נִבּוֹרַיָּה), village in Upper Galilee, the home of Jacob of Kefar Neburaya, a popular preacher of the third century C.E., who was often in conflict with the rabbinical authorities and was suspected of heresy (TJ, Yev. 2:5). It has been identified with Khirbat al-Nabratayn, a ruin 2.5 mi. (4 km.) north of Safed. Here were found the remains of an ancient synagogue measuring 55 by 39 ft. (17 × 12 m.) whose facade is oriented toward Jerusalem. Inside are two rows of four columns. The limestone lintel is decorated with a laurel garland and a menorah within a wreath. An inscription added to the lintel in 564 C.E. records the reconstruction of the building by Ḥanina son of Lezer (Eliezer) and Luliana (Julianos) son of Judah. A sculptured figure of a lion was also found there. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: H. Kohl and C. Watzinger, Antike Synagogen in Galilaea (1916), 101ff.; Alt, in: PJB, 21 (1925), 37; Avigad, in: BRF, 3 (1960), 49ff. (Michael Avi-Yonah) KEFAR NETTER KEFAR NETTER (Heb. כְּפַר נֶטֶר), moshav in the southern Sharon, Israel, about 4 mi. (7 km.) S. of Netanyah, initially a member of Tenu'at ha-Moshavim, but later unaffiliated. It was founded in 1939 by graduates of the mikveh Israel agricultural school. After 1948, Kefar Netter was enlarged when new immigrants from Poland settled there. Its farming was highly intensive, but subsequently only citrus groves and avocado plantations have remained. In 1967 the population was around 420; in 2002, 510. The moshav is named after the founder of Mikveh Israel, charles netter . -WEBSITE: www.kfar-neter.co.il . (Efraim Orni / Shaked Gilboa (2nd ed.)