Mesilat Zion

Mesilat Zion (Hebrew: מסילת ציון, lit. 'Highway of Zion') is a moshav in central Israel. Located near the city of Beit Shemesh with an area of 1,000 dunams, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In 2023 it had a population of 934.^[1]

Mesilat Zion מסילת ציון
Etymology: Highway of Zion
Mesilat Zion
Coordinates: 31°48′6″N 35°0′41″E
Country	Israel
District	Jerusalem
Council	Mateh Yehuda
Affiliation	Moshavim Movement
Founded	1950
Founded by	Yemenite Jews
Population  (2023)[1]	934

History

Mesilat Zion, 1964

Mesilat Zion was established on the land of the depopulated Palestinian village of Bayt Mahsir.^[2] The moshav was established as a work village in 1950 by immigrants from Yemen. After a few years the founders left and were replaced by Cochin Jews.

The name of the moshav is symbolic, as it is located near the Burma Road. It symbolizes the breaking of the siege over Jerusalem during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, it is based on verses from the Book of Isaiah, chapter 62, "For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest....Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people....Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation comes."^[3]

The Jerusalem Culinary Institute (JCI) founded in 2001 by chef Yochanan Lambiase is located in Mesilat Zion. JCI is the world's first glatt kosher cooking school.^[4]

Notable residents

• Yuval Noah Harari (born 1976), historian, public intellectual, and science writer
• Maya Eshet (born 1990), actress