Shefayim

Shefayim occupies coastal land between Netanya and Herzliya, about 4 kilometers north of Herzliya.[1][2] It falls administratively within the Hof HaSharon Regional Council, whose offices are located in the kibbutz.[3] Nearby Arsuf lies between the Mediterranean Sea and Shefayim.[5] The entrance to the Hof HaSharon Beach National Park is near the Shefayim Hotel, providing access to a coastal walking route.[4]

The kibbutz's name is taken from Isaiah 41:18.[1] Open green spaces and the coastal highway characterize its setting. A sponsored 2026 feature described the community as having nearly 1,500 residents, although another contemporary report gave a lower estimate.[4]

A 2019 report dates Shefayim's founding to 1927 and its establishment on its present land to 1935.[2] An older Encyclopaedia Judaica-derived entry instead gives 1931, while identifying the founders as pioneers from Poland and recording the kibbutz's affiliation with Ha-Kibbutz ha-Me'uḥad.[1] In its earliest years, members earned their livelihoods primarily as hired laborers.[1] A JewishGen memorial account identifies Borye Basis as a founder who worked in the garage, drove a tractor, plowed and planted, and at various times served as an extra clerk and treasurer in the office and financial department.[6]

During the late 1930s and the 1940s, Shefayim served as a clandestine landing point for Jewish immigration into Mandatory Palestine, described by the cited reference using the period term "illegal" immigration.[1] British forces subjected the kibbutz to severe searches in 1945.[1]

The Shefayim Hotel was established in the late 1940s and initially served as a training facility for members of the Haganah and Palmach.[7] It later opened seasonally as a convalescent home for working people in response to Histadrut demand. During the early-1950s austerity period, guests could receive substantial meals containing eggs, cream, vegetables, and other foods then in short supply.[7]

Shefayim also received displaced Jews during Israel's War of Independence, hosting residents of Beit HaArava after that community was evacuated.[4]

Recorded and reported population figures reflect Shefayim's expansion over time. Its population stood at 550 in 1970, 780 in the mid-1990s, and 883 in 2002.[1] In 2019, it had about 1,300 residents, including approximately 750 kibbutz members living in 450 housing units.[2] A 2023 report placed the population at about 1,400.[3]

Contemporary estimates differ. A 2026 Jerusalem Post feature placed Shefayim and Ma'agan Michael at around 1,000 residents each and said they "function like small towns," with industrial and agricultural zones.[8] A sponsored Ynet feature published in 2026 instead described Shefayim as having nearly 1,500 residents.[4]

Shefayim has a diversified economy. Its farming has been described as highly intensive and fully irrigated, while its dairy farm is operated jointly with the neighboring kibbutzim of Ga'ash and Yakum.[1][2] Industry is anchored by the Polychad plastics factory, which manufactures packaging for major food and cosmetics companies.[3] Hospitality, retail, agriculture, industry, and recreation provide the kibbutz with multiple income streams.[2]

Communal culture has retained connections to the agricultural calendar. National Library of Israel records document a 1973 Shavuot celebration at Shefayim in which children and parents brought bikkurim, or first fruits, as part of the traditional harvest ceremony.[9][10]

The Shefayim Hotel is one of the kibbutz's principal facilities. In 2019, it was reported to have about 200 rooms, while the complex also includes conference and events facilities.[2][3] The nearby water park is another prominent asset; a 2019 master plan proposed expanding its built area from approximately 5,500 to 20,000 square meters, partly to support operation beyond the summer season.[2]

The Hutzot Shefayim shopping and leisure center attracts visitors from across central Israel and operates on the Sabbath and holidays.[1] The surrounding area also provides access to the Hof HaSharon Beach National Park.[4] Israel's national football teams' training center is located within the kibbutz.[3]

In 2009, Shefayim decided to move away from its traditional cooperative model, adopting a "renewed kibbutz" structure resembling a community settlement while retaining most assets in shared ownership.[11] Under this arrangement, some families entered the private market, while others continued working in the kibbutz's collective companies and economic branches.[11]

By 2023, the kibbutz had undergone privatization, with the allocation of homes to members then in progress.[3] A 2019 master plan approved for deposit proposed adding 50 homes—38 in a new northwestern area and 12 within the existing kibbutz—along with infrastructure upgrades and the preservation of heritage sites, including shared public buildings, the residential area, and the old farm area.[2]

Shefayim has repeatedly served as a refuge for displaced Jewish communities. During Israel's War of Independence, it received evacuees from Beit HaArava.[4] In a later period of rocket attacks, families from Kibbutz Alumim came to Shefayim for temporary respite.[12]

Following the Hamas terrorist attack of October 7, 2023, Shefayim took in hundreds of residents evacuated from Kibbutz Kfar Aza.[4] Individual families began arriving at the Shefayim Hotel on Saturday night; the following day, the Home Front Command and regional council informed the kibbutz that the entire hotel would be transferred to evacuees from southern Israel.[13] The hotel had 150 rooms across three buildings, and its meeting rooms, dining hall, and other communal facilities were made available to the displaced community.[13]

The response went beyond providing accommodation. Kfar Aza resident Ofer Halperin-Rothschild organized education for displaced children; three kindergartens opened in the hotel on October 11, initially supported by kibbutz-movement volunteers and donated equipment, with a paid teacher brought in later.[14] Kfar Aza's pub was recreated in a hotel room using furniture and wall decorations modeled on the original.[13] Shefayim's secretary described the arrangement as "a kibbutz within a kibbutz."[13]

In November 2023, the Israel Land Authority made approximately 12 dunams at three sites in Shefayim available for 53 temporary residential caravans, in coordination with the Hof HaSharon Regional Council.[3] Shefayim and Kfar Aza community managers worked jointly to sustain communal life during the displacement.[4] Kfar Aza residents remained at Shefayim into October 2024, when the community was preparing to relocate to temporary housing at Kibbutz Ruhama.[15]