Petahya Explained

Petahya
Foundation:	1951
Founded By:	Tunisian immigrants
District:	center
Council:	Gezer
Affiliation:	HaOved HaTzioni
Pushpin Map:	Israel center ta
Pushpin Mapsize:	250
Pushpin Label Position:	bottom
Coordinates:	31.8675°N 34.8872°W

Petahya (Hebrew: פְּתַחְיָה) is a moshav in central Israel. Located in the Shephelah near Mazkeret Batya, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gezer Regional Council. In it had a population of .

History

The village was established in 1951 by immigrants from the Tunisian youth movement HaNoar HaTzioni. They were later joined by immigrants from Algeria and India. It was initially named Gezer 10, but later renamed Petahya, a word derived from "a personal name in [the] Bible .. (I Chron. 24:16)".^{[1] [2]}

Today, the main agricultural activity is vineyard cultivation.

Notes and References

1. Carta's Official Guide to Israel and Complete Gazetteer to all Sites in the Holy Land. (3rd edition 1993) Jerusalem, Carta, p.378,
2. Place Names in Israel. A Compendium of Place Names in Israel compiled from various sources. Translated from Hebrew, Jerusalem 1962 (Israel Prime Minister’s Office. The Israeli Program for Scientific Translations) p.223