Neot Kedumim

Neot Kedumim lies on Route 443 beside Ben Shemen Forest, near Modi'in and about three kilometers from the Modi'in Junction.[2] A 2006 account estimated that it was roughly twenty minutes from central Tel Aviv, while the reserve is situated about halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.[3][1] It covers 2,500 dunams, or about 618 acres.[3] Press descriptions have rounded its area to either 620 or 625 acres.[4][5] It has been described as "the world's only biblical landscape reserve."[1]

The reserve is organized as a network of natural and agricultural landscapes intended to recreate the physical settings of the Bible and early rabbinic literature.[1] Its terrain includes habitats featuring cedars associated with the snow-covered mountains of Lebanon and date palms associated with Sinai desert oases, alongside hundreds of varieties of biblical and Talmudic plants and wild and domesticated animals.[1] Ancient and reconstructed olive and wine presses, cisterns, and other agricultural installations are distributed across the grounds.[1]

Neot Kedumim was established in 1965 by botanist Nogah Hareuveni, who sought to realize the vision of his parents, Dr. Ephraim and Hannah Reuveni, who had spent their careers researching biblical plants.[3] Hareuveni's stated aim was to see biblical verses "grow from the earth" — to make the natural world of scripture tangible and accessible to contemporary visitors.[3]

To launch the project, Hareuveni approached David Ben-Gurion and requested land. Ben-Gurion allocated him 2,500 dunams described at the time as rather barren and located near the border.[3] The site had also been used as an army training ground.[4] Its founders planted the reserve using written sources — including the Bible, Mishnah, Talmud, and midrashim — as their guide.[2][3]

Hareuveni's work ultimately earned him the Israel Prize for special contribution to society and the state. The prize judges described the reserve as presenting the nature and agriculture of the Land of Israel as woven into Jewish heritage and as connecting people in Israel and the diaspora with the land and its plants.[3]

A visitor guide described self-guided exploration using a provided map and two main routes marked by explanatory signs, family riddles, and children's activities.[6] The shorter accessible trail was approximately 1.5 kilometers, while the longer route extended roughly 3.5 kilometers; the guide also listed shaded picnic areas and cold-water facilities along the routes.[6] A separate account reported that most trails were suitable for wheelchairs and baby carriages.[2]

Holiday programs have connected the reserve's plants and installations with the Jewish calendar and biblical narratives. A 2017 Passover program offered two guided routes: a shorter path featuring Ruth's Threshing Floor — where visitors learned about barley harvesting and the reserve's early history — and the Lion's Cistern, where participants drew water and explored ancient cistern technology. A longer route added the Pine Tree Benches trail, Rivka's Cistern, and the Cedar Tree Succa, where guides discussed hyssop in the Exodus story.[5]

A reported Hanukkah program focused on olive-oil production, with a reconstructed ancient oil press and an exhibit of lighting materials described in the Mishnah. Its tour also included visits to the Maccabees' graves and a lookout toward El-Media, identified in the report as ancient Modi'in.[7] A 2020 Purim program connected characters from the story of Shushan with their natural surroundings, including the use of myrrh for Queen Esther's perfume and ancient methods of wine production.[8]

The 2017 Passover program also listed demonstrations of ancient agricultural implements, sheep shearing, building with mud bricks, arts-and-crafts tables, a tour train, and a performance of A Tale of Two Brothers.[5] A 2023 account described the Harvey Hertz-JNF Ceremonial Tree Planting Center, where visitors could plant saplings for later relocation to places where they were needed within the reserve.[9]

The reserve has hosted biblical cooking workshops led by researcher Tova Dikstein, drawing on contemporary research to recreate the preparation and flavors of foods mentioned in biblical texts.[3] Participants collected leaves and flowers in the reserve while hearing how local plants are referenced in biblical, Mishnaic, and Talmudic sources, then prepared dishes from seasonal wild greens or fruit and made cheese using fig-tree sap.[3]

Dikstein emphasized strict fidelity to historical sources: ingredients such as tomatoes and lemons were excluded from the recipes because, she explained, they were not present in the region during biblical times.[3] A Tu B'Shvat educational resource also lists Neot Kedumim among the Jewish organizations that schools might invite to present at an environmental fair.[10]

The reserve's plantings draw on a broad range of flora associated with Jewish sacred literature. Species documented at the site include date palms, olives, pomegranates, etrogim, grapevines, figs, almond trees, and pines, among hundreds of biblical and Talmudic varieties.[3] Alongside the living landscape, the grounds contain ancient and reconstructed agricultural installations — olive presses, wine presses, and cisterns — illustrating how the land was worked in antiquity.[1]

Archaeological investigation of the site has uncovered thirteen wine presses, most dating to the Byzantine period, with some earlier examples.[11] A dedicated vineyard area presents stories and parables associated with wine in Jewish tradition, and during the grape harvest visitors have been able to observe a recreation of the complete ancient wine-production process.[11]

One of the reserve's signature installations is its Sukkot Exhibit, which depicts the range of sukkah forms discussed in the Mishnah.[12] Examples constructed at the reserve have included a double-decker sukkah, a sukkah with a pumpkin vine, a leaning or cone-shaped sukkah, and sukkot built on a camel, a wagon, a ship, and in a tree.[12] The exhibit also illustrates the Mishnah's height parameters: a sukkah more than twenty cubits — approximately thirty feet — is considered too tall, while one less than ten handbreadths — approximately three feet — is too short.[13]

A September 2026 events listing advertised an October 2, 2026 program featuring more than twenty full-size sukkot, including one approximately ten meters high, a miniature sukkah, a round sukkah, and a sukkah mounted on a boat.[14] Related Sefaria material also captions an image of a sukkah built atop a jeep during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.[13] Sefaria has published student activities based on the exhibit and credited Neot Kedumim with providing images and supporting the project.[12]

In 2019, the Israel Land Authority filed a lawsuit against Neot Kedumim and a private events company, alleging that the company had operated a wedding venue on part of the land leased by the reserve without the authority's consent and contrary to planning regulations and the terms of the lease.[15] The authority alleged that the venue continued operating despite repeated warnings and commitments that weddings would cease during that year, and a separate business-licensing proceeding was also reported as pending.[15] These are allegations as reported; Neot Kedumim had not provided a response by the time the article was published.[15]