Magdiel


Magdiel (Hebrew: מגדיאל‎) is one of the four original communities of Jewish agriculturalists that combined in 1964 to form Hod Hasharon, Israel. It was founded in 1924 and according to a census conducted in 1931 by the British Mandate authorities had a population of 740.[1]

Central synagogue of Magdiel

History

Magdiel was established as a moshava, starting on 4,000 dunams of land purchased near the Arab village of Biyar 'Adas. The initial population included Jewish immigrants from Russia, Poland and Lithuania, later joined by a group from the Netherlands.[2] In 1964, four villages - Magdiel, Ramatayim, Hadar, and Ramat Hadar - merged to become Hod Hasharon.[3]

Restored hut of Magdiel pioneers

The place name is symbolic Meged El (i.e., the oil of God)"[4] and appears in the Tanach/Old Testament. Magdiel was the name of an Edomite clan (possibly the name of an eponymous chieftain) mentioned in Genesis 36:43. Its invocation of El may show that that deity was worshipped in Edom, along with Kaus and others.

Magdiel is the location of a Youth Aliyah boarding school of that name that took in young survivors of the Holocaust.[5] Other schools there include a comprehensive secondary school and a technical vocational boarding school of the ORT educational network.

  • Magdiel 1927
  • Magdiel 1927
  • Magdiel 1942 1:20,000
  • Magdiel 1945 1:250,000
  • Magdiel soldiers during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War

References
  1. Mills, 1932, p. 14
  2. Encyclopedia Judaica, Keter Publishing House, Jerusalem, 1972, Vol. 8, p. 802, "Hod Ha-Sharon"
  3. Encyclopedia Judaica, Keter Publishing House, Jerusalem, 1972, Vol. 8, p. 802, "Hod Ha-Sharon"
  4. Place names in Israel. A Compendium of Place names in Israel compiled from various sources. Translated from Hebrew, Jerusalem 1962, p.106 (Israel Prime Minister’s Office. The Israeli Program for Scientific Translations) (Location of the book: Ben Zvi Institute Library, 12 Abarbanel St., Jerusalem; in the online-catalogue
  5. http://www.njjewishnews.com/njjn.com/101906/moSurvivorDescribes.html

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