Kiryat Ye'arim
Local council in Israel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kiryat Ye'arim (Hebrew: קִרְיַת יְעָרִים), also known as Telz-Stone, is a strictly Orthodox town in the Jerusalem District of Israel. It is located in the approximate area of an ancient place mentioned in the Bible, from which it takes its name. It is bordered on one side by the Muslim Arab village of Abu Ghosh, and on the other side by the secular Jewish community of Neve Ilan.[2] In 2024 it had a population of 7,839.
Kiryat Ye'arim
קִרְיַת יְעָרִים كريات يعاريم | |
|---|---|
| Hebrew transcription(s) | |
| • ISO 259 | Qiryat Yˁarim |
| • Also spelled | Kiryat Yearim (unofficial) |
Beth midrash in Kiryat Ye'arim | |
  Kiryat Ye'arim  Kiryat Ye'arim | |
| Coordinates: 31°48′12″N 35°6′0″E | |
| Country |  Israel |
| District |  Jerusalem |
| Government | |
| • Head of Municipality | Yitzhak Ravitz |
| Population (2024)[1] | |
• Total | 7,839 |
| Name meaning | Town of forests |
Names
Kiryat Ye'arim
For the official name, see Biblical connection section.
Telz-Stone
Despite the official name of "Kiryat Ye'arim", the town is widely known as Telz-Stone, after the Telshe or Telz yeshiva, who had a branch there between 1977 and 1979,[3] and American Greetings founder-chairman Irving I. Stone, who helped to finance the community's early development.[2]
Geography
Biblical connection
The modern town of Kiryat Ye'arim (Town of Forests) is named for the homonymous ancient city (common English spelling: Kiriath-Jearim), mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as the site where the Ark of the Covenant has been kept for 20 years, according to the Book of Samuel. From here the Ark was taken to Jerusalem by King David (I Chronicles 13, 5-8).[citation needed]
History
Six hundred dunams of modern-day Kiryat Ye'arim were purchased before 1948[when?] by Menashe Elissar,[clarification needed] a businessman who was attracted to the site as the location of the biblical Kiryat Ye'arim.[5]
The modern community was established in 1973 by American ultra-Orthodox Jews.[6] A group of students and teachers of the American Telshe Yeshiva (Yeshivat Telz in Hebrew) were active there in 1977–79.[3]
Demography
According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), at the end of 2019 Kiryat Ye'arim had a population of 6,309 predominantly Jewish residents. Many of the residents are immigrants from North America, Europe and South Africa.
