Neot Kedumim

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Terrain with newly planted trees
In addition to the Bible, agricultural topics of the Jewish tradition are presented, here: The Mishna deals with the case of a leaf hut overgrown with vines

Neot Kedumim ( Hebrew נאות קדומים Ne'ot Ḳedumim ) is a landscape park in Israel . It is located on Highway 443 near Modi'in , halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and is dedicated to the flora in the Hebrew Bible and traditional Jewish literature.

Surname

The name is intentionally ambiguous: time-honored, beautiful floodplains / dwellings; but since the root ḳ-dm not only means “venerable”, but also “forward”, the result is a program aimed at the future.

History of the park

The prehistory of the park began in the 1920s. Ephraim Rubinovitz was the son of the district rabbi of Novomoskovsk (now Ukraine) and was already interested in botanical subjects as a Talmudic student . As a staunch Zionist , he immigrated to Palestine in 1906 and became the school director in Petach Tikwa . He changed his last name to Hareuveni. Driven by the desire to open up new areas of knowledge, he returned to Europe. From 1909 to 1914 he studied physics, geology, astronomy and botany at the University of Lausanne and was active in Zionist student associations. Back in Palestine, he worked as a teacher and went on excursions to Arab and Bedouin settlements to deepen his knowledge of the country's flora.

In 1926 the Hareuveni couple donated their private botanical collection to the newly founded Hebrew University of Jerusalem . The Biblical-Talmudic Botanical Museum was affiliated with the Institute for Natural History of the Land of Israel . Their vision of a large “garden of the prophets and rabbis” as well as a scented garden could not be realized at the time. The motivation behind these garden projects was a Zionist one: “A close familiarity with the flora of the country creates a feeling of continuity; This gave the immigrants the opportunity to re-root themselves in their old homeland. "

From 1965 Nogah Hareuveni was able to implement his parents' plan with political support. A neglected, hilly area of ​​2.5 square kilometers in the Schefela was extensively renatured. The search for water in particular took a long time. The ground was hit and distributed in truck loads. The park also recreates the Sinai desert and the woodlands of Lebanon. It was only in 1984 that it was opened to the public.

In 1994, Nogah Hareuveni and his team were awarded the Israel Prize in the “Special Achievement for State and Society” section. The reason for the award of the award stated: "The present and future merge with the old landscape to form a carefully designed whole, which expresses the epitome of our life: the future grows from the roots of the past."

Visitor activities

There is the option of exploring the park yourself, or you can join a guided tour. On an ecological ("green") tour, for example, visitors learn "what the land of milk and honey looked like before it was neglected and abused, and how we restored the biblical landscape to its former glory."

Visitors can learn about various aspects of ancient agriculture; there are cisterns, oil and wine presses and a threshing floor. As workshops z. For example, grazing a flock of sheep, cooking biblical food, striking coins or weaving are offered. There are demonstrations, e.g. B. a Torah writer ( Sofer ) presents his art. A number of ceremonies can take place in Neot Kedumim: tree planting, bar / bat mitzvah , weddings.

Web links

literature

  • Nogah Hareuveni: Nature in our Biblical Heritage. Neot Kedumim, 1980.
  • Nogah Hareuveni: Tree and Shrub in our Biblical Heritage. Neot Kedumim, 1984.
  • Nogah Hareuveni: Desert and Shepherd in our Biblical Heritage. Neot Kedumim, 1992.
  • Sarah Oren: Botany in the Service of the Nation . In: Munich contributions to Jewish history and culture , vol. 8, issue 1, 2004. pp. 66–82. ( online )

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sarah Oren: Botany in the service of the nation . S. 77 .
  2. ↑ Sarah Oren: Botany in the service of the nation . S. 76 .
  3. ↑ Sarah Oren: Botany in the service of the nation . S. 81 .
  4. ^ Eco-tourism (Green) tour. In: Neot Kedumim. Retrieved December 27, 2018 .