BENE BERAQ

city, northeastern suburb of Tel Aviv-Yafo, west central Israel, in the southern Plain of Sharon. In Assyrian texts, Bene Beraq is listed as a city that fell to Sennacherib, king of Assyria, in 701 BC. It is also mentioned in the Bible (Joshua 19) and was a well-known scholarly centre (c. 100 BC) during the time of the compilation of the Talmud. Near the presumed location of ancient Bene Beraq, a modern settlement was founded by Orthodox Polish-Jewish immigrants in 1924. At first chiefly agricultural (citrus groves), it later became industrialized. Bene Beraq has preserved its character as a citadel of Orthodox Judaism; it is the site of several schools for Talmudical study. Inc. 1950. Pop. (1985 est.) 100,400.