This week in Jerusalem 474826

Peggy Cidor’s round-up of city affairs.

By PEGGY CIDOR
Reuven Rivlin (photo credit: REUTERS)
Reuven Rivlin
(photo credit: REUTERS)
 In and out
Moshe Tur-Paz – director of MANHI, the municipality’s Education Department – has announced his decision to resign after five years in the position. The Jerusalem Education Department is the largest in the country. It is deemed a separate district in the Education Ministry, with more than 285,000 pupils in all three categories – public, haredi and Arab sectors, including private and semi-private (recognized but not official).
During his tenure, Tur-Paz created an education department in the Arab sector and promoted the introduction of the Israeli matriculation exams (bagrut) in several schools there, a step that has also increased the number of Arab pupils who take Hebrew classes. In January Tur-Paz will take a course at Harvard and, upon his return a month later, will officially resign.
It’s back....!
 Hamshushalayim, one of the highlights of the city’s winter tourist season, is back.
Expanding from three consecutive weekends to four this year, the major cultural event is expected to draw some 100,000 visitors and tourists. Hamshushalayim offers a host of attractions such as restaurants offering special menus, a second- hand book market, an homage to Bob Dylan and concerts dedicated to the most popular rock stars such as The Beatles, Queen and Pink Floyd at some of the city’s museums. The choice of activities is wide and varied, many of which are free.
Open markets, fairs in small side streets, music, theater, outdoor performances – all are offered with special package deals that include hotels and restaurants.
For 11 years, Hamshushalayim has provided an opportunity for tourists and Israelis across the country to stay in Jerusalem for one or two nights and enjoy an extensive roster of cultural events adapted to all ages, and through it, renew their ties with the city. While some 80,000 have attended each year, with an increase in the variety of programs and the addition of one more weekend to the festival, the organizers aim at breaking last year’s record of 100,000 visitors. More info: Hamshushalyim Winter Festival.
Construction plans for the city
 Gilo Southern Slopes, the Nof Zion compound and a new construction project in Ramot were on the agenda at the local Planning and Construction Committee meeting. Following a declaration by committee head Deputy Mayor Meir Turgeman that “large construction plans in the city are being promoted,” these projects were brought up for debate and approval.
They include final approval of a plan for 770 housing units in Gilo, the first significant project beyond the Green Line since the end of 2012 and a building plan for 500 housing units in Ramat Shlomo and a mikve and a synagogue in Nof Zion, located above the Arab neighborhood of Jebl Mukaber. The plan for the synagogue and mikve was initiated by the municipality, which is financing the project as part of its services for the residents.
Both Turgeman and Mayor Nir Barkat have repeatedly stated that the city needs to build more and offer housing solutions for the growing population. These three projects had not been brought up for discussion at the committee until now to avoid any tension with the White House.
Kicking the habit (in the teeth)
Attention smokers. Dentists can now provide you with a program to help you quit smoking. A workshop provided by the School of Dentistry of the Hadassah University Medical Center on Mount Scopus has trained dentists to identify the problems and complications caused by smoking while attending to patients’ dental problems.
For patients identified as being at risk for developing oral diseases, the dentists can propose steps to quit smoking and cure them of their harmful addiction.
About 100 dentists have already been trained, reports Dr. Itzhak Tayeb, head of the Hadassah Mount Scopus dental clinic and promoter of the program.
“These dentists have become messengers of the change required of these patients, as they establish confidence and friendly relationships with their patients, which enables them to convince them to quit smoking,” he says.
Award season
 President Reuven Rivlin will meet on Sunday (December 11) with the deans of the humanities departments of the country’s universities to discuss the future of these disciplines. The idea is to find ways to return humanities studies to their former importance and prestige.
After the discussion, Rivlin will award the prestigious Shazar Prize for Research in Jewish History. This year the prize, which has been awarded since 1985, will go to Dr. Michal Shaul for her achievement with her latest book Pe’er Tahat Efer (“Splendor Under Ashes”), which deals with the attitude of the haredi community toward the Holocaust in the first years after World War II.
In addition, 13 Shazar Prizes for High School Students will be awarded to students from schools across the country for their work on several aspects of the history of the Jewish people.
Roofless or not?
In the coming days the district planning and construction committee will decide how the roof of the Cinema City will look.
The proposal submitted by the local committee, which has obtained the approval of city engineer Shlomo Eshkol, keeps the current roof in place, even though that roof does not conform with the original plans for the compound.
The site was conceived as a large openair space for public use, built on a large parking lot. The original plans called for it to be integrated with the landscape of the area – including the High Court of Justice and the surrounding government buildings.
When Cinema City became part of the project, key figures felt that, considering the weather conditions in Jerusalem, such an open space cannot effectively be used to benefit public needs, therefore, should be covered – hence the roof.
The district committee is the final decision- making forum for the matter.
Houses for my people
 Prazot, the authority for subsidized housing, having converged with the Amidar national housing society, has begun operating.
One of the first steps planned by the renewed social housing company, with be to invest NIS 130 million into the acquisition of 100 apartments for public housing needs. More than 600 apartments adapted for social housing over the past year are already inhabited. With the additional 100 apartments, it is hoped that all families will finally have housing solutions and that incidents of homeless families camping in municipal parks in the city will no longer take place.
In addition, the Ministry of Housing (co-owner of Prazot, with the municipality) has agreed to channel all profits from the sale of its affordable houses to qualified buyers to carry out extensive renovations on apartments rented as subsidized housing.