Jerusalem: The Holy City’s Development from Antiquity to Today

Join us for an online exploration of the growth of the city from its beginnings as a small town on a hillside to the modern city it is today with Jerusalem-based tour guide Joel Haber.

The Old City: Jerusalem in Antiquity
Wednesday, February 14, 2024   7:00 pm ET (online)

In the first stage of the city’s development, we will discover the topography of the city, what the location offered in antiquity, and how the city grew from a small town on a hillside to a fortified (but still small) city for the bulk of its history.

The First Modern Neighborhoods: 1860-1880
Wednesday, March 13, 2024        7:00 pm ET  (online)

After millennia as a small, walled city, Jerusalem finally took its first steps beyond its walls in the middle of the 19th Century. During this next phase, five new neighborhoods were built, hugging the walls. Built by different groups and funded in different manners, these first neighborhoods set up the model for the creation of what came to be known as Jerusalem’s New City.

Nachlaot: 1875-1920
Wednesday, April 17, 2024          7:00 pm ET  (online)

This unique cluster of “micro-neighborhoods” is not like any other area of Jerusalem, and it represents the growth spurt of the New City. After the first neighborhoods planted the roots, the city exploded with construction and development. Nachlaot became one of the more diverse areas, with numerous different communities represented, a rapidly developing architectural style, and many colorful characters who became central to the progress in the country overall.

Rechavia and Beyond: 1920-Present
Wednesday, May 15, 2024             7:00 pm ET  (online)

Rechavia was the first real modern neighborhood of Jerusalem, established during the British Mandate era that followed World War I. We will uncover this intellectual and architecturally significant neighborhood, as well as the overall contributions of the British to modernizing Jerusalem. Finally, we will briefly explore how the city continued to develop and grow from the establishment of the State in 1948 through the present day.