Mesilat Zion
Mesilat Zion is a moshav

Moshav

Moshav is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists during the second aliyah...

 in central Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

. Located near Beit Shemesh with an area of 1,000 dunam

Dunam

A dunam or dönüm, dunum, donum, dynym, dulum was a non-SI unit of land area used in the Ottoman Empire and representing the amount of land that can be plowed in a day; its value varied from 900–2500 m²...

s, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council

Mateh Yehuda Regional Council

Mateh Yehuda Regional Council is a regional council in the Jerusalem District of Israel. In 2008 it was home to 36,200 people.The name of the regional council stems from the fact that its territory was part of the land allotted to the Tribe of Judah, according to the Bible.-Places and...

. In 2006 it had a population of 764.

The moshav was established as a work village in 1950 by immigrants

Jewish exodus from Arab lands

The Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries was a mass departure, flight and expulsion of Jews, primarily of Sephardi and Mizrahi background, from Arab and Muslim countries, from 1948 until the early 1970s...

 from Yemen

Yemen

The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....

. After a few years the founders left and were replaced by Cochin Jews

Cochin Jews

Cochin Jews, also called Malabar Jews , are the oldest group of Jews in India, with roots claimed to date to the time of King Solomon, though historically attested migration dates from the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Historically, they lived in the Kingdom of Cochin in South India, now part of the...

. The name of the village is symbolic, as it is located near the Burma Road

Burma Road (Israel)

The Israeli "Burma Road" was a makeshift bypass road between the general vicinity of kibbutz Hulda and Jerusalem. It was built by Israeli forces headed by general Mickey Marcus during the 1948 Siege of Jerusalem...

. It symbolizes the breaking of the siege over Jerusalem during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War

1948 Arab-Israeli War

The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...

, it is based on verses from the book of Isaiah, chapter 62, "For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest....Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people....Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation comes." (Isaiah 62:1-11)

The Jerusalem Culinary Institute (JCI) founded in 2001 by chef Yochanan Lambiase is located in Mesilat Zion. JCI is the world's first glatt kosher cooking school.