Expert: Rabbi Barry Dov Lerner - 4/15/2010

Question
Is Haifa mentioned in the Tanakh? If yes, where and in what context. Also if mentioned what has it changed. Thank you I appreciate your time and knowledge. Thank you, Noelle

Answer
Dear Noelle,

Thanks for writing.

I'm a bit curious as "Haifa" in Google has the answer many-times over. Is there any reason for your question beyond the information available?

Haifa is a city site not mentioned specifically in the TaNaKH.

Here is the Wikipedia entry:


A small port city, Tell Abu Hawam, existed in the Haifa region in the Late Bronze Age (14th century BCE).[1] The 6 century BCE geographer Scylax describes a city "between the bay and the Promontory of Zeus" (i.e., the Carmel) which may be a reference to Haifa in the Persian period.[1] The city moved to a new site south of what is now Bat Galim, in Hellenistic period, after the old port became blocked with silt.[1] The archaeological site of Shikmona lies southwest of Bat Galim neighbourhood of Haifa.[2] Mount Carmel and the Kishon River are also mentioned in the Bible.[3][4] The geology of Mount Carmel has left the Mount riddled with caves. A grotto on the top of Mount Carmel is known as the "Cave of Elijah", traditionally linked to the Prophet Elijah and his apprentice, Elisha.[3] In Arabic, the highest peak of the Carmel range is named El-Muhrrakah, or the "place of burning," harking back to the burnt offerings and sacrifices on this hilltop in Canaanite and early Israelite times[5] It is believed that this was the point of Elijah's biblical confrontation with hundreds of priests of a Baal; the Baal in question was probably Melqart.[6]

Early Haifa is believed to have been located in an area that extends from the present-day Rambam Hospital to the Jewish Cemetery on Yafo Street.[7] The inhabitants engaged in fishing and agriculture.[7]

There are disputes over the exact location of early Haifa with many researchers believing that the name ‘Haifa’ is identical to a settlement of which the remains have been found in an area that extends from the present-day Rambam Hospital to the Jewish Cemetery in Yafo Street.[7] The residents of this time were largely thought to have been involved in various coastal industries, including fishing and agriculture as well as acting as a port welcoming groups of people who eventually settled in the city.[7] Before the Persians came to the area in 600 CE, the population of Haifa is thought to have been widely dispersed across the area.[7]

The city is first mentioned in Talmudic literature around the 3rd century CE, as a small fishing village and the home of Rabbi Avdimos and other Jewish scholars.[8][1][9] The hellenised population lived along the coast at this time was engaged in commerce.[10] Haifa was located near the town of Shikmona, the main Jewish town in the area at that time and a center for making the traditional Tekhelet dye used for Jewish Priests' temple cloth.

Are you researching more than this?

Best wishes

Rabbi Dov