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134-528: The Old Yishuv evolved following a significant decline in Jewish communities across the Land of Israel during late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, and was composed of three clusters. Firstly, Ladino -speaking Sephardic Jewish communities settled in the region during the late Mamluk and early Ottoman periods, alongside Arabic -speaking Musta'arabi communities, who had already been living there since before

268-467: A Shi'a Ismaili sect based in India, were used to construct a small marble prayer platform, which is visited by Shi'ite pilgrims from India and Pakistan. A domed structure housing the 13th-century tomb of Sheikh Awad sits atop a hill overlooking Ashkelon's northern beaches. Ashkelon Khan and Museum contains archaeological finds, among them a replica of Ashkelon's Canaanite silver calf, whose discovery

402-474: A Zionist , decided that the Hebrew transliteration should be used, followed always by the two initial letters of "Eretz Yisrael", א״י Aleph-Yod : He was aware that there was no other name in the Hebrew language for this land except 'Eretz-Israel'. At the same time he thought that if 'Eretz-Israel' only were used, it might not be regarded by the outside world as a correct rendering of the word 'Palestine', and in

536-578: A census of Israel and Judah, travelling in an anti-clockwise direction from Gad to Gilead to Dan , then west to Sidon and Tyre , south to the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites , to southern Judah and then returning to Jerusalem. Biblical commentator Alexander Kirkpatrick notes that the cities of Tyre and Sidon were "never occupied by the Israelites, and we must suppose either that

670-751: A Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel". Ashkelon Ashkelon or Ashqelon ( / ˈ æ ʃ k ə l ɒ n / ASH -kə-lon ; Hebrew : אַשְׁקְלוֹן , romanized :  ʾAšqəlōn , IPA: [ʔaʃkeˈlon] ; Arabic : عَسْقَلَان , romanized :  ʿAsqalān ) is a coastal city in the Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, 50 kilometres (30 mi) south of Tel Aviv , and 13 kilometres (8 mi) north of

804-615: A center for mercantile activities. Its name appeared in Phoenician and Punic as ŠQLN ( 𐤔𐤒𐤋𐤍 ) and ʾŠQLN ( 𐤀𐤔𐤒𐤋𐤍 ). Majdal (Arabic) and Migdal (Hebrew) mean 'tower'. The archaeological site of Ascalon , today known as Tel Ashkelon, was the oldest and largest seaport in Canaan , part of the pentapolis (a grouping of five cities) of the Philistines , north of Gaza City and south of Jaffa . The site

938-835: A consortium of three international companies: Veolia water, IDE Technologies and Elran. In March 2006, it was voted "Desalination Plant of the Year" in the Global Water Awards. Since 1992, Israel Beer Breweries has been operating in Ashkelon, brewing Carlsberg and Tuborg beer for the Israeli market. The Ashkelon Sports Arena opened in 1999. The "Jewish Eye" is a Jewish world film festival that takes place annually in Ashkelon. The festival marked its seventh year in 2010. The Breeza Music Festival has been held yearly in and around Ashkelon's amphitheatre since 1992. Most of

1072-455: A continuous yet small Jewish presence in the land, a strong sense of bondedness exists throughout this tradition, expressed in terms of people-hood; from the very beginning, this concept was identified with that ancestral biblical land or, to use the traditional religious and modern Hebrew term, Eretz Yisrael . Religiously and culturally the area was seen broadly as a land of destiny, and always with hope for some form of redemption and return. It

1206-585: A decree of expulsion , Jewish people had sought refuge in the Ottoman Empire . In 1492 and again in 1498, when the Sephardic Jews were expelled from Spain and Portugal respectively, refugees migrated to the Land of Israel, which changed hands from Mamluks to Ottomans after the second Ottoman–Mamluk war , and Ottoman tolerance was seen as an alternative to Christian persecution. Joseph Nasi , with

1340-587: A geographical location. Nur Masalha argues that the biblical boundaries are "entirely fictitious", and bore simply religious connotations in Diaspora Judaism, with the term only coming into ascendency with the rise of Zionism . The Hebrew Bible provides three specific sets of borders for the " Promised Land ", each with a different purpose. Neither of the terms "Promised Land" (Ha'Aretz HaMuvtahat) or "Land of Israel" are used in these passages: Genesis 15:13–21 , Genesis 17:8 and Ezekiel 47:13–20 use

1474-524: A large village of 559 Muslim households, making it the 7th-most-populous locality in Palestine after Safad , Jerusalem , Gaza , Nablus , Hebron and Kafr Kanna . An official Ottoman village list of about 1870 showed that Medschdel had a total of 420 houses and a population of 1175, though the population count included men only. In the 1922 census of Palestine , Majdal had a population of 5,064; 33 Christians and 5,031 Muslims , increasing in

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1608-529: A living population, the religious Jews of the Old Yishuv helped the Diaspora maintain a stronger, deeper connection to the Land of Israel. In exchange, the Diaspora provided communities with financial support which was the economic succor of the residents of the Old Yishuv. Jews in the Diaspora observed Jewish religious traditions of the 613 commandments and tzedakah (charitable giving or actions). Many of

1742-515: A living. The vast majority of the settlers were wiped out during the Fourth Crusade ; they arrived in 1219, and the few survivors were allowed to live only in Acre . Their descendants blended with the original Jewish residents, called Mustarabim or Maghrebim , but more precisely Mashriqes ( Murishkes ). The Mamluk period (1260–1517) saw an increase in the Jewish population, especially in

1876-520: A plan for development together with a map of the proposed homeland. The statement noted the Jewish historical connection with " Palestine ". It also declared the Zionists' proposed borders and resources "essential for the necessary economic foundation of the country" including "the control of its rivers and their headwaters". These borders included present day Israel and the occupied territories , western Jordan, southwestern Syria and southern Lebanon "in

2010-533: A post to his Telegram channel. Once the deadline hit, Hamas launched a barrage of missiles towards Ashkelon. In the early years, the city was primarily inhabited by Mizrahi Jews , who fled to Israel after being expelled from Muslim lands . Today, Mizrahi Jews still constitute the majority of the population. In the early 1950s, many South African Jews settled in Ashkelon, establishing the Afridar neighbourhood. They were followed by an influx of immigrants from

2144-727: A precisely defined eastern border which included the Arabah and Jordan. Numbers 34:1–15 describes the land allocated to the Israelite tribes after the Exodus. The tribes of Reuben , Gad and half of Manasseh received land east of the Jordan as explained in Numbers 34:14–15 . Numbers 34:1–13 provides a detailed description of the borders of the land to be conquered west of the Jordan for

2278-773: A result of the collapsed structure. Southern District Police chief Uri Bar-Lev believed the Grad-model Katyusha rocket was manufactured in Iran . In March 2009, a Qassam rocket hit a school, destroying classrooms and injuring two people. In November 2014, the mayor, Itamar Shimoni , began a policy of discrimination against Arab workers, refusing to allow them to work on city projects to build bomb shelters for children. His discriminatory actions brought criticism from others, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat who likened

2412-790: A river or stream, as opposed to a wadi . A slightly more detailed definition is given in Exodus 23:31 , which describes the borders as "from the sea of reeds (Red Sea) to the Sea of the Philistines (Mediterranean sea) and from the desert to the Euphrates River", although the Hebrew text of the Bible uses the name, "the River", to refer to the Euphrates. Only the "Red Sea" (Exodus 23:31) and

2546-520: A sewer under the bathhouse, leading to conjectures that prostitutes had discarded their unwanted newborns there. The remains of a 4th-century Byzantine church with marble slab flooring and glass mosaic walls can be seen in the Barnea Quarter. Remains of a synagogue from this period have also been found. An 11th-century mosque, Maqam al-Imam al-Husayn , a site of pilgrimage for both Sunni and Shia Muslims, which had been built under

2680-830: A small number remained in Ashkelon. Lavon argued that this operation dissipated "the last shred of trust the Arabs had in Israel, the sincerity of the State's declarations on democracy and civil equality, and the last remnant of confidence the Arab workers had in the Histadrut." Acting on an Egyptian complaint, the Egyptian-Israel Mixed Armistice Commission ruled that the Palestinians transferred from Majdal should be returned to Israel, but this

2814-689: Is Abraham Gershon of Kitov . In the 18th century, groups of Hasidim and Perushim settled in the Land of Israel (Ottoman Southern Syria ). In 1764 Rabbi Nachman of Horodenka , a disciple and father-in-law of the Baal Shem Tov settled in Tiberias. According to "Aliyos to Eretz Yisrael," he was already in Southern Syria in 1750. In 1777, the Hasidic leaders Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk and Rabbi Avraham of Kaliski , disciples of

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2948-585: Is a state of war , I know no other definition for it. If it lasts a week or two, we can handle that, but we have no intention of allowing this to become part of our daily routine." In March 2008, 230 buildings and 30 cars were damaged by rocket fire on Ashkelon. On 12 May 2008, a rocket fired from the northern Gazan city of Beit Lahiya hit a shopping mall in southern Ashkelon, causing significant structural damage. According to The Jerusalem Post , four people were seriously injured and 87 were treated for shock . Fifteen people suffered minor to moderate injuries as

3082-697: Is a direct translation of the Hebrew phrase ארץ ישראל ‎ ( Eretz Yisrael ), which occasionally occurs in the Bible , and is first mentioned in the Tanakh in 1 Samuel 13:19 , following the Exodus , when the Israelite tribes were already in the Land of Canaan . The words are used sparsely in the Bible: King David is ordered to gather 'strangers to the land of Israel' ( hag-gêrîm 'ăšer, bə'ereṣ yiśrā'êl ) for building purposes ( 1 Chronicles 22:2 ), and

3216-686: Is believed to have died there between 1265 and 1268 and is buried near Haifa, at Mount Carmel . Nahmanides arrived in 1267 and settled in Acre as well. In 1488, when Obadiah of Bertinoro arrived in the Mamluk domain of Syria and sent back letters regularly to his father in Italy, many in the diaspora came to regard living in Mamluk Syria as feasible. Canaan State of Israel (1948–present) From 1360, when Louis I of Hungary had issued

3350-503: Is considered probably the worst stage for the development of the Old Yishuv. With the restoration of the Ottoman rule in 1840 with British and French intervention, the region began experiencing a serious rise in the population, rising from just 250,000 in 1840 to 600,000 by the end of the 19th century. Though most of the increase was Muslim, also the Jewish community gradually rose in numbers. Several Jewish communities were established in

3484-561: Is defined in detail in the exilic Book of Ezekiel as a land where both the twelve tribes and the "strangers in (their) midst", can claim inheritance. The name "Israel" first appears in the Hebrew Bible as the name given by God to the patriarch Jacob ( Genesis 32:28 ). Deriving from the name "Israel", other designations that came to be associated with the Jewish people have included the " Children of Israel " or "Israelite". The term 'Land of Israel' (γῆ Ἰσραήλ) occurs in one episode in

3618-480: Is less clear, as he states that the covenant is through Isaac, but also notes that Ishmael 's descendants, generally the Arabs , have held much of that land through time. Rabbinic literature portrays the Land of Israel as the "navel of the world": As the navel is in the middle of a human being, the Land of Israel is the navel of the world, as it is written: "dwellers of the navel of the earth". Just as Eretz Israel

3752-489: Is located in the centre of the world so is Jerusalem in the centre of Eretz Israel, the temple in the centre of Jerusalem, the holy of holies in the centre of the temple, the ark at the centre of the holy of holies, and right in front is the Foundation Stone of the whole of the universe. The Land of Israel concept has been evoked by the founders of the State of Israel . It often surfaces in political debates on

3886-466: Is not shared by most adherents of replacement theology (or supersessionism ), who hold the view that the Old Testament prophecies were superseded by the coming of Jesus, a view often repudiated by Christian Zionists as a theological error. Evangelical Zionists variously claim that Israel has title to the land by divine right, or by a theological, historical and moral grounding of attachment to

4020-704: Is referred as "from the entrance of Hamath unto the brook of Egypt " ( 1 Kings 8:65 , 1 Chronicles 13:5 and 2 Chronicles 7:8 ). These biblical limits for the land differ from the borders of established historical Israelite and later Jewish kingdoms , including the United Kingdom of Israel , the two kingdoms of Israel (Samaria) and Judah , the Hasmonean kingdom , and the Herodian kingdom . At their heights, these realms ruled lands with similar but not identical boundaries. Jewish religious belief defines

4154-478: Is situated in the Land of Israel ... and speaks the Holy Tongue, and recites the shema in the morning and in the evening, is promised life in the world to come ." According to some Jewish religious authorities , every Jew has an obligation to dwell in the Land of Israel and may not leave except for specifically permitted reasons (e.g., to get married). There are also many laws dealing with how to treat

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4288-456: Is the wilderness rather than the Jordan . Paul R. Williamson notes that a "close examination of the relevant promissory texts" supports a "wider interpretation of the promised land" in which it is not "restricted absolutely to one geographical locale". He argues that "the map of the promised land was never seen permanently fixed, but was subject to at least some degree of expansion and redefinition". On David 's instructions, Joab undertakes

4422-556: Is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'See, I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon's hand and give you ten tribes. 32 But for the sake of my servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will have one tribe. 33 I will do this because they have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of

4556-406: The 1931 census to 6,226 (6,166 Muslims and 41 Christians) with 172 in the suburbs (167 Muslims, 4 Christians, and one Jew). In the 1945 statistics Majdal had a population of 9,910; ninety Christians and 9,820 Muslims, with a total (urban and rural) of 43,680 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey. 2,050 dunams were public land; all the rest was owned by Arabs. of

4690-462: The Arabah , are considered by some religious authorities to be outside the Land of Israel for purposes of Jewish law. According to these authorities, the religious laws do not apply there. Traditional religious Jewish interpretation, and that of most Christian commentators, define Abraham's descendants only as Abraham's seed through his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob . Johann Friedrich Karl Keil

4824-582: The Askhenazim. Apart from the Old Yishuv centres in the Four Holy Cities —namely Jerusalem , Hebron , Tiberias and Safed —smaller communities also existed in Jaffa , Haifa , Peki'in , Acre , Nablus and Shfaram . Petah Tikva , although established in 1878 by the Old Yishuv, was also supported by the arriving Zionists. The "Old Yishuv" term was coined by members of the "New Yishuv" in

4958-551: The Book of Jubilees . Jewish tradition thus refers to the region as Canaan during the period between the Flood and the Israelite settlement. Eliezer Schweid sees Canaan as a geographical name, and Israel the spiritual name of the land. He writes: "The uniqueness of the Land of Israel is thus "geo-theological" and not merely climatic. This is the land which faces the entrance of the spiritual world, that sphere of existence that lies beyond

5092-770: The Brook of Egypt (see debate below) to the Mediterranean Sea. The territory defined by these borders is divided into twelve strips, one for each of the twelve tribes. Hence, Numbers 34 and Ezekiel 47 define different but similar borders which include the whole of contemporary Lebanon , both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and Israel , except for the South Negev and Eilat . Small parts of Syria are also included. The common biblical phrase used to refer to

5226-685: The Euphrates are mentioned to define the southern and eastern borders of the full land promised to the Israelites. The "Red Sea" corresponding to Hebrew Yam Suf was understood in ancient times to be the Erythraean Sea , as reflected in the Septuagint translation. Although the English name "Red Sea" is derived from this name ("Erythraean" derives from the Greek for red), the term denoted all

5360-594: The Fatimids by Badr al-Jamali and where tradition held that the head of Mohammad's grandson Hussein ibn Ali was buried, was blown up by the IDF under instructions from Moshe Dayan as part of a broader programme to destroy mosques in July 1950. The area was subsequently redeveloped for a local Israeli hospital, Barzilai . After the site was re-identified on the hospital grounds, funds from Mohammed Burhanuddin , leader of

5494-617: The Hovevei Zion . Towards this end, Hovevei Zion members, including the philanthropist Isaac Leib Goldberg, purchased land from the Ottoman government and local inhabitants. Although there was some earlier support from religious Jews in Europe such as Rabbi Zvi Hirsh Kalischer of Thorn —who published his views in Drishat Zion —Hovevei Zion encountered significant opposition from the religious community, which for example insisted on

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5628-707: The Israeli army in 1950. Situated ten kilometres (6 mi) from Gaza , the hospital has been the target of numerous Qassam rocket attacks, sometimes as many as 140 over one weekend. The hospital plays a vital role in treating wounded soldiers and terror victims. A rocket and missile-proof emergency room opened in February 2018. The city has 19 elementary schools, and nine junior high and high schools. The Ashkelon Academic College opened in 1998, and now hosts thousands of students. Harvard University operates an archaeological summer school program in Ashkelon. Ashkelon

5762-490: The New Testament ( Matthew 2:20–21 ), where, according to Shlomo Sand , it bears the unusual sense of 'the area surrounding Jerusalem'. The section in which it appears was written as a parallel to the earlier Book of Exodus . Genesis 15:18–21 describes what are known as "Borders of the Land" ( Gevulot Ha-aretz ), which in Jewish tradition defines the extent of the land promised to the descendants of Abraham, through his son Isaac and grandson Jacob. The passage describes

5896-443: The Shmita (Sabbatical year); tithing laws such as the Maaser Rishon ( Levite Tithe ), Maaser sheni , and Maaser ani (poor tithe); charitable practices during farming, such as pe'ah ; and laws regarding taxation. One popular source lists 26 of the 613 mitzvot as contingent upon the Land of Israel. According to Menachem Lorberbaum , the consecrated borders of the Land of Israel understood by returning exiles differed from both

6030-454: The Southern Levant . Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan , the Promised Land , the Holy Land , and Palestine . The definitions of the limits of this territory vary between passages in the Hebrew Bible , with specific mentions in Genesis 15 , Exodus 23 , Numbers 34 and Ezekiel 47 . Nine times elsewhere in the Bible, the settled land is referred as " from Dan to Beersheba ", and three times it

6164-415: The garden city model. Migdal was surrounded by a broad ring of orchards. Barnea developed slowly, but Afridar grew rapidly. The first homes, built in 1951, were inhabited by new Jewish immigrants from South Africa and South America, with some native-born Israelis. The first public housing project for residents of the transit camps, the Southern Hills Project (Hageva'ot Hadromiyot) or Zion Hill (Givat Zion),

6298-457: The "ghetto". Moshe Dayan and Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion were in favor of expulsion, while Mapam and the Israeli labor union Histadrut objected. The government offered the Palestinians positive inducements to leave, including a favorable currency exchange, but also caused panic through night-time raids. The first group was deported to the Gaza Strip by truck on 17 August 1950 after an expulsion order had been served. The deportation

6432-414: The 12th century. Maimonides traveled from Spain to Morocco and Egypt, and stayed in the Holy Land , probably sometime between 1165 and 1167, before settling in Egypt. He had then become a personal physician of Saladin , escorting him throughout his war campaigns against the Kingdom of Jerusalem . Following the Crusaders' defeat and the conquest of Jerusalem , he urged Saladin to allow the resettlement of

6566-443: The 19th century; however, chicken remained a luxury item. Meat was primarily beef, but goat and lamb were eaten, particularly in the spring. Almost every part of the animal was used. Fresh fish was a rare and expensive food in Jerusalem, particularly in the winter. Salted cod was soaked and then prepared for both weekdays and Sabbath meals. Sephardim also had a preference for fish called gratto and for sardines . Another fish that

6700-408: The Aramaic Targums ) understand this as referring to the Nile ; more precisely the Pelusian branch of the Nile Delta according to Halevi—a view supported by Egyptian and Assyrian texts. Saadia Gaon identified it as the "Wadi of El-Arish", referring to the biblical Sukkot near Faiyum . Kaftor Vaferech placed it in the same region, which approximates the location of the former Pelusian branch of

6834-417: The Book of Genesis, the land was first promised by God to Abram 's descendants; the text is explicit that this is a covenant between God and Abram for his descendants ( Gen 15:18–21 (NIV) : "On that day the LORD made a covenant"). Abram's name was later changed to Abraham, with the promise refined to pass through his son Isaac and to the Israelites , descendants of Jacob , Abraham's grandson. This belief

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6968-589: The Galilean Jewish population greatly declined. In 1660 Tiberias and Safed were laid in ruins by Ottoman-aligned Druze warlords during the Druze power struggle of 1658–1667 , and the remaining Jews fled as far as Jerusalem. Though Jews returned to Safed in 1662, it became a majority-Muslim center of the Ottoman Safed Sanjak . In 1700, Judah HeHasid , a maggid of Shedlitz , Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth made aliyah and settled in Jerusalem. A group of over 1,500 Ashkenazi Jews came with him, although some sources claim only 300 actually arrived. At that time,

7102-451: The Galilee, but the Black Death epidemics had cut the country's demographics by at least one-third. Safed and Jerusalem were the major populated Jewish urban areas, replacing Tiberias, Acre and Tyre. In 1260, Rabbi Yechiel of Paris arrived in the Land of Israel, at the time part of Mamluk Empire , along with his son and a large group of followers, settling in Acre. There he established the Talmudic academy Midrash haGadol d'Paris . He

7236-416: The Hebrew transliteration of the word "Palestine" פלשתינה (Palestina) followed always by the two initial letters of "Eretz Yisrael", א״י Aleph-Yod. The Land of Israel concept has been evoked by the founders of the State of Israel . It often surfaces in political debates on the status of the West Bank , referred to in official Israeli discourse as the Judea and Samaria Area . The term "Land of Israel"

7370-518: The Jewish population of the Old City of Jerusalem was primarily Sephardic: 200 Ashkenazi Jews compared with a Sephardi community of 1,000. The Ashkenazi immigrants heeded the call of HeHasid, who went from town to town advocating a return to the Land of Israel to redeem its soil. Almost a third of the group died of hardship and illness during the long journey. Upon their arrival in the Holy Land, they immediately went to Jerusalem. Within days, HeHasid died. The survivors borrowed money from local Arabs for

7504-448: The Jews in the city, and several hundred of the long-existing Jewish community of Ashkelon resettled Jerusalem. Small Jewish communities were also existent at the time in Gaza and in desolate villages throughout upper and lower Galilee. The immigration of a group of 300 Jews headed by the Tosafists from England and France in 1211 struggled very hard upon arrival in the region, as they had no financial support and no prospect of making

7638-404: The Lord, that I will make for the house of Israel, and for the house of Judah, a new testament: not according to the testament that I settled for their fathers in the day when I laid hold of their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my testament, and I regarded them not, says the Lord." Augustine concludes that this other promise, revealed in the New Testament,

7772-406: The Moabites, and Molek the god of the Ammonites, and have not walked in obedience to me, nor done what is right in my eyes, nor kept my decrees and laws as David, Solomon's father, did. 34 "'But I will not take the whole kingdom out of Solomon's hand; I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David my servant, whom I chose and who obeyed my commands and decrees. 35 I will take

7906-415: The Nile. 19th century Bible commentaries understood the identification as a reference to the Wadi of the coastal locality called El-Arish . Easton's, however, notes a local tradition that the course of the river had changed and there was once a branch of the Nile where today there is a wadi. Biblical minimalists have suggested that the Besor is intended. Deuteronomy 19:8 indicates a certain fluidity of

8040-446: The Old Yishuv comprised 0.3% of the world's Jews, representing 2–5% of the population of the Palestine region . The establishment of Rishon LeZion , the first moshava founded by Hovevei Zion in 1882, could be considered the true beginning of the "New Yishuv". While a vibrant Jewish center had continued to exist in the Galilee following the Jewish–Roman wars , its importance was reduced with increased Byzantine persecutions and

8174-431: The United Kingdom . During the 1990s, the city received additional arrivals of Ethiopian Jews and Russian Jews . Ashkelon is the northern terminus for the Trans-Israel pipeline , which brings petroleum products from Eilat to an oil terminal at the port. The Ashkelon seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant is the largest in the world. The project was developed as a BOT ( build–operate–transfer ) by

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8308-461: The abolition of the Sanhedrin in the early 5th century. Jewish communities of the southern Levant under Byzantine rule fell into a final decline in the early 7th century, and with the Jewish revolt against Heraclius and Muslim conquest of Syria , the Jewish population had greatly reduced in numbers. In early Middle Ages, the Jewish communities of southern Bilad al-Sham (southern Syria), living as dhimmis under Muslim rule, were dispersed among

8442-450: The adoption of ancient and ineffective Biblical farming rules. In the Jewish communities of the Old Yishuv, bread was baked at home. People would buy flour in bulk or take their own wheat to be milled into the flour to bake bread in brick or mud ovens. Small commercial bakeries were set up in the mid-19th century. Wheat flour was used to make challah and biscuits, ordinary bread and cooking. Because of its scarcity, bread that had dried

8576-514: The ancient world was discovered in Ashkelon. A Roman burial tomb two kilometres north of Ashkelon National Park was discovered in 1937. There are two burial tombs, a painted Hellenistic cave and a Roman cave. The Hellenistic cave is decorated with paintings of nymphs, water scenes, mythological figures and animals. In 1986 ruins of 4th- to 6th-century baths were found in Ashkelon. The bathhouses are believed to have been used for prostitution. The remains of nearly 100 mostly male infants were found in

8710-447: The area as the land of the ten named ancient peoples then living there. More precise geographical borders are given in Exodus 23:31 , which describes borders as marked by the Red Sea (see debate below), the "Sea of the Philistines" i.e. , the Mediterranean , and the "River", the Euphrates ), the traditional furthest extent of the Kingdom of David . Genesis gives the border with Egypt as Nahar Mitzrayim – nahar in Hebrew denotes

8844-500: The area had been allocated to the Arab state in the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine ; on the eve of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War the inhabitants numbered 10,000 and in October 1948, the city accommodated thousands more Palestinian refugees from nearby villages. The town was conquered by Israeli forces on 5 November 1948, by which time much of the Arab population had fled, leaving some 2,700 inhabitants, of whom 500 were deported by Israeli soldiers in December 1948 and most of

8978-444: The area which the Israelite tribes had their settlements". According to Anita Shapira , the term "Eretz Yisrael" was a holy term, vague as far as the exact boundaries of the territories are concerned but clearly defining ownership. The sanctity of the land ( kedushat ha-aretz ) developed rich associations in rabbinical thought, where it assumes a highly symbolic and mythological status infused with promise, although always connected to

9112-426: The arrivals were noted Torah scholars whose communities felt honored to be represented and sent them ma'amodot "stipends" regularly. The kollel network was established many years prior in Jewish communities around the globe to financially support one another while under the civic authority and care of the governments of the countries in which Jews lived. Money for this purpose was raised in Jewish communities around

9246-437: The biblical and pre-exilic borders. By mapping the land in accordance with biblical traditions while simultaneously reflecting the extent of Jewish settlement in the region during their time, rabbinic literature not only sanctified the territory but also established a symbolic continuity that linked contemporary Jewish communities to their ancestors in biblical times. The Jerusalem Talmud, in tractate Shabbat, states: "Whoever

9380-538: The border with the Gaza Strip . The modern city is named after the ancient seaport of Ascalon , which was destroyed in 1270 and whose remains are on the southwestern edge of the modern metropolis. The Israeli city, first known as Migdal, was founded in 1949 approximately 4 km inland from ancient Ascalon at the Palestinian town of al-Majdal (Arabic: الْمِجْدَل , romanized:  al-Mijdal ; Hebrew: אֵל־מִגְ׳דַּל , romanized:  ʾĒl-Mīǧdal ). Its inhabitants had been exclusively Muslims and Christians and

9514-407: The borders of the promised land when it refers to the possibility that God would "enlarge your borders". This expansion of territory means that Israel would receive "all the land he promised to give to your fathers", which implies that the settlement actually fell short of what was promised. According to Jacob Milgrom , Deuteronomy refers to a more utopian map of the promised land, whose eastern border

9648-467: The case of passports or certificates of nationality, it might perhaps give rise to difficulties, so it was decided to print 'Palestine' in Hebrew letters and to add after it the letters 'Aleph' 'Yod', which constitute a recognised abbreviation of the Hebrew name. His Excellency still thought that this was a good compromise. Dr. Salem wanted to omit 'Aleph' 'Yod' and Mr. Yellin wanted to omit 'Palestine'. The right solution would be to retain both. —Minutes of

9782-411: The city was abandoned by its inhabitants and fell into disuse. The Palestinian village of Al-Jura (El-Jurah) stood northeast of and immediately adjacent to Tel Ashkelon and is documented in Ottoman tax registers. El-Jurah was depopulated during the 1948 war. The Arab village of Majdal was mentioned by historians and tourists at the end of the 15th century. In 1596, Ottoman records showed Majdal to be

9916-498: The combined town. By 1961, Ashkelon was ranked 18th among Israeli urban centers with a population of 24,000. In 2022 the population of Ashkelon was 153,138, making it the third-largest city in Israel's Southern District . The name Ashkelon is probably western Semitic , and might be connected to the triliteral root š-q-l ('to weigh', from a Semitic root ṯ-q-l , akin to Hebrew šāqal ( שָקַל ) or Arabic ṯiql ( ثِقْل ), 'weight', perhaps attesting to its importance as

10050-572: The coming of Islam and had been culturally and linguistically Arabized . Secondly, Ashkenazi Jews immigrated from Europe in the 18th and early 19th centuries, forming another group. A third wave of Yishuv members arrived in the late 19th century, hailing from Europe, North Africa , Yemen , Persia , and the Caucasus . These migrations gave rise to two distinct communities within the Old Yishuv—the Sephardim (including Musta'arabim ) and

10184-575: The construction of a synagogue but soon ran out of funds and borrowed more money at very high rates of interest. In 1720, when they were unable to repay their debts, Arab creditors broke into the synagogue, set it on fire, and destroyed their homes. The Jews fled the city and over the next century, any Jew dressed in Ashkenazi garb was a target of attack. Some of the Ashkenazi Jews who remained began to dress like Sephardic Jews. One known example

10318-479: The discrimination to the anti-Semitism experienced by Jews in Europe 70 years earlier. On May 11, 2021, Hamas fired 137 rockets on Ashkelon killing 2 and injuring many others. During the October 2023 Gaza–Israel conflict , Ashkelon was a main target of Hamas missile barrages. On October 10, 2023, Abu Obaida , spokesperson for Hamas, warned all citizens of Ashkelon to evacuate before 5:00 P.M. local time via

10452-801: The dunams, 2,337 were used for citrus and bananas, 2,886 were plantations and irrigable land, 35,442 for cereals, while 1,346 were built-up land. Majdal was known for its weaving industry. The town had around 500 looms in 1909. In 1920 a British Government report estimated that there were 550 cotton looms in the town with an annual output worth 30–40 million francs . But the industry suffered from imports from Europe and by 1927 only 119 weaving establishments remained. The three major fabrics produced were "malak" (silk), 'ikhdari' (bands of red and green) and 'jiljileh' (dark red bands). These were used for festival dresses throughout Southern Palestine. Many other fabrics were produced, some with poetic names such as ji'nneh u nar ("heaven and hell"), nasheq rohoh ("breath of

10586-597: The early stages of the 1948 war , along with the rest of the Gaza region that had been allocated to the Arab State in the United Nations plan. Over the next few months, the town was subjected to Israeli air-raids and shelling. All but about 1,000 of the town's residents were forced to leave by the time it was captured by Israeli forces as a sequel to Operation Yoav on 4 November 1948. General Yigal Allon ordered

10720-659: The entire land of the Israelites. The English expression " Promised Land " can denote either the land promised to Abraham in Genesis or the land of Canaan, although the latter meaning is more common. The border with Egypt is given as the Nachal Mitzrayim ( Brook of Egypt ) in Numbers, as well as in Deuteronomy and Ezekiel. Jewish tradition (as expressed in the commentaries of Rashi and Yehuda Halevi , as well as

10854-526: The etrogs saleable in Ashkenazi Jewish communities in Europe. He planted thousands of trees in a donated orchard near Tiberias and turned the proceeds over to the Warsaw kollel. Generally the Old Yishuv did not participate in the creation of agricultural communities, which was begun in earnest by the immigrants that arrived from Eastern Europe beginning in the 1870s and 1880s, largely associated with

10988-426: The expulsion of the remaining Palestinians but the local commanders did not do so and the Arab population soon recovered to more than 2,500 due mostly to refugees slipping back and also due to the transfer of Palestinians from nearby villages. Most of them were elderly, women, or children. During the next year or so, the Palestinians were held in a confined area surrounded by barbed wire, which became commonly known as

11122-489: The financial backing and influence of his aunt, Gracia Mendes Nasi , succeeded in resettling Tiberias and Safed in 1561 with Sephardic Jews, many of them former Anusim . From the mid-16th century, Safed had become the most influential center of Jewish mysticism and traditional halakha , inhabited by important rabbis and scholars. Among them were Rabbis Yakov bi Rav , Moses ben Jacob Cordovero , Yosef Karo , Abraham ben Eliezer Halevi and Isaac Luria . At this time there

11256-559: The founding members of Hamas were born in Mandatory Palestine , outside of the Gaza strip , or have parents who were. Many of them were from villages that were in the vicinity of present-day Ashkelon, including most of the party's leaders: On 1–2 March 2008, rockets fired by Hamas from the Gaza Strip (some of them Grad rockets ) hit Ashkelon, wounding seven, and causing property damage . Mayor Roni Mahatzri stated that "This

11390-662: The four Holy cities of Safed, Hebron, Jerusalem, and Tiberias. These Jews were devoted to prayer and the study of Torah , Talmud , or Kabbalah , and had no independent source of living. As those Jews fulfilled the Talmudic commandment of God that the Jewish people must live in the Land of Israel to incite the coming of the Messiah , and, in part as they prayed for the welfare of the Jewish diaspora . The system of Jewish charity called halukka "distribution" evolved to support them. As

11524-828: The future government of Palestine, of the Plan of Partition with Economic Union". The Resolution contained a plan to partition Palestine into "Independent Arab and Jewish States and the Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem". On 14 May 1948, the day the British Mandate over Palestine expired, the Jewish People's Council gathered at the Tel Aviv Museum, and approved a proclamation , in which it declared "the establishment of

11658-510: The historical entitlement that Jews have to the whole Land of Israel. Ginsburgh's ideas about the need for Jewish control over the land has some popularity within contemporary West Bank settlements. However, there are also strong backlashes from the Jewish community regarding these ideas. The Satmar Hasidic community in particular denounces any geographic or political establishment of Israel, deeming this establishment as directly interfering with God's plan for Jewish redemption. Joel Teitelbaum

11792-596: The immigrant camps, on the lands of the depopulated Palestinian village al-Jura , entrepreneur Zvi Segal , one of the signatories of Israel's Declaration of Independence, established the upscale Barnea neighborhood. A large tract of land south of Barnea was handed over to the trusteeship of the South African Zionist Federation, which established the neighborhood of Afridar. Plans for the city were drawn up in South Africa according to

11926-647: The introduction of the Greek citron, which was already cultivated in Jewish-owned farms. In the 1870s the Sephardim switched to the Greek variety, and the Ashkenazi Salant partners took over the Balady business. After a little while, controversy erupted regarding its kashrut status. Rabbi Chaim Elozor Wax , president of Kupath Rabbi Meir Baal Haness , a kollel of Warsaw, was instrumental in making

12060-523: The key cities of the military districts of Jund Filastin and Jund al-Urdunn , with a number of poor Jewish villages existing in the Galilee and Judea. Despite temporary revival, the Third and Fourth Fitnas (Arab Muslim civil wars) drove many non-Muslims out of the country, with no evidence of mass conversions, except for Samaritans . The Crusader period marked the most serious decline, lasting through

12194-509: The kingdom from his son's hands and give you ten tribes. 36 I will give one tribe to his son so that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put my Name. According to Jewish religious law ( halakha ), some laws only apply to Jews living in the Land of Israel and some areas in Jordan , Lebanon, and Syria (which are thought to be part of biblical Israel). These include agricultural laws such as

12328-565: The land and Jewish farming, before which etrogs for use as Sukkot were cultivated exclusively by Arab peasants and then merchandized by the Jews. According to Jacob Saphir , the etrog business was monopolized by the Sephardic kollel even before 1835. They had contracted with the Arabic growers of Umm al-Fahm for their entire progeny of Balady citron . In the 1840s they were also instrumental in

12462-504: The land as where Jewish religious law prevailed and excludes territory where it was not applied. It holds that the area is a God-given inheritance of the Jewish people based on the Torah , particularly the books of Genesis , Exodus , Numbers and Deuteronomy , as well as Joshua and the later Prophets ( Exodus 6:4 : "I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners"). According to

12596-493: The land unique to Jews ( Parkes, James ). The idea that ancient religious texts can be warrant or divine right for a modern claim has often been challenged, and Israeli courts have rejected land claims based on religious motivations. During the League of Nations mandate period (1920–1948 ) the term "Eretz Yisrael" or the "Land of Israel" was part of the official Hebrew name of Mandatory Palestine . Official Hebrew documents used

12730-414: The land. The laws apply to all Jews, and the giving of the land itself in the covenant, applies to all Jews, including converts. Many of the religious laws which applied in ancient times are applied in the modern State of Israel; others have not been revived, since the State of Israel does not adhere to traditional Jewish law . However, certain parts of the current territory of the State of Israel, such as

12864-497: The late 19th century, including Mishkenot Sha'ananim , which was built by British Jewish banker and philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore in 1860 as an almshouse, paid for by the estate of an American Jewish businessman from New Orleans , Judah Touro ; and Petah Tikva , established in 1878. Many of the immigrant Jews were elderly and had immigrated to die in the Holy Land, whereas most in the Old Yishuv had lived for centuries in

12998-417: The late 19th century. Today, scholars generally concur that the term "Old Yishuv" does not strictly denote chronology or demographics, as many communities classified under this term arrived in the latter half of the 19th century. By the late Ottoman period, distinctions between the Old Yishuv and New Yishuv became blurred, particularly in urban neighborhoods and agricultural settlements. In the late 19th century,

13132-561: The maggid Dov Ber of Mezeritch , settled in the area. Misnagdim began arriving in 1780. Most of them settled in Safed or Tiberias, but a few established an Ashkenazi Jewish community in Jerusalem, rebuilding the ruins of the Hurva Synagogue , the destroyed synagogue of Judah HeHasid. Starting in 1830, about twenty disciples of Moses Sofer settled in Southern Syria, almost all of them in Jerusalem. From 1831 to 1840, Syria fell under

13266-620: The meeting on November 9, 1920. The compromise was later noted as among Arab grievances before the League's Permanent Mandate Commission. During the Mandate, the name Eretz Yisrael (abbreviated א״י Aleph-Yod ), was part of the official name for the territory, when written in Hebrew . These official names for Palestine were minted on the Mandate coins and early stamps (pictured) in English, Hebrew "(פלשתינה (א״י" ( Palestina E"Y ) and Arabic ("فلسطين"). Consequently, in 20th-century political usage,

13400-536: The musical performances are free. Israel Lacrosse operates substantial youth lacrosse programs in the city and recently hosted the Turkey men's national team in Israel's first home international in 2013. Ashkelon and environs is served by the Barzilai Medical Center , established in 1961. It was built in place of Hussein ibn Ali 's 11th-century mosque, a center of Muslim pilgrimages, destroyed by

13534-426: The new town, increasing the Jewish population to 2,500 within six months. These early immigrants were mostly from Yemen , North Africa , and Europe . In 1949, the town was renamed Migdal Gaza, and then Migdal Gad. Soon afterwards it became Migdal Ashkelon. The city began to expand as the population grew. In 1951, the neighborhood of Afridar was established for Jewish immigrants from South Africa , and in 1953 it

13668-735: The northern border of modern Lebanon , eastwards (the way of Hethlon) to Zedad and Hazar-enan in modern Syria ; south by southwest to the area of Busra on the Syrian border (area of Hauran in Ezekiel); follows the Jordan River between the West Bank and the land of Gilead to Tamar ( Ein Gedi ) on the western shore of the Dead Sea; From Tamar to Meribah Kadesh ( Kadesh Barnea ), then along

13802-474: The physical world known to us through our senses. This is the key to the land's unique status with regard to prophecy and prayer, and also with regard to the commandments." Thus, the renaming of this landmarks a change in religious status, the origin of the Holy Land concept. Numbers 34:1–13 uses the term Canaan strictly for the land west of the Jordan, but Land of Israel is used in Jewish tradition to denote

13936-480: The region traversed by the enumerators is defined as reaching up to though not including [them], or that these cities were actually visited in order to take a census of Israelites resident in them". Ezekiel 47:13–20 provides a definition of borders of land in which the twelve tribes of Israel will live during the final redemption, at the end of days. The borders of the land described by the text in Ezekiel include

14070-487: The remaining tribes. The region is called "the Land of Canaan " ( Eretz Kna'an ) in Numbers 34:2 and the borders are known in Jewish tradition as the "borders for those coming out of Egypt". These borders are again mentioned in Deuteronomy 1:6–8 , 11:24 and Joshua 1:4 . According to the Hebrew Bible, Canaan was the son of Ham who with his descendants had seized the land from the descendants of Shem according to

14204-407: The rest were deported by 1950. Today, the city's population is almost entirely Jewish. Migdal, as it was called in Hebrew, was initially repopulated by Jewish immigrants and demobilized soldiers. It was subsequently renamed multiple times, first as Migdal Gaza, Migdal Gad and Migdal Ashkelon, until in 1953 the coastal neighborhood of Afridar was incorporated and the name Ashkelon was adopted for

14338-568: The rule of the Egyptian viceroy Muhammad Ali of Egypt and his son Ibrahim Pasha , who effectively extended the Egyptian domination to Damascus , driving the Ottomans north. Throughout the period a series of events greatly disturbed the demographic composition of the country, being the stage for the 1834 Syrian Peasant revolts and the 1838 Druze Revolt , which caused a great impact upon the Old Yishuv. The greatest damage in lives and property

14472-518: The same phrasing is used in reference to King Solomon 's census of all of the 'strangers in the Land of Israel' ( 2 Chronicles 2:17 ). Ezekiel , although generally preferring the phrase 'soil of Israel' ( ' admat yiśrā'êl ), employs eretz Israel twice, respectively at Ezekiel 40:2 and Ezekiel 47:18 . According to Martin Noth , the term is not an "authentic and original name for this land", but instead serves as "a somewhat flexible description of

14606-470: The secular Jewish political movement of Zionism to adopt at the turn of the 20th century; it was used to refer to their proposed national homeland in the area then controlled by the Ottoman Empire . As originally stated, "The aim of Zionism is to create for the Jewish people a home in Palestine secured by law." The Biblical concept of Eretz Israel, and its re-establishment as a state in the modern era,

14740-419: The soul") and abu mitayn ("father of two hundred"). In addition to agriculture, residents practiced animal husbandry which formed was an important source of income for the town. In 1943, they owned 354 heads of cattle , 168 sheep over a year old, 170 goats over a year old, 65 camels , 17 horses , 39 mules , 447 donkeys , 2966 fowls , and 808 pigeons . Majdal was occupied by the Egyptian army in

14874-466: The status of the West Bank , which is referred to in official Israeli discourse as Judea and Samaria , from the names of the two historical Israelite and Judean kingdoms . These debates frequently invoke religious principles, despite the little weight these principles typically carry in Israeli secular politics. Ideas about the need for Jewish control of the land of Israel have been propounded by figures such as Yitzhak Ginsburg , who has written about

15008-622: The term "Land of Israel" usually denotes only those parts of the land which came under the British mandate. On 29 November 1947, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution ( United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 (II)) recommending "to the United Kingdom, as the mandatory Power for Palestine, and to all other Members of the United Nations the adoption and implementation, with regard to

15142-406: The term "the land" (ha'aretz), as does Deuteronomy 1:8 in which it is promised explicitly to "Abraham, Isaac and Jacob... and to their descendants after them", whilst Numbers 34:1–15 describes the "Land of Canaan" (Eretz Kna'an) which is allocated to nine and half of the twelve Israelite tribes after the Exodus . The expression "Land of Israel" is first used in a later book, 1 Samuel 13:19 . It

15276-506: The territories actually settled by the Israelites (as opposed to military conquests) is "from Dan to Beersheba " (or its variant "from Beersheba to Dan"), which occurs many times in the Bible. The 12 tribes of Israel are divided in 1 Kings 11. In the chapter, King Solomon 's sins lead to Israelites forfeiting 10 of the 12 tribes: 30 and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. 31 Then he said to Jeroboam , "Take ten pieces for yourself, for this

15410-430: The vicinity south of Sidon". In 1920, the Jewish members of the first High Commissioner 's advisory council objected to the Hebrew transliteration of the word "Palestine" פלשתינה ( Palestina ) on the ground that the traditional name was ארץ ישראל ( Eretz Yisrael ), but the Arab members would not agree to this designation, which in their view, had political significance. The High Commissioner, Sir Herbert Samuel , himself

15544-537: The waters surrounding Arabia—including the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf , not merely the sea lying to the west of Arabia bearing this name in modern English. Thus, the entire Arabian peninsula lies within the borders described. Modern maps depicting the region take a reticent view and often leave the southern and eastern borders vaguely defined. The borders of the land to be conquered given in Numbers have

15678-432: The winter. Most Sephardic and Ashkenazi families would also buy large quantities of grapes to make wine. Olives and eggplants were pickled for preservation. Land of Israel Canaan State of Israel (1948–present) The Land of Israel ( Hebrew : אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל , Modern :   ʾEreṣ Yīsraʾel , Tiberian :   ʾEreṣ Yīsrāʾēl ) is the traditional Jewish name for an area of

15812-415: The world for distribution among the various kollels that were correspondingly established (by country or community of origin) in the Old Yishuv, especially in Jerusalem. From the 13th century until the beginning of the 20th century, Jewish communities of the Old Yishuv dispatched emissaries ( shlihim or meshullahim ) to raise money in for sustenance. The halukka system, which promoted dependence on charity,

15946-526: Was a basic tenet of the original Zionist program. This program however, saw little success until the British commitment to "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" in the Balfour Declaration . Chaim Weizmann , as leader of the Zionist delegation, at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference presented a Zionist Statement on 3 February. Among other things, he presented

16080-403: Was a foremost figure in this denouncement, calling the Land and State of Israel a vehicle for idol worship, as well as a smokescreen for Satan's workings. During the early 5th century, Augustine of Hippo argued in his City of God that the earthly or "carnal" kingdom of Israel achieved its peak during the reigns of David and his son Solomon. He goes on to say however, that this possession

16214-641: Was a small community in Jerusalem headed by Rabbi Levi ibn Haviv also known as the Mahralbach . In 1620 Rabbi Yeshaye Horowitz , the Shelah Hakadosh , arrived from Prague. By the early 17th century, the Ma'an Druzes initiated a power struggle, which led to instability in Mount Lebanon and the Galilee, eroding the Jewish communities. Economic shifts also led to negative demographic movement, and

16348-814: Was about to be fulfilled through the incarnation of Christ: "I will give my laws in their mind, and will write them upon their hearts, and I will see to them; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people." Notwithstanding this doctrine stated by Augustine and also by the Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Romans (Ch. 11), the phenomenon of Christian Zionism is widely noted today, especially among evangelical Protestants. Other Protestant groups and churches reject Christian Zionism on various grounds . Jewish religious tradition does not distinguish clearly between religious, national, racial, or ethnic identities. Nonetheless, during two millennia of exile and with

16482-685: Was an important city during the Roman , Byzantine and Early Islamic periods , and particularly during the period of the Crusades , due to its location near the coast and between the Crusader states and Egypt. The Battle of Ascalon was the last action of the First Crusade . In 1270, the Mamluk sultan Baybars ordered the fortifications and harbour at the site to be destroyed. As a result of it,

16616-484: Was approved by Ben-Gurion and Dayan over the objections of Pinhas Lavon , secretary-general of the Histadrut, who envisioned the town as a productive example of equal opportunity. By October 1950, twenty Palestinian families remained, most of whom later moved to Lydda or Gaza. According to Israeli records, in total 2,333 Palestinians were transferred to the Gaza Strip, 60 to Jordan, 302 to other towns in Israel, and

16750-420: Was available was bouri ( grey mullet ). Even until the end of the 19th century, both Ashkenazim and Sephardim in Jerusalem stored large quantities of foodstuffs for the winter. In Sephardi households, these included rice, flour, lentils, beans, olives and cheese. Ashkenazim stored wine, spirits, olives, sesame oil and wheat. At the end of the summer, large quantities of eggs were packed in slaked lime for

16884-645: Was built in 1952. Under a plan signed in October 2015, seven new neighborhoods comprising 32,000 housing units, a new stretch of highway, and three new highway interchanges will be built, turning Ashkelon into the sixth-largest city in Israel. The ancient site of Ascalon is now administered as the Ashkelon National Park . The walls that encircled the city are still visible, as well as Canaanite earth ramparts. The park contains mainly Roman, Byzantine, and Crusader ruins. The largest dog cemetery in

17018-411: Was conditional: "...the Hebrew nation should remain in the same land by the succession of posterity in an unshaken state even to the end of this mortal age, if it obeyed the laws of the Lord its God." He goes on to say that the failure of the Hebrew nation to adhere to this condition resulted in its revocation and the making of a second covenant and cites Jeremiah 31:31–32 : "Behold, the days come, says

17152-462: Was extended upon the Jewish communities of Safed and Hebron. In addition, the Galilee earthquake of 1837 destroyed Safed, killed thousands of its residents, and contributed to the reconstitution of Jerusalem as the main center of the Old Yishuv. Generally tolerant to the minorities, Ibrahim Pasha promoted the Jewish and Christian communities of Southern Syria, but overall his turbulent period of rule

17286-452: Was harshly criticized in later years as being ineffectual, especially when Zionism arose in Europe (1830s–1880s). This period saw a shift from traditional forms of charity towards efforts of "self-help" and productivity both in the Land of Israel and in the Diaspora. The export of etrogs was also a source of income for the Old Yishuv. This predated the Lovers of Zion idea of the return to

17420-565: Was incorporated into the city. The current name Ashkelon was adopted and the town was granted local council status in 1953. In 1955, Ashkelon had more than 16,000 residents. By 1961, Ashkelon ranked 18th among Israeli urban centers with a population of 24,000. This grew to 43,000 in 1972 and 53,000 in 1983. In 2005, the population was more than 106,000. In 1949 and 1950, three immigrant transit camps ( ma'abarot ) were established alongside Majdal (renamed Migdal) for Jewish refugees from Arab countries , Romania and Poland. Northwest of Migdal and

17554-429: Was later seen as a national home and refuge, intimately related to that traditional sense of people-hood, and meant to show continuity that this land was always seen as central to Jewish life, in theory if not in practice. Having already used another religious term of great importance, Zion (Jerusalem), to coin the name of their movement, being associated with the return to Zion. The term was considered appropriate for

17688-406: Was made into a pudding known as boyos de pan . Milk was usually reserved for pregnant women or the sick. Almond milk was often used as a substitute. Labneh or sour milk was sometimes purchased from Arab peasants. Sephardim kept soft cheese in tins of salt water to preserve it. In the 1870s, meat was rare and eaten on Shabbat and festivals , but became more available towards the end of

17822-416: Was not done. Majdal was granted to Israel in the 1949 Armistice Agreements . Re-population of the recently vacated Arab dwellings by Jews had been official policy since at least December 1948, but the process began slowly. The Israeli national plan of June 1949 designated al-Majdal as the site for a regional urban center of 20,000 people. From July 1949, new immigrants and demobilized soldiers moved to

17956-404: Was reported on the front page of The New York Times . The Outdoor Museum near the municipal cultural center displays two Roman burial coffins made of marble depicting battle and hunting scenes, and famous mythological scenes. The Ashkelon Marina, located between Delila and Bar Kochba beaches, offers a shipyard and repair services. Ashkeluna is a water-slide park on Ashkelon beach. Most of

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