Harasha, or Haresha is a Jewish village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 and Israeli settlement

Israeli settlement

An Israeli settlement is a Jewish civilian community built on land that was captured by Israel from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and is considered occupied territory by the international community. Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank...

 in the Binyamin

Tribe of Benjamin

According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Benjamin בִּנְיָמִין was one of the Tribes of Israel.From after the conquest of the land by Joshua until the formation of the first Kingdom of Israel in c. 1050 BCE, the Tribe of Benjamin was a part of a loose confederation of Israelite tribes...

 region of the northern section of the West Bank

West Bank

The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...

, located in the Dolev

Dolev

Dolev is a communal Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Located near Jerusalem, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. In 2007 it had a population of 1,100...

 region near Talmon

Talmon

Talmon , is a communal Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Located in the West Binyamin at an elevation of nearly 600 metres and 18 km east of the Modiin, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Binyamin Regional Council...

. At 770 metres, the view from the village reaches Hadera

Hadera

Hadera is a city located in the Haifa District of Israel approximately from the major cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. The city is located along of the Israeli Mediterranean Coastal Plain...

 in the northwest, Ashkelon

Ashkelon

Ashkelon is a coastal city in the South District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Neolithic Age...

 in the southwest, and Jerusalem in the east.

Harasha was established on 14 January 1999 by two students from Mercaz haRav

Mercaz haRav

Mercaz HaRav , more properly, Mercaz HaRav Kook ), is a national-religious yeshiva in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1924 by Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook. It has become synonymous with his teachings....

 with assistance from the Amana settlement organization. A year earlier, a water tower had been erected on the hilltop which until then had treeless rocky ground. Ariel Sharon

Ariel Sharon

Ariel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....

 would bring visitors to the hilltop to explain the importance of Israeli control over the Judea and Samaria ridges.

About 35 families, including over 200 people, live in Harasha. The occupation of most of the adults is in education

Education

Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

, either studying or teaching. The local public services provided include a synagogue

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...

, a kollel

Kollel

A kollel is an institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features shiurim and learning sedarim ; unlike a yeshiva, the student body of a kollel are all married men...

, a mikvah

Mikvah

Mikveh is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism...

, nurseries

Nursery school

A nursery school is a school for children between the ages of one and five years, staffed by suitably qualified and other professionals who encourage and supervise educational play rather than simply providing childcare...

 and kindergarten

Kindergarten

A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...

s. The village receives its municipal services from the Matte Binyamin Regional Council

Matte Binyamin Regional Council

Mateh Binyamin Regional Council is a regional council covering 42 Israeli settlements in the southern Samarian hills of the West Bank. The seat of the council is Psagot. The council is named for the ancient Israelite tribe of Benjamin, whose territory roughly corresponds to that of the council.In...

.

According to the Sasson report

Sasson Report

The Sasson Report is an official Israeli government report published on 8 March 2005 that concluded that Israeli state bodies had been discreetly diverting millions of shekels to build West Bank settlements and outposts that were illegal under Israeli law...

, Haresha is an unauthorized settlement. However, in April 2010, National Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau

Uzi Landau

Uzi Landau is an Israeli politician, member of the Knesset for Yisrael Beiteinu and Minister of National Infrastructure. Previously a Likud MK, he served as Minister of Internal Security between 2001 and 2003.-Biography:...

called for its legalization.

External links

• Village profile on Amana website