Today in History: Mishkenot Sha'ananim

Up until the mid-19th century, the city of Jerusalem was confined to the area within the Old City walls. Outside the walls were dangerous bands of robbers, making nighttime excursions beyond the city limits quite perilous. Meanwhile, the population within the walls continued to grow increasingly crowded.

Various parties showed interest in acquiring land outside Jerusalem's walls, initially for establishing different types of factories. Among those interested was Sir Moses Montefiore, who, during his visits to Jerusalem, observed the severe overcrowding and sought to purchase land outside the walls to alleviate the situation.

Montefiore initially planned to establish a hospital on the land he acquired for the city's Jewish residents. However, the Rothschild Hospital was built within the Old City walls during that period, and the Jewish community was reluctant to leave the safety of the walls for medical care. Consequently, Montefiore altered his plans, aiming to develop a spacious residential neighborhood for the city's Jewish residents.

The neighborhood was designed for those in need as well as scholars and included 16 spacious apartments (later, four more were added), two synagogues--one Sephardic and one Ashkenazi, a mikvah, and also a bathhouse and a water cistern with a pump--which were quite innovative at the time.

Additionally, a flour mill was erected on the hilltop in the neighborhood to provide the settlers with a source of income.

On the 18th of Cheshvan, 5621, the new neighborhood, the first outside Jerusalem's walls, was inaugurated. To this day, it remains one of the most beautiful and distinctive neighborhoods in Jerusalem, and the original structures built there still stand.