Sunday, January 01, 2012

Modi'in, past and present

HANUKKAH AND HISTORY: Urban Planning, Hasmonean-Style (Elli Fischer, Jewish Ideas Daily).
In the early 1990s, construction began on Modi'in, Israel's new "City of the Future." Designed by renowned architect Moshe Safdie and located mid-way between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Modi'in is in many ways typical of modern planned communities.

But Modi'in is not simply Israel's version of Columbia, Maryland. What sets it apart lies not within the city but around and under it: extensive ruins from every historical era of the past 2,200 years, including sites that form the heartland of the Hanukkah story.
More posts on Hanukkah and history collected here.

UPDATE: Also of relevance to Hanukkah: Hanukkah and Piyyut (Part 3) (Ophir Münz-Manor, The Talmud blog).