By PEGGY CIDORNava Hefetz(photo credit: FACEBOOK)Waiting for the blue According to some of the most optimistic views, the work on the Emek Refaim segment of the light rail’s Blue Line will not begin for another… 25 to 30 years.Based on the construction history of the Red Line (along Jaffa Road) and the time required for the additional segment from Kiryat Hayovel to Hadassah University Medical Center, it takes about a year for each kilometer of rail to be completed. Since the Emek Refaim segment is planned to link to the Green Line, which hasn’t yet been presented to the planning committees, the expected turmoil to be caused by this plan is not something threatening the residents in the near future.Residents opposed to the Emek Refaim plan have hired a lawyer to present their case and have scored at least one achievement – the district planning committee has agreed to extend by one month the time period within which to submit objections to the plan. The new deadline is in March (no longer at the end of January).Nothing on the ground will start before all objections submitted are debated by the committee – something that could go on for months, if not years.Holding each other Following the shocking event last week that ended with the deaths of a mother and her four daughters, a group of women from the surrounding neighborhoods – Talpiot, Baka and Katamon – met on Saturday night to find ways to cope with the tragedy.Nava Hefetz, a Reform rabbi from the Kol Haneshama congregation and Rabbi Tamar Elad-Apelbaum from the Zion congregation, joined with Yael Yehiely, an active member of the Zion congregation. Some 50 women ranging from modern Orthodox to Conservative and Reform showed up and shared their thoughts about related topics such as fear, anxiety from the burdens of family duties, loneliness and the special difficulties of immigrants within the community.Most of the discussions focused on the difficulty of even admitting that it is not easy to develop a career and run a family including small children or pregnancy.One of the conclusions of the meeting was that a hot line manned by volunteers should be established, so that no woman should feel alone facing a burden.More information can be obtained at the Zion congregation at the Baka community center, or at http://dev.zion-jerusalem.org.il/.Noisy matter Part of the last city council meeting (on December 29) was stormy due to a proposal by Mayor Nir Barkat to allow public events to continue until 1 a.m. at least 16 times a year, using amplifiers; for now, the rules limit such events (in fact the right to make noise) until 11 p.m. only.Barkat is eager to enact this amendment to the existing municipal rules in order to enable more public outdoor cultural events, which he identifies as a means to attract more tourists and visitors to the city.However, many residents living in these areas – mostly the city center and its surroundings – are opposed to this amendment and have managed to consolidate opposition to the plan among representatives at city council. Interestingly, key opposition to the plan comes from members of Barkat’s coalition. The proposal was finally rejected from the agenda – until a probable next time.Going, going… not going City engineer Shlomo Eshkol was already planning his retirement, but at the last moment, he was asked to postpone his plans for leisure time. Despite the fact that Eshkol has already reached the official age of retirement in the public sector, municipality CEO Amnon Merhav has asked him to continue in his position for one more year.The reason behind this step is that nobody has yet been found to replace him. Eshkol was appointed right after the dismissal of Uri Shetreet, who has been sentenced to seven years in jail for his part in the Holyland affair, and two years ago expressed his desire to end his term and retire. The tender for his position was published two months ago, no suitable candidate has emerged and thus Eshkol is still here.Freedom… Slowly but surely, it seems that the major figures involved in the scandal of the Holyland affair are returning to normal life.Last week former mayor Uri Lupolianski, who was sentenced to seven years in jail – which were commuted to community service due to his medical condition – ended his service period and was authorized to leave the country.This week, his former deputy mayor Eli Simhayoff (Shas) was released from his three-year sentence after it was reduced to one year. Simhayoff, who is not planning to reenter politics, is not allowed to leave his home at night, has to report to the police every two weeks and will not be permitted to leave the country until the end of August.Change of the guardsThe Israel Museum has a new director.The museum’s board this week appointed Eran Neuman, director of the David Azrieli School of Architecture at Tel Aviv University, to the post. He will assume his duties in February. Neuman succeeds James S. Snyder, who is ending his 20-year tenure as director and will now serve as international president, working on behalf of the extensive network of International Friends of the Museum, which focuses on relationships with sister institutions and collectors worldwide.“Eran [Neuman] has the right mix of leadership experience, academic rigor, intellectual curiosity, and civic values needed to guide the Israel Museum into the future,” stated chairman of the board Itzhak Molho. “His accomplishments stand as a demonstration of the kind of vision and vigor that will foster the continuing growth and success of the Israel Museum.”Neuman holds degrees in architecture from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem and a PhD from the University of California in Los Angeles. He is internationally recognized for his scholarship on postwar architecture – in particular the exploration of the impact of new technologies on architectural design, practice and the experience of the built environment – as well as on architecture commemorating the Holocaust.After Checkpoint CharlieCity councilman Dov Kalmanovitch (Bayit Yehudi) urges the authorities to install permanent checkpoints at the entrances of all Arab neighborhoods in the city as a means to prevent or at least reduce risks of terrorist attacks.“There is no other choice,” he said in a press release issued on Monday evening after the truck ramming attack at the Sherover Promenade on Sunday. Kalmanovitch added that there has to be a serious checking of residents coming from these neighborhoods in light of the rise in acts of terrorism committed by Israeli ID holders from these neighborhoods.Obstacles and checkpoints at entrances to Arab neighborhoods have been installed following terrorist acts in the past, especially since the wave of terrorism that began in the fall of 2015 and still affects the city, but until now these checkpoints have always been temporary.Kalmanovitch wants the security points to remain in place permanently to help prevent acts of terrorism.
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