More moneyNIS 18m. has been approved to be invested in the new Let’s Make a Neighborhood program, aimed at encouraging young residents to live as groups of singles and young families in various neighborhoods. The idea is to offer the young generation a combination of affordable housing, employment and infrastructures for their needs, such as kindergartens and community activities.Most of those interested in the project are graduates of Jerusalem’s academic institutions, who are thus encouraged to give the city a try before giving up and moving to the central part of the country like most of their friends and relatives have. The project, directed by Academic City and New Spirit, is supported by the municipality, the Jerusalem Development Authority, the Prime Minister’s Office and the UJAFederation of New York. The project, planned for the next three years, will offer university seniors and graduates a community of 20 to 25 people in four neighborhoods, combining social activities and studying.Let the sun shine Intel, the hi-tech company in the north of the city, inaugurated its first solar roof installation in the presence of the Environment Ministry directorgeneral in a simple ceremony held earlier this week. This system, the first of its kind installed in one of Intel’s factories outside the US, is expected to produce at least 85,000 kilowatts per year, all clean and green energy produced by the sun. Maxine Fassberg, CEO of Intel Israel, stressed the importance her company gives to the development and use of clean solar energy. Intel Jerusalem uses an Israeli patented device – the Solarpower system – to maximize the amount of energy produced.
Open houseThis Friday and Saturday, 50 Har Adar artists and craftspeople will participate in a fair to display and sell their artwork. The residents of this village, which is near Jerusalem, will open their homes to display bags, scarves, glasswork, as well as paintings and handmade clothes and shoes. In some of the houses, body and soul workshops will be offered, along with music (jazz and soul) and good food and refreshments. Details at the entrance of the village, between 10 a.m and 6 p.m.‘Beauty and the Beast,’ special versionThe Hebrew University’s theater department, in cooperation with the Center for Independent Living in Jerusalem, put on a musical production of Beauty and the Beast in the parking level theater (Teatron Hahenyon) on Mount Scopus before an audience that was much larger than expected (chairs had to be added at the last minute to seat the some 100 people who attended). In the framework of the Tutti Frutti department’s annual festival, the play was performed by university students and disabled people of the center.It was directed by Nira Moser, with musical direction by Yuval Broner and choreography by Maya Yogel, under the guidance of the department’s head, Prof. Yehuda Moraly, upon whose adaptation the production was based. This is not the first time the classical story was performed by and for the disabled. It was first produced at the Alyn Hospital 30 years ago, starring patients from the hospital. After 30 years, the lead actress of the original production reprised her role as Beauty. According to the production team, many representatives of organizations and associations for the disabled were present, but so far there is no indication if any of them would like to host another production.