During the Ottoman period there was a Muslim village called Harbaj at this place.[2] In 1162 A.H. (~1748 CE) it was fortified by Zahir al-Umar, and traces of the wall still existed in the late 19th century.[3] The village appeared as El Harchieh on the map that Pierre Jacotin compiled in 1799.[4]
In 1875, Victor Guérin found here about 30 inhabited houses. In the centre of the village was a large well, partly filled.[5] In 1881, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described El Harbaj as "a small adobe village, on the plain, with a well to the north and olives to the east."[3]
A population list from about 1887 showed that el Harbaj had about 75 inhabitants; all Muslims.[6]
Kfar Hasidim was founded in 1924 by two groups of Polish Hasidicimmigrants of the Fourth Aliyah, followers of Rabbi Yehezkel Taub and Rabbi Israel Hoffstein, the rabbis of Yablono and Kozienice.[8][9] They bought land east of Haifa Bay with the help of Rabbi Yeshayahu Shapira of Hapoel Hamizrachi and established Nahalat Ya’akov and Avodat Yisrael,[10] which later merged into Kfar Hasidim.[11]
In the 1931 census, Kfar Hassidim had a population of 420, all Jews, in a total of 104 houses.[14]
By the 1945 statistics, Kfar Hasidim had 980 residents, all Jewish.[15][16]
In 1935, Makhouly visited Tal Harbaj on behalf of the Department of Antiquities. He noted that: "the portion of the outer wall on the eastern top of the site was demolished and all stones from it were taken away."[17]
Kfar Hasidim first houses 1925
Kfar Hasidim 1925
Kfar Hasidim lime kiln 1925
Nahalat Ya'akov, 1926
Kfar Hasidim 1929
Kfar Hasidim 1930
Kfar Hasidim synagogue, 1934-1939
Kfar Hasidim 1937
State of Israel
In 1950, Kfar Hasidim Bet was established nearby by non-agricultural residents of Kfar Hasidim.[18]
Shlomo Goren, future head of the Military Rabbinate of the Israel Defense Forces and subsequently Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1973 to 1983, was raised in Kfar Hasidim, which his father helped to found.[21]
