Mishkenot Sha’ananim 3.63

Mishkenot Sha’ananim was the first Jewish neighborhood built outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, on a hill directly across from Mount Zion. It was the first area of Jewish settlement in Jerusalem outside the Old City walls, and was one of the first structures to be built outside the Old City of Jerusalem, the others being Kerem Avraham, the Schneller Orphanage, Bishop Gobat school and the Russian Compound,HistoryOttoman eraMishkenot Sha'anim was built by British Jewish banker and philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore in 1860 as an almshouse, paid for by the estate of an American Jewish businessman from New Orleans, Judah Touro. Since it was outside the walls and open to Bedouin raids, pillage and general banditry rampant in the region at the time, the Jews were reluctant to move in, even though the housing was luxurious compared to the derelict and overcrowded houses in the Old City. As an incentive, people were even paid to live there, and a stone wall was built around the compound with a heavy door that was locked at night. The name of the neighborhood was taken from Book of Isaiah 32:18: "My people will abide in peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings and in quiet resting places."