Is the German Colony cursed?
After a prolonged struggle to prevent the light rail from going through Emek Refaim and thereby changing the character of the area, it seems no matter how many people protest and how many people will go out of business during the protracted placement of the infrastructure, the light rail is a done deal and nothing can change it.
There is something wrong with a system in which a mayor who is elected for five years with no guarantee of re-election can influence such major change, especially taking into account how many people purchased homes in the neighborhood because of the character that it’s about to lose. Aside from that, in a democracy, a majority vote is supposed to count. Did anyone have a referendum vis-a-vis the light rail to determine the for and against numbers and make a decision based on the results? Of course not. Former mayor Nir Barkat started the ball rolling and Moshe Lion kicked it further.
Now, in addition, as has been previously mentioned by Peggy Cidor, the congregants of the Hesed V’Emet Moroccan Synagogue on Hatsfira Street in the German Colony are about to lose their beloved house of prayer because the land on which it stands belonged to the municipality, which sold it to a private investor who plans to build an apartment block on the site – and has let it be known that the project will include an Ashkenazi synagogue. There are already several Ashkenazi congregations within a two-kilometer radius of Hatsfira Street, including one in Hildesheimer Street which is in the immediate vicinity, and at least three more along Emek Refaim, plus others in nearby streets in Baka and Katamon.
Reader Marilyn Cohen, who lives in Hatsfira Street writes, “This is a lovely, warm congregation that is flourishing. There are three minyanim a day. It is full on Shabbat and the Yomim Tovim. And, it is the last Moroccan synagogue in German Colony. The building itself is a gem illustrating the loving growth of a congregation over the years.”
She also notes the attachment of the congregants to Hesed V’Emet. To destroy the synagogue is to destroy a piece of the city’s history, which runs contrary to the principles of the Society for the Preservation of Israel Heritage Sites. There is such a thing as compromise. Under present building regulations, the developer has to build an underground car park for use by the tenants of the building. If he’s already doing that, he can certainly make space in the basement for a Moroccan synagogue instead of or in addition to an Ashkenazi synagogue that no one really needs, given the proximity of existing Ashkenazi synagogues that run the gamut from ultra-Orthodox to Chabad to Modern Orthodox to egalitarian and Reform – so there are plenty of choices already in place.
The developer, if he has any sense of history and any sensitivity for the preservation of tradition, will follow the example of Alfred Akirov, who when he built the Mamilla Mall, numbered the bricks of the existing, much smaller structure, and put them back in the order in which they had originally been – and where they blend perfectly with the external façade of the mall that was designed by internationally acclaimed prize-winning architect Moshe Safdie who has a profound respect for the historical and regional context of the projects in which he is engaged. He has designed significant projects around the world and in many parts of Israel. His Jerusalem projects include the conservation of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, the design of the Porat Yosef Yeshiva near the Western Wall, the David Citadel Hotel, the Mamilla Hotel, Hebrew Union College and the Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum, among others.
If consulted about the Hesed V’Emet Synagogue, Safdie would in all likelihood recommend that it be preserved or taken apart and fitted into the new residential complex.
The question is whether anyone in City Hall or in the office of the investor in the residential complex would listen to him. Together with other prominent architects, Safdie has vehemently protested the construction of a cable car to the Western Wall, claiming that it would be ruinous to the character of that part of the city. But at City Hall no one is listening to them. Aside from the main reason given by the architects for not constructing a cable car, there is always the possibility of a malfunction. Five Israelis were among 14 people killed on Sunday of this week when a cable car crashed near Lake Maggiore in Italy. After the tragedy in Meron, followed by that in Givat Ze’ev, the last thing that Jerusalem needs is a cable car to the Western Wall. Imagine the effect on the general public if that cable car crashed on the way to such a holy site.
■ JEWS WERE permitted to enter the Temple Mount compound on Sunday, May 23 for the first time since May 3. The area, which is shared by al Aqsa Mosque, was the scene of violent Arab rioting during Ramadan, after which Jews were not allowed into the compound.
The ban was reminiscent of a story by Yisrael Medad that was published at the beginning of April in the weekend Magazine of The Jerusalem Post. Medad wrote about the murder on the Temple Mount of Asher Itzkowitz, who together with a friend, had inadvertently chosen the wrong direction when walking from the Damascus Gate to the Western Wall. Many centuries ago, a ban was instituted forbidding non-Muslims from entering the compound and violating its sanctity with their presence. In the interim, Jews and Christians alike were executed if they inadvertently wandered into the compound, as was Itzkowitz, a Hungarian Holocaust survivor and former Auschwitz inmate. Exceptions were made in the case of a few infidels who were of royal blood or members of the international aristocracy.
Itzkowitz, who was Orthodox, arrived in the Land of Israel in 1946 as an “illegal” immigrant. He opened a carpentry shop in Jerusalem, and on the last day of Passover, April 11, 1947, walked with his friend Yitzhak from the Beit Yisrael neighborhood to the Western Wall. The two took a wrong turn and approached the Chain Gate. This incensed some 30 Moslems, who beat them with heavy sticks, metal rods and stones and also stabbed them. Yitzhak was saved by an Arab policeman who dragged him away from the mob, but Itzkowitz, who suffered head injuries and severe loss of blood, died. His funeral was conducted in the courtyard of the Bikur Cholim Hospital and he was subsequently buried on the Mount of Olives.
Anyone who cares to look for his grave will have trouble finding it. According to Medad, it is barely recognizable and the text on the tombstone is illegible. There is no one left to mourn Itzkowitz, but the very least that can be done to honor his memory is to restore the tombstone, says Medad, noting that this is a relatively inexpensive project, but one that should tug at the heart strings, and would require only a few monetary contributions.
■ JUST BEFORE his Monday June 7 appearance with Colin Schachat and the Portnoy Brothers with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Keren Kogarlitzky in a special Best of Broadway Concert with emphasis on its Jewish Connection, Cantor Simon Cohen whose repertoire extends way beyond cantorial music, this week celebrated his 50th birthday.
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