Beautiful Beit Shemesh

Nestled in the foothills leading up to Jerusalem is the town of Beit Shemesh. It’s about halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Although it goes back to biblical times, the modern town was founded in 1950. It was a small dusty development town populated by mostly north African Jewish immigrants for the next 40 years.

In the 1990s there was a decision to make a massive expansion of the town to accommodate the growing numbers of orthodox and ultra-orthodox young families who couldn’t afford the rising prices of Jerusalem or Bnei Brak.

Hear more about the tensions between the orthodox and non-orthodox communities and how to resolve the tensions in Episode 10 of our Shalom from the Galilee Podcast.

Here’s a beautiful video of Ramat Beit Shemesh from the Air

Here’s a “Happy” video of the residents of Ramat Beit Shemesh