Ofra
Ofra (
Hebrew: עפר×") is an
Israeli settlement located north-east of
Jerusalem in the jurisdiction of the
Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. It is situated on the main road between Jerusalem and
Nablus (route 60), 25
km from Jerusalem.It has 3,000 inhabitants.
The location of Ofra nowadays is very close to the site of biblical Ofra (which had two more other names: Ephron and Ephraim)."(21)The tribe of
Benjamin, clan by clan, had the following cities:
Jericho,
Beth Hoglah,
Emek Keziz, (22)
Beth Arabah,
Zemaraim,
Bethel, (23)
Avvim, Parah, Ophrah..." (
Joshua 18); "
Abijah pursued
Jeroboam and took from him the towns of Bethel,
Jeshanah and Ephron, with their surrounding villages..." (2
Chronicles 13:19) and in the New Testament in the book of
John 11:54 "Therefore
Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the Jews. Instead he withdrew to a region near the desert, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples".
The
yishuv was founded in 1975 as the first
Jewish settlement in
Judea and Samaria (the
West Bank)north to Jerusalem. The establishing group worked as fence builders in a nearby military base on Mount
Baal Hatsor, the highest mountain in the area (1016 m). The group first lived in a former
Jordanian military base which had been abandoned during its construction, when Israel conquered the area from the retreating Jordanian army in the
Six Day War. These buildings lost of their importance after the expansion of the town on the other surrounding hills.
Today there are kindergartens, elementary schools, a high school for girls and a field school (a special school for biology environmental studies). The field school holds a permanent exhibition of the fauna of the area and of ancient agriculture. Ofra also has a bird watching center, located in a reservation near the
Givat Tzvi neighborhood.
Ofra is situated 850-900 meters above sea level. The climate is mediterranean-mountainous. Cold and humid winters with several days of snow almost every year and a rain yearly average of about 750 millimeters (29.5 inches). The summers are dry and mild. This climate is suitable for growing
cherries,
nectarines,
kiwis,
grapes and
olives. Other branches of agriculture include honey and poultry farming. In the nearby industrial area there are some small light
manufacturing workshops of carpentry and welding.
Ofra is situated in a
karstic region. These are several
stalactite caves and
dolinas. These are researched by the Center for Caves Researching (HaMerkaz Lekheker Me'arot), which is located in Ofra.
Many institutions of the Jewish settlers of the West Bank were first located or established in Ofra, including the
Yesha Council and the
Nekuda monthly magazine.
*
Ofra website (Hebrew) 
