Hanukkah at Neot Kedumim—
Inner and Outer Beauty

The beautiful and ornate clothing of the High Priest was designed, in part, to express his inner beauty and sanctity. In Psalm 132, verse 8, we read: “...Let your priests be clothed in righteousness…” Here, the Psalmist is describing spiritual garments. What does “clothing of righteousness” look like? Perhaps it is a kind of true beauty, the kind which is also celebrated during the festival of Hanukkah.

HaRav Avraham Yitzhak HaCohen Kook (1864-1935) explained that there is an important lesson about Hanukkah and the nature of beauty. Inner beauty shines from the inside out, and therefore we are commanded on Hanukkah to take the light from inside our homes and publicize it to the outside world. The Bible celebrates true beauty—external expression of a deep inner beauty.

One of the requirements surrounding the Hanukkah lamps is that the lights be displayed publicly. It is generally understood that this is done to publicize the miracles surrounding the victory of the Hasmoneans —those courageous priests from Modi’in (the region where Neot Kedumim is located) over the Seleucid Greeks.

More significantly, we publicize the miracle of the victory of the ways of the Torah over the Hellenistic lifestyle. The Greeks and their followers rejoiced in physical beauty, conceptually and philosophically, Hellenistic beauty concentrated on external, superficial beauty.

The integration of outer beauty and inner beauty are strikingly reflected at Neot Kedumim. The difference between any regular “biblical garden” and Neot Kedumim is the fact that at Neot Kedumim, visitors can see at one time and in one place, landscapes which represent ecological areas of Israel (the “outer beauty”) and biblical ideas and texts (the “inner beauty”).

For example, the Dale of the Song of Songs and the Ascent of Spices lead the visitor along a trail which brings the last verses of the Song to life: “O you who dwell in the gardens, while your companions are listening, let me hear your voice; Make haste, my beloved, and be like a gazelle, or a young stag upon the mountain of spices.” (Song of Songs, 8:13-14)

Those who have visited Neot Kedumim and walked this path understand that they are living out the last verse of the Song. The path leads straight to the Hill of the Menorah which represents the light and the incense in the Holy Temple (both “inner” and “outer” beauty) which, in turn, represent the ecological phenomena of the Land.  

This careful planning and successful execution, which integrates both the outer and the inner beauty, are what make Neot Kedumim unique.