A relatively recent immigrant from the US, German Colony resident Stephen M. Flatow continues to gravitate between the US and Israel. On the day of his most recent return to his apartment in Emek Refaim, he went shopping and felt that water was being sprayed on him and other pedestrians.
“Someone had the good sense to install overhead sprinklers so that the mist would keep down the dust from construction,” he said. “Of course, in true Israeli fashion, the water hits everyone walking on the sidewalk and not a drop over the dug-up dirt. The water runs for much of the day, and then it dawned on me to ask: Is this fresh water being sprayed, or did someone reroute the planter irrigation system that uses recycled sewage?
■ IT SEEMS that few things are now sacred in the holy city. Kuti Fundaminsky, one of the best-informed journalists writing about real estate, was for many years on the staff of the now-defunct Yediot Yerushalayim, the local supplement of Yediot Aharonot. Kol Ha’ir, the local supplement of Haaretz, was happy to make use of his experience and his expertise.
Last week, he published an article stating that the Bikur Cholim Hospital building, which sits on the corner of Strauss and Hanevi’im streets, will be converted to a haredi (ultra-Orthodox) seminary for girls. This was decided by a majority vote of the Jerusalem City Council, despite strong objections from the Council for Conservation of Heritage Sites in Israel.
Deputy Mayor Yosef “Yosi” Havilio is also opposed to converting the building, which ceased to function as a hospital in 2020. Due to financial difficulties, Bikur Cholim ceased to function independently in December 2012 and was taken over by Shaare Zedek Medical Center as a satellite wing.
This relationship ended in 2020. Till then, medical treatment was mainly for maternity cases and for victims of terrorism or downtown motor accidents. Havilio told Fundaminsky that the building symbolized the border between ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods and the city center.
The seminary would result in a greater ultra-Orthodox presence in the city center. Havilio is fearful that if a seminary moves in, alterations will be made to the century-old building, damaging its magnificent architecture. The Bikur Cholim society was established in the Old City in 1826 and maintained a hospital there till 1947.
A historic building at a crossroads
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Fun
.daminsky’s forebears were amongst the first Ashkenazi Jewish families to settle in Hebron at the behest of the first Lubavitcher Rebbe, Shneur Zalman of Liadi.
Some 250 years earlier, some of the Jews expelled from Spain settled in Hebron and built a synagogue. Following the 1929 riots, the Fundaminskys and other Jewish families left Hebron and moved to Jerusalem.
■ APROPOS THE Hebron riots of 1929, this blood-drenched chapter in Jewish history will be commemorated at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center on Wednesday, July 16, where speakers will include Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, who will speak of righting an historical wrong.
Dagan is a former resident of Sa-Nur, which was, more or less, an artists’ colony populated mostly by immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Residents began to move out during the Second Intifada.
To boost morale and security, Dagan, together with his friend Ariel Perel, persuaded a group of religious families to join them in relocating to Sa-Nur. He and they were strenuously opposed to prime minister Ariel Sharon’s disengagement plan, which became an eventuality.
Dagan and others in neighboring Homesh barricaded themselves on August 13, 2005, the day that Gush Katif was evacuated, and were the last to leave. He subsequently founded Homesh First, an organization dedicated to the return of Jewish communities to the northern Samaria. Sa-Nur and Homesh were both demolished as part of the 2005 disengagement from the Gaza Strip plan.
This year’s commemoration of the evacuation from Gush Katif will be held on July 21 at the Yad Binyamin Culture Center, and speeches will be delivered against the backdrop of the October 7 massacre, which some believe would not have happened had Gush Katif not been evacuated and destroyed. For tickets and additional information, telephone the Katif Center at *8947
■ HOT ON the heels of the JNS International Policy Summit at the Jerusalem Waldorf Astoria at the end of June was the annual Israel Hayom Conference at the nearby Jerusalem David Citadel Hotel in early July.
Neither President Isaac Herzog nor Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was listed among the over 50 speakers. Still, there was a very large representation of right-wing ministers and political activists, with less than a handful of leftists, headed by Democrats Party chairman Yair Golan. There were no Arabs or Druze in attendance.
■ THE SCHOOL holiday period is not a favorite time of the year for parents of young children, nor for grandparents. The latter often have to look after kindergarten and elementary school youngsters while parents go to work. It’s not always an easy task. Most children love pantomime, so for at least one day of the holidays, Beit Avi Chai comes to the rescue.
From July 27-30, parents and grandparents can take their youngsters to a pantomime, The Girl Who Laughed in a Dream, based on poems for children that were written by Leah Goldberg, the renowned poet, author, playwright, and translator whose image graces Israel’s NIS 100 banknote. There will also be repeat performances on August 16 and September 27 and 28.
Avishai Huri wrote the musical’s text, and the production is directed by Yaara Reshef Nahor. The musical director is Tal Blecharovitz, and the cast includes Sapir Darmon, Dikla Hadar, Adi Eisenman, Matan Levy, and Yarden Bar-El.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Jerusalem Post or its affiliates. greerfc@gmail.com