Beit Shemesh

Beit Shemesh (Hebrew: בֵּית שֶׁמֶשׁ, Latin: Bethsames, Beth Shamesh, Bethshamesh or Bet shemesh and most often Beth-Shemesh in English translations of the Hebrew Bible) is a city located approximately 30 kilometres (19 mi) west of Jerusalem in Israel's Jerusalem District, with a population of 118,676 in 2018.[1] The history of Beit Shemesh goes back to pre-biblical times. The modern city of Beit Shemesh was founded in 1950.

Beit Shemesh

  • בֵּית שֶׁמֶשׁ‎
  • بيت شيمش‎
Hebrew transcription(s)
 • ISO 259Beit Šemš
 • Also spelledBet Shemesh (official)
Emblem of Beit Shemesh
Beit Shemesh
Beit Shemesh
Coordinates: 31°44′44.47″N 34°59′11.93″E
Country Israel
District Jerusalem
Founded1950
Government
 • TypeCity
 • MayorAliza Bloch
Area
 • Total34,259 dunams (34.259 km2 or 13.227 sq mi)
Population
 (2018)[1]
 • Total118,676
 • Density3,500/km2 (9,000/sq mi)
Name meaningHouse of the sun
Sprawling urbanization in Beit Shemesh
View of modern Beit Shemesh from the south
Modern Beit Shemesh, 2010
Apartment complexes in Beit Shemesh

Etymology

Beit Shemesh means "house of the sun" or "temple of the sun" in Hebrew. The Bronze-Age city was originally named after the Canaanite sun-goddess Shapash, sometimes called Shemesh, who was worshipped there in antiquity.[2]

The name Beth-Shemesh was shared by (at least) two other places in Israel and one more in Egypt.[3]

In the Amarna letters Shamash is mentioned several times, along with Addu, as one of the greatest gods: the Pharaoh is "like Addu and Shamash".[4]

History and biblical tradition

Canaanite and Israelite town

The Canaanites of Beit Shemesh named the city after Shapash/Shemesh, the sun-goddess they worshipped. The ruins of the ancient biblical city of the Canaanites and Israelites are located at a site called Tel Beit Shemesh in Modern Hebrew and Tell er-Rumeileh in Arabic, a tell located near the modern city.[2]

Book of Joshua

Beit Shemesh is first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in the Book of Joshua (Joshua 15:10), as a city in the territory of the tribe of Judah on the border with the tribe of Dan. In Joshua 21:16, this city was set aside as one of the 13 Kohanic cities for the priests of the tribe of Levi, the Kohanim.

Another city by the same name, Beit Shemesh, is later mentioned in Joshua 19:38, being situated in the territory of the tribe of Naphtali.

Book of Samuel

The city located in the territorial bounds of the tribe of Judah is mentioned in the 6th chapter of 1 Samuel as being the first city encountered by the Ark of the Covenant on its way back from Philistia after having been captured by the Philistines in battle (1 Samuel 6:12-21). The stone on which the Ark was placed is recorded as still being located there at the time of writing the Books of Samuel. In the King James Version this stone is described as "the great stone of Abel" (1 Samuel 6:18).

Book of Kings

In 2 Kings 14, Beit Shemesh is again mentioned as being the site of the battle between King Amaziah of Judea and King Jehoash of Israel.

Assyrian destruction to Early Second Temple period

After the destruction of much of Judah by Sennacherib in 701 BCE, the city was abandoned for a while, but there seems to have been an attempt by a group of Judahites at resettling Beth Shemesh, judging by the refurbishing of the water reservoir in the 7th century BCE.[5] However, after the Babylonian conquest of Judah in the early 580s, either the new Babylonian rulers, or the nearby Philistine metropolis of Ekron favoured by them, apparently put an end to the initiative by sealing and covering over the vital water reservoir,[5] which was not uncovered until 2004. During the first Jewish return, at the beginning of the Second Temple period, there was no lasting revival of the city, as opposed to many other places in the vicinity such as Beit Guvrin, Maresha, and others.

Byzantine period

A monastery and other remains from the Byzantine period have been found on the tell.[6]

Ottoman period
Main article: Dayr Aban

The small Arab towns of Dayr Aban and Dayr Rafat used rocks for building from Tell er-Rumeileh (Tel Beit Shemesh).

In the late 19th century the area was known as 'Ain Shems or Khirbet 'Ain Shems and was used as a temporary harvest-time residence by local Arabs.[7][8] The small mosque of Abu Mizar stood there.[8]

1948 war

During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the Egyptian army invaded the area and set up a fortified post, called "Mishlat" in Hebrew, on a hill overlooking Beit Shemesh, within the Arab village Dayr Aban. The post changed hands several times during fighting. The Harel Brigade occupied part of the post for several months, giving rise to the name "the joint post" or the "Mishlat HaMeshutaf", with 60 meters dividing them and the enemy forces. The Mishlat was finally taken by the Harel force in the Ha-Har offensive, during the night of 19–20 October 1948.

Beit Shemesh is the point from which the so-called Convoy of 35 set out to bring provisions to besieged Gush Etzion. On 15 January 1948, a group of 38 Palmach volunteers left Hartuv near Beit Shemesh. After one member of the group sprained his ankle and returned, accompanied by two others, the group, now numbering 35, continued on its way. Their presence was discovered by two Arab women who encountered two scouts of the group near Surif. (An earlier version, that the soldiers were discovered by an Arab shepherd who they graciously let go, was based on a eulogy written by Ben-Gurion and is apparently apocryphal).[9] The Convoy of 35 was subsequently killed in fighting with Arab villagers and militiamen.

  • Position at Beit Shemesh fortified by Harel Brigade during Operation Ha-Har
  • Harel Brigade position on road from Beit Shemesh to Deir 'Amr during Operation Ha-Har, 1948
  • Beit Shemesh 1947 1:20,000

State of Israel

On 6 December 1950, the Hartuv displaced persons camp "Ma'abarat Har-Tuv" was established on the site of the current-day Moshav Naham. The first inhabitants were Jewish Bulgarian immigrants. They were joined by more Jewish immigrants from Bulgaria, Iran, Iraq, Romania, Morocco and Kurdistan. In 1952 the first permanent houses were built in Beit Shemesh. Prior to 1948 the Ramat Beit Shemesh neighborhood area was the site belonging to the Arab village Bayt Nattif. This village was built on remnants of an ancient Judean town, with various remnants of Jewish settlement from the time, such as a mosaic floor, wineries and other remains, especially from the period of the Hasmonean kings and earlier. This area is currently under dispute about preservation, having been the subject of a grassroots campaign.

In its early years, Beit Shemesh came to typify the "Development Town" with a largely North African immigrant population. In 1977, following a writeup in Haaretz newspaper, Beit Shemesh was perceived as the main outpost for Menachem Begin's Likud party. He promised to rehabilitate neighborhoods and when Likud came to power that year, investment in the city increased.

The Israel Police maintains a bomb disposal specialist unit and training center in Beit Shemesh.[10]

Demographics
Historical population
YearPop.±%
19553,000—    
19617,000+133.3%
197210,100+44.3%
198313,000+28.7%
199524,900+91.5%
200872,700+192.0%
2018118,700+63.3%
Source: CBS

When the city was built in the 1950s, it was initially settled by new immigrants from Iran, Iraq, Romania, Bulgaria, Morocco and Iraqi Kurdistan. In the 1990s, the city saw a large influx of new immigrants from the former Soviet Union, Ethiopia and English-speaking countries, turning it into a major center for Anglo immigrants. Considerable numbers have come from North America, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Australia. This population tends to be Orthodox, educated and from middle income groups. At the same time, Orthodox Jews from within Israel also began moving to the city, seeking roomier, low-cost housing.[11][12]

According to a city councillor, there were no Haredim in Beit Shemesh before the 1990s.[13] Since then, Beit Shemesh has become increasingly religious, with a large Haredi sector. Many synagogues and yeshivas have been built in the city. Religious communities represented in Beit Shemesh include Ger, Belz, Shomer Emunim, Satmar and Neturei Karta. In 2011 Haredim made up 40% of the population, of which an estimated 50 or 60 families with great influence are militant.[13] According to statistics published by the municipality, 63% of the city's schoolchildren in 2010 were Haredim.[14] 75% of the children entering the first grade in the 2012/2013 academic year will be registered in official Haredi institutions.[15]

The population of Beit Shemesh is expected to reach 150,000 in 2020.[14]

Urban development

Two new areas, the Nahala UMenucha neighborhood, and Ramat Beit Shemesh, were built in the 1990s, doubling the size of the city.

Ramat Beit Shemesh
Main article: Ramat Beit Shemesh

Ramat Beit Shemesh ("Beit Shemesh Heights") is an expansion that lies directly adjacent to, and to the south of, the original part of Beit Shemesh, colloquially referred to as "Old Beit Shemesh". It is located on a hill overlooking the old town. Ramat Beit Shemesh has a large, diverse Orthodox population. Originally, it consisted of two areas: Ramat Beit Shemesh Alef and Ramat Beit Shemesh Bet. In Ramat Beit Shemesh Bet, families belonging to Eda Haredit constitute the majority.[14] In 2002, following tensions between the Haredi and non-religious population, plans were drawn up to build another secular neighborhood, HaShachar. In 2007, Ramat Shilo, considered a subdistrict of Ramat Beit Shemesh, with both Dati Leumi and Haredi residents was built. In 2009, it was announced that a new neighborhood, Ramat Beit Shemesh Gimmel, would be built as a largely Haredi neighborhood on a large block of state-owned land bordering southern Beit Shemesh.[14] In 2016 the Israeli Land Authority published tenders for 3,268 new apartments, to be built in the newly proposed areas of Ramat Beit Shemesh Dalet and Hey. According to plans, ultimately there are to be 8,300 new apartments in RBS Dalet alone.[16]

Urban kibbutz Tamuz

Beit Shemesh also has an urban kibbutz affiliated with the Kibbutz Movement, Tamuz, founded in 1987.

English-speaking community

The large English-speaking community is concentrated in Ramat Beit Shemesh Alef, as well as in the Sheinfeld, Nofei Aviv, Migdal HaMayim, and Nofei HaShemesh neighborhoods in the Givat Sharett section of the city.

Beit Shemesh as seen from Tzora (Zorah) mountain

Masterplan and development

Beit Shemesh is developing rapidly, and under a current masterplan approved by the Israeli government in 2017, Beit Shemesh will double in population, to more than 200,000 residents, with 17,000 new housing units built along with 130 acres zoned as new commercial space for businesses and hotels.[17][18] It is expected that the city could be home to as many as 250,000 residents by 2025. A new commercial center in the Ramat Beit Shemesh neighborhood is planned to be the city's largest.[19]

Local government

The current mayor of Beit Shemesh is Dr. Aliza Bloch, she assumed office in November 2018 after extremely close elections which in the end got her the win by the votes of the IDF soldiers from Bet Shemesh. She is also the first female mayor of Beit Shemesh.[20]

The previous mayor of Beit Shemesh was Moshe Abutbul, a member of Shas. The deputy-mayor, Shmuel Greenberg, is a member of United Torah Judaism (UTJ).[15] Haaretz quotes Abutbul as saying: "Beit Shemesh is not a Haredi city and will not be one."[14] In the 2009 elections, Shas and UTJ won nine seats in the 21-seat municipal council, one seat went to a new Haredi party called Tov.[14]

Formerly a Likud stronghold, in the 2006 Knesset elections United Torah Judaism became the city's strongest party, with 22.2 percent of the votes and Shas getting 19.9 percent. In 2009 Likud regained its primacy, obtaining 22.2 percent of the votes, and Shas also gained, garnering 20.9 percent, with United Torah Judaism a close third at 20.6 percent. Eda Haredit boycott the elections.[14]

2013 municipal elections

During the municipal elections held on 22 October 2013, acting on several anonymous tips, police raided several private residences and recovered 200 ID cards and disguising materials such as hats, glasses and wigs which law enforcement suspected were used or going to be used for fraudulent voting. Additionally, eight people were arrested on suspicion for engaging and coordinating fraudulent voting activities.[21]

On 10 December 2013 a three judge panel of the Jerusalem District Court nullified the results of the October municipal elections due to voter fraud and ordered a new election.[22]

Following an unprecedented 76% voter turnout rate, incumbent mayor Moshe Abutbul beat contender Eli Cohen with a 51% majority vote during the reelection which took place on 11 March 2014. [23]

Education

In 2001, there were 56 schools and 14,148 students in the city: 41 elementary schools with 10,716 elementary school students, and 20 high schools with 3,432 high school students. 40.3% of 12th grade students were entitled to a matriculation certificate.

Economy

Beit Shemesh has two industrial zones containing mainly small industry, particularly in the Northern industrial zone which is typified by carpentry and metalwork workshops, garages and wholesale and retail outlets. The Western industrial zone contains several larger companies including Beit Shemesh Engines Ltd. (BSEL) which manufactures and repairs jet engines and jet engine components, Barzellan and others. Nearby in the Noham industrial zone are situated various other factories and offices. Since the hi-tech boom of 1996–2001 Beit Shemesh has been host to several hi-tech startups including Omek Interactive.

Transportation
Beit Shemesh Railway Station

Beit Shemesh Railway Station provides hourly service on the Israel Railways Herzliya–Lod–Jerusalem line. The station is located in the north industrial zone of Beit Shemesh. It was reopened on 13 September 2003, having existed for over a century at the same location.[24] The station has three platforms.

Bus transportation within Beit Shemesh and most inter-city routes is operated by Superbus, which began service on 5 January 2009.[25] The Egged Bus Cooperative, which previously operated all bus service in and to Beit Shemesh, still operates a limited number of bus lines from Beit Shemesh to Jerusalem.

Sports

Beit Shemesh is home to numerous sports clubs all under the main sport associations (Beitar, Hapoel, and Maccabi). The city has soccer teams including juniors, seniors and over-35s teams and boasted a franchise in the Israel Baseball League. The Beit Shemesh Blue Sox represented Beit Shemesh in the league's only season, though they played their games at Gezer Field in Kibbutz Gezer due to a lack of proper facilities in Beit Shemesh. There is also a very active Little League in Beit Shemesh and Ramat Beit Shemesh, with over 300 members. In the field of judo, Elitzur Beit Shemesh has won many prizes. Israel Kung Fu and world Nunchaku champion (2001) Eli Ivgi was born in and lives in Beit Shemesh. Construction of a regulation-sized baseball field in Bet Shemesh is planned. The ground-breaking ceremony taking place on January 6th, 2017. [26]

Arab-Israeli conflict
Memorial at Naharayim
Main article: Island of Peace massacre

On 13 March 1997, seven 13 and 14-year-old girls from Beit Shemesh's AMIT Fuerst School were killed at the "Island of Peace" site in Naharayim by a Jordanian soldier while they were visiting the joint Israeli and Jordanian tourist resort under Jordanian rule on a class trip.[27] King Hussein of Jordan went to Beit Shemesh a few days after the massacre to extend his condolences and ask forgiveness in the name of his country, a step which was seen as both courageous and touching.[28]

Gender issues and inter-communal tensions

In 2004 the Israel Association of Ethiopian Jews claimed that Ethiopian Jews working for the municipality were being paid below-minimum wages.[29] In 2011, the Association criticized the referral of Ethiopian Jews to three private pre-schools run by the mayor's wife.[30]

According to the Jerusalem Post, women who belong to a Haredi burqa sect in Beit Shemesh were ostracized by the Haredi community.[31] The leader of the movement, dubbed the "Taliban mother" by the Israeli press, was convicted by the Jerusalem District Court in 2009 on three counts of abuse of a minor and 25 counts of assault in aggravated circumstances, and sentenced to four years in prison. Her husband was also convicted of 10 counts of assault and three counts of abuse of a minor or helpless person, and was sentenced to six months in jail.[32][33]

In 2011, conflicts erupted in Beit Shemesh between extremist ultra-Orthodox men, possibly members of a group known as the Sikrikim,[34][35][36] and other residents of the town due to gender separation at local health clinics,[37] and so called ‘mehadrin buses’ where men sit in the front and women in the back.[38]

When the municipality removed a sign asking women to stay away from a synagogue, hundreds of Haredi men staged riots in which they attacked police officers and reporters.[39][40] Several placards urging segregation between men and women were put back after being removed by the police.[41]

After the opening of Orot Banot national-religious girls’ school in September 2011, groups of Haredi extremists gathered in front of the school, calling the girls names and spitting at them when they headed to and from school. Stones hurled at a boys' school belonging to the same educational network injured a boy in the leg. Two men were arrested on suspicion of throwing eggs and tomatoes at students.[42] In a demonstration outside the school a female journalist was assaulted by young Haredi men who cursed and spat at her, and a clash with parents of girls studying at the school was broken up by the police force.[42]

In December 2011, a public outcry was raised when a television news channel interviewed 8-year old Na'ama Margolese, who was cursed and spat at on her way to school by Haredi extremists.[43] The Jewish Daily Forward reported that the issue is really a property dispute over ownership of the school building.[44] Some Haredi women distributed flowers to the girls of Orot Banot school, telling them "sister to sister" that they were beautiful.[13] On 27 December 2011, a protest against extremism near the Orot Banot school drew 10,000 people.[45][46] After the incidents in Beit Shemesh were reported in foreign press, the US State Department updated its Jerusalem travel advisory advising visitors to "dress appropriately" when visiting ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods, or to avoid them entirely.[47]

Na'ama's mother Hadassah Margolese who has repeatedly spoken out on behalf of national religious Beit Shemesh residents against Haredi tendencies,[48] including about an occurrence in which little girls' faces were blurred out on Purim advertisements distributed in her neighborhood,[49] and a humiliating experience at the ritual bath reportedly left Beit Shemesh with her family in late July 2013 after being attacked by members of her own national religious community who accused her of exposing the community to public shame.[48]

in February 2015 Judge David Gideoni accepted a claim filed by four women who protested an illegal "modesty sign" posted in Ramat Beit Shemesh Bet. The judge ordered Mayor Moshe Abutbul and the Beit Shemesh Municipality to pay each of the women complainants NIS 15,000. The city then saw further signs of "religious radicalization" when the word "woman" was repeatedly erased from a sign at a women's health center.[50]

Archaeology
Old wall of the ancient ruin, Beit Shemesh
Middle Bronze gate system unearthed at Tel Beth-Shemesh

In 1971, excavations at Givat Sharett conducted by Israeli archaeologist Claire Epstein revealed a residential settlement of the Middle Bronze Age, including a temple.[51]

The most ancient iron workshop in the world was discovered in Beit Shemesh in 2003. The only remnants of a fortified city with an advanced water system, from the time of the early Kingdom of Judah was found here. The bones of animals found in the 12th–11th centuries BCE layer indicate a diet typical of the Israelites who inhabited the hill country in this period. These together with the pottery finds indicate the cultural influences on the inhabitants of this border town. However, it is not possible to determine their specific ethnic identity, which could be Canaanite, Philistine or Israelite.[2]

In August 2012 archaeologists from Tel Aviv University announced the discovery of a circular stone seal, approximately 15 millimetres in diameter. The seal was found on the floor of a house at Beit Shemesh and is dated to the 12th century BCE. According to Haaretz, "excavation directors Prof. Shlomo Bunimovitz and Dr. Zvi Lederman of Tel Aviv University say they do not suggest that the human figure on the seal is the biblical Samson. Rather, the geographical proximity to the area where Samson lived, and the time period of the seal, show that a story was being told at the time of a hero who fought a lion, and that the story eventually found its way into the biblical text and onto the seal."[52]

Animal bones found nearby may also be a clue to boundary disputes between different cultures. Pig bones have been found a few kilometres from Beit Shemesh, but only a few have been found actually at Beit Shemesh and at some point during the 11th century BCE it appears that the local population stopped eating pig. Haaretz reports that "According to Bunimovitz, when the pork-eating Philistines arrived in the country from the Aegean, the local people stopped eating pork to differentiate themselves from the newcomers."[52]

In 2014, archaeologists Irene Zilberbod and Tehila Libman announced the nearby discovery of a large compound from the Byzantine period that was most probably a monastery.[53] It comprised a residential area and an industrial area with wine and olive presses.[53] The remains of buildings with two or three stories and impressive mosaic floors were discovered.[53] The compound ceased to function in the early Muslim period and was subsequently occupied by other residents.[53] The excavations were continuing with additional finds through late 2017.[54]

Twin towns – sister cities

Beit Shemesh is twinned with:[55]

In the Partnership 2gether program of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Beit Shemesh and the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council are linked to South Africa and Washington, D.C.[56]

After the Washington Post reported in October 2011 that Montgomery County, Maryland was considering a partnership with Beit Shemesh,[57] a local coalition, Human Rights Matter!, objected.[58] The campaign was supported by the Mossawa Center, an organization that defines its goal as the promotion of equality for the Arab minority in Israel but which has been criticized for its rejection of Israel as a Jewish state and its foreign funding from the European Commission, George Soros's Open Society Institute and the New Israel Fund, among others,[59] as well as Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire.[60]

Notable residents

References
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