KEFAR OTNAY

KEFAR OTNAY (Otnai; Heb. כְּפַר עוֹתְנָאִי), ancient village, 24 Roman mi. from Caesarea, 24 from Scythopolis (Beth-Shean), and 16 from Sepphoris. It is defined in talmudic sources as the farthest limit of Galilee in the direction of Judah and anyone passing it was considered to have left Galilee (Git. 7:7). It was the hometown of R. Shemaiah, a pupil of R. Johanan b. Zakkai, and the patriarch Gamaliel occasionally visited there. Samaritans living in the vicinity (Git. 1:5) cultivated vegetables on the land of the village (Tosef., Dem. 5:23). In the time of Hadrian, Kefar Otnay (Gr. Caparcotnei – Καπαρκοτνεί) was chosen as the camp of the sixth legion and renamed legio . Previously proposed identifications with Kafr Dān or Kafr Qūd are no longer accepted. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Ramsay, in: JRS, 6 (1916), 129; Alt, in: ZDPV, 68 (1951), 57ff. (Michael Avi-Yonah) KEFAR PINES KEFAR PINES (Heb. כְּפַר פִּינֶס), moshav in the northern Sharon, Israel, affiliated to Ha-Po'el ha-Mizrachi moshavim association. The settlers, from Poland, Germany, and other countries, founded Kefar Pines in 1933. Citrus orchards, dairy cattle, and poultry constituted its principal farm branches. The moshav is named after yehiel michael pines . In 1967 its population was 400, increasing to 730 in the mid-1990s and 972 in 2002 after expansion. (Efraim Orni)