Cremieux Street: Champion of French Jewry

One of Jerusalem's toniest streets honors a distinguished Frenchman who toiled for Jewish rights here and abroad.

By JOE CHARLAFF
cremieux (photo credit: Joe Charlaff)
cremieux
(photo credit: Joe Charlaff)
The Jerusalem Municipality spokesman's office was somewhat surprised by my query about the naming of a street after Isaac Moïse (Adolphe) Cremieux. I was told that those on the naming committee who had made the decision were long gone. Cremieux died in 1880. Driving south from Jerusalem's center, one enters Rehov Emek Refaim, the main drag of the upscale German Colony, a world of trendy coffee shops, restaurants and boutiques, contrasting with the old-world atmosphere that typified the German Templers. Between Derech Beit Lehem and Emek Refaim lies Rehov Cremieux, a narrow cobblestone residential street of red-tile-roof houses with mixed architectural styles, surrounded by low stone walls partly covered by vines and creepers. It is considered to be among the most exclusive streets in the German Colony, with large Arab-style homes, many of which have undergone extensive renovation. Its distinctive atmosphere stems from its rural character. It gains its notoriety from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who purchased a house on the street. The contractor who sold him the house allegedly gave him a discount worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. In exchange, Olmert is suspected of using his ties with the Jerusalem Municipality to secure increased building rights for the contractor in another project on that street. In the yard of the house at Rehov Cremieux 8 stands a water trough, 120 years old, which offers a hint of the real story of the building that became famous after Olmert purchased one of the apartments. The building was owned by the Kueblers, one of the Templer families, and initially served as a cattle barn and slaughterhouse before becoming the home of a diplomat who hosted the cream of the period's Jerusalem society, including the British high commissioner. (The full story of the house is revealed by architect David Kroyanker in his book The German Colony and Rehov Emek Refaim - in Hebrew.) Friedrich Kuebler was a butcher by trade. In the house's large yard, he built several barns and sties for cows, calves, pigs, sheep and goats. He would start work at 4 a.m. by leading the animals out for slaughter near the watering trough. Kuebler did the slaughtering by the light of kerosene lanterns and candles. It was only in 1910 that Jerusalem was hooked up to the electricity grid. In those days, there were no means of refrigeration, so it was necessary either to smoke the meat or to sell it on the day it was slaughtered. There was also no running water. Water was drawn from the cistern beneath the house. The house had three kitchens, each containing a pump. Every year, cisterns were cleaned and checked to see whether the eels - which were put into the water to eat the worms - were still alive. Who was Cremieux and why was a street named after him? Isaac Moïse Cremieux, better known as Adolphe Cremieux, was a Jewish-French lawyer and statesman who lived in the early part of the 19th century and worked hard at protecting the human rights of Jews in France. He was instrumental in having repealed a law stigmatizing Jews which was left over from prerevolutionary France. While in the government, he secured full citizenship for the Jews in French-ruled Algeria, through the 1870 Décret Crémieux. He founded the Alliance Israelite Universelle in Paris in 1860, through which he advocated international Jewish emancipation, and founded Jewish schools in Cairo and Alexandria. During the British Mandate, the Alliance ran anti-missionary schools in Palestine to teach young Jews French and Hebrew to help create a more cohesive Jewish nation. There is no information available as to how the naming committee came to its decision. One can only assume that the street was named in his honor for his unrelenting work to obtain equal rights for the French Jews and the establishment of the Alliance School in Jerusalem. The German Colony is one of several in Israel built by Christian Templers in the second half of the 19th century. Constructed in the form of a typical German village, from local stone, it is now an affluent and cosmopolitan neighborhood. A stroll around reveals a variety of bohemian boutiques, restaurants, cafés and interesting residential architecture with a distinctive modern patchwork of German and Middle Eastern buildings, whose lintels often bear stylized inscriptions in Arabic and German. The "Moshava," as it is colloquially known, at first housed new Jewish immigrants, but gradual gentrification has seen it turn into the neighborhood it is today. The beautiful landscaping and stately manors naturally attracted a more moneyed populace, which in turn engendered the transformation of Emek Refaim from a sleepy neighborhood street into one of the foremost upscale restaurant and shopping districts in Jerusalem. The high quality of life attracted a steadily-increasing flow of English-speaking immigrants, particularly from the United States.