ṬĪRA, AL-

ṬĪRA, AL-, Muslim-Arab village in central Israel, in the southern Sharon Plain N.E. of Kefar Sava. Al-Ṭīra is thought to be the relay station, Mutatio Betthar, mentioned by the fourth-century "Bordeaux Traveler." Under the mamluks (14th century) it was a wayfarers' inn (khān). The village expanded in the early part of the 20th century, as the spreading of Jewish settlements in its vicinity provided work opportunities and a market for its farm produce. Included within the State of Israel's borders, the village grew from 2,000 inhabitants in 1948 to 7,100 in 1968 and 19,300 in 2002, occupying an area of about 4 sq. mi. (10 sq. km.). Irrigation was introduced, farm branches were variegated, artisan shops and small industries established, and housing conditions greatly improved. Al-Ṭīra's agriculture was based mainly on citrus groves and other fruit orchards, and vegetable and field crops. In 1991 Al-Ṭīra received municipal status. (Efraim Orni) TIRADO, JACOB TIRADO, JACOB (ca. 1540–1620), one of the founding fathers of the Portuguese community in amsterdam . Tirado was born in Portugal into a converso family. In 1598 he was living in Amsterdam where he returned to Judaism. In notarial documents he appears as a wealthy merchant under the name of James (Gammez) Lopes da Costa. His trade concentrated on Portugal and Venice. Synagogue services were held in his house, at least in 1610. In about 1608 he must have been among the founders of the Sephardi community, together with samuel palache and the poet jacob israel belmonte . The community was named Bet Ya'akov. He was among the first parnassim of the community and donated a Sefer Torah. After 1612 he left Amsterdam and moved to Venice, where he was active in charity and fund raising for Ereẓ Israel. He might have spent the last years of his life in Jerusalem. According to legendary tradition Tirado left Portugal in 1593 along with a group of Conversos and reached Emden, where R. Moses Uri b. Joseph Ha-Levi helped them to return to Judaism and accompanied them to Amsterdam. Their religious practices led the authorities to suspect that they were holding Catholic services – at that time forbidden – and on the Day of Atonement, 1596, the group was arrested. Tirado was able to communicate with the authorities in Latin and, when he told them the truth, they authorized Jewish worship. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: E.M. Koen, in: Studia Rosenthaliana, 3 (1969), 121, 237, 240, 246 (Dutch). ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: O. Vlessing, in: Dutch Jewish History, 3 (1993), 43–75.