It looks as if Jaffa Road is destined to be Jerusalem’s key hotel belt, with yet another luxury hotel, the Ron, being built in very close proximity to two other luxury hotels that are under construction in the area between King George Street and the Central Post Office.
There’s another luxury hotel just off Jaffa Road, and there are smaller hotels on Ben-Yehuda Street and the side streets leading off from Ben-Yehuda.
The Ron is an investment by a syndicate. There are already more than 90 hotels in Jerusalem. Just how many tourists are expected to visit the Holy City?
An Ilan Chaim story
■ LAST WEEK’s edition of In Jerusalem carried a full page of tributes to the late Jerusalem Post staff member Ilan Chaim.
Ilan was a true professional. In January 1985, he and I were sent to Beersheba to interview Ethiopian immigrants who had been brought to the country on Operation Moses. It wasn’t one of those random things where we simply went to an absorption center in Beersheba and looked for likely candidates. Permission had to be sought and granted, and arrangements had to be made days ahead of time.
The date we were given for the interview coincided with the 60th birthday of then co-editor-in-chief of the Post, the legendary Ari Rath, who had a huge birthday party in the building which housed the Post before it moved to its current premises. We could have hurried up the interview and returned to Jerusalem in time for the birthday cake, but we were both fascinated by the two young Ethiopians whom we interviewed, whose Hebrew was much more fluent than ours, and we simply took no notice of the time factor as we listened to their stories.
What we couldn’t understand then, and I still can’t understand now, is why families had to be broken up when the historic airlifts for Operation Moses and later Operation Solomon were made. Immigrants were separated from parents and siblings, and in many cases still are. For decades, appeals to allow them to join close relatives living in Israel have met with a negative response. When someone from Israel’s Ethiopian community falls in battle, his immediate family in Ethiopia is permitted to come to Israel for the funeral and the mourning period, and then sent back. This is an inexcusable policy.
Pushing to be chief rabbi of Tel Aviv
■ ALTHOUGH he lives in Jerusalem, Rabbi Haim Amsalem, a former MK, wants to be chief rabbi of Tel Aviv.
Amsalem, who was one of the founders of Shas, is an advocate for the Zera Yisrael concept of recognizing blood descendants of Jews who are not legally Jewish, and is a co-founder of Ahavat HaGer, an organization that makes conversion in accordance with Halacha a less tense period for would-be converts.
He believes that because he is nonjudgmental and does not believe in religious coercion, he is well suited to be chief rabbi of Tel Aviv. He also believes that military service will not be harmful to yeshiva students. All his sons are yeshiva alumni and all served in the IDF.
Meanwhile, a group of Modern Orthodox women are seeking to “liberate” their haredi sisters. The issue revolves around physical contact with the opposite sex. In haredi society, a courting couple may not hold hands or kiss each other. Anyone who is not happy with that will break out, regardless of any external influence. But the majority of haredim follow the no-touching rule, and nobody has a right to try to dissuade them from the lifestyle they think is best for them.
As for serving in the IDF, a young haredi man who defied his parents and joined the IDF was disowned by them. He fought in Gaza and fell in battle, at which time his parents reclaimed him and would not agree for him to be buried in a military cemetery. Had he left written instructions as to where he wanted to be buried, he probably would have preferred to be buried with fallen comrades. In denying him that right, his parents performed an act of desecration.
Tidbit for Torah Tidbits
■ EVERY WEEK, the OU (Orthodox Union) publishes Torah Tidbits, a pocket-size magazine in which the editorial content is of a religious nature and often very interesting.
But what is particularly valuable to new immigrants (and even veteran immigrants) from English-speaking countries is the advertising. Many of the advertisers are native English speakers: neurologists, dentists, lawyers, podiatrists, repairmen, electricians, tax consultants, real estate agents, and more. Even people who speak Hebrew quite well may not be familiar with terms related to specific professions and feel much more comfortable with someone with whom they share a native tongue.
In addition to that, the OU is now introducing Torah Tidbits Live, which brings Torah Tidbits writers and teachers to communities all over Israel.
Coming up, on Friday, December 12, dating coach Aleeza Ben Shalom will host people for a wine tasting in her home, plus singing and a Hanukkah-related lesson. On the following day, there will be a community lunch at a nearby community center, and in the evening there will be a melaveh malka at another nearby venue.
For further information, registration, and addresses of venues, contact info@ouisrael.org
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