Me'ir Shefeyah

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ME'IR SHEFEYAH

ME'IR SHEFEYAH (Heb. מֵאִיר שְׁפֵיָה), agricultural school and youth village in central Israel, on the southern slope of Mt. Carmel near *Zikhron Ya'akov, founded in 1892 by Baron Edmond de *Rothschild to provide farmsteads for the sons of Zikhron Ya'akov settlers. In 1904, after the Kishinev pogrom, Israel *Belkind established a home at Me'ir Shefeyah for orphans of the pogrom. In World War i, the Herzlia High School was transferred there from Tel Aviv when the Turkish authorities ordered the city's evacuation. In 1923 a youth village was set up, which was included in the 1930s in the network of *Youth Aliyah. The population, including pupils, reached about 450 in 1969. In 2002 the population was 412. The name is composed of the Hebraized form of the former Arabic name of the place, and the name of Mayer Amschel *Rothschild.

[Efraim Orni /

Shaked Gilboa (2nd ed.)]