Biblical Museum of Natural History facts for kids
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| Established | 2014 |
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| Location | 103 Choshen Street, Hartuv, Israel |
| Type | Natural history |
The Biblical Museum of Natural History is a special museum in Hartuv, near Beit Shemesh, Israel. It was started in 2014 by Rabbi Dr. Natan Slifkin. People often call him the "Zoo Rabbi" because he knows so much about animals!
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What is the Museum About?
The museum is like a mix of a natural history museum and a zoo. Its main goal is to help people better understand the Bible and Jewish traditions. It does this by showing how animals connect to these ancient stories.
Visitors can learn about animals that lived in Israel long ago. Some of these animals, like bears and crocodiles, do not live there anymore. The museum helps you imagine what life was like in biblical times.
You can visit the museum by booking a special tour. The tours show you live animals, stuffed animals (taxidermy), and animal skeletons. There are also videos and audio presentations. A fun part of the tours is learning how some animals in the Bible were misunderstood. This happened because scholars in Europe did not know about all the different animal families.
Museum History and Events
In 2017, the museum held a special event called "Feast of Exotic Curiosities." At this feast, guests tried foods that are allowed by Jewish law (kosher) but are rarely eaten today. These included locusts, guineafowl, and water buffalo. Chef Moshe Basson, who is famous for cooking biblical foods, prepared them.
In 2020, the museum moved to a new, bigger building. It is now located on Route 38, right across from the entrance to Beit Shemesh.
In the summer of 2021, something exciting happened! The museum's male and female Burmese pythons had 38 eggs. The museum even held a special party, called a 'kiddush', to celebrate the baby snakes.
Books by the "Zoo Rabbi"
Rabbi Dr. Natan Slifkin has written a book called The Torah Encyclopedia of the Animal Kingdom. This book is the first part of a big collection of information. It explores how Judaism and animals are connected.
The encyclopedia will cover all the animals mentioned in Jewish scripture. It will also share interesting facts about where these animals lived. You can learn about how many different kinds of animals lived in Israel during biblical times.
Gallery
See also
In Spanish: Museo Bíblico de Historia Natural para niños
