Neve Tzedek
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Neve Tzedek (Hebrew: נוה צדק, lit: Abode of Justice) is a neighbourhood in south-west Tel Aviv. It was the first Jewish neighbourhood to be built outside the walls of the ancient port of Jaffa. For years, the neighbourhood prospered as Tel Aviv, the first modern Hebrew city, grew up around it. Years of neglect and disrepair followed, but today Neve Tzedek has become one of Tel Aviv's latest fashionable districts. Literally, Neve Tzedek means Abode of Justice, but it is also one of the names for God (Jeremiah 50:7).
[edit] History
Neve Tzedek was established in 1887, 22 years before the 1909 founding of the City of Tel Aviv, by a group of Jewish families seeking a more peaceful life outside of overpopulated Jaffa. Other neighbourhoods sprung up around Neve Tzedek, which were incorporated into the contemporary boundaries of the neighbourhood.
The new residents constructed mostly colourful, low buildings along narrow streets. Residents' homes featured many contemporary luxuries like private bathrooms and kitchens.
At the beginning of the 1900s, many artists and writers made Neve Tzedek their residence. Most notably, Nobel prize laureate Shmuel Yosef Agnon, as well as Hebrew artist Nahum Gutman, used Neve Tzedek as both a home and a sanctuary for art.
As time went on, however, the North of Tel Aviv began to be developed, and more affluent Tel Avivians started to move out of the South to inhabit the newly-developing North of the city. Neve Tzedek, its buildings abandoned or neglected, fell into disrepair. By the 1960s, city officials deemed Neve Tzedek - by this time run down and a virtual slum - incompatible with bustling Tel Aviv. However, their plan to demolish the historic neighbourhood to make way for high rise residential buildings was eventually cancelled as many Neve Tzedek buildings were placed on preservation lists. The old, worn-out neighbourhood became an oasis of the semi-pastoral amidst the greater urban centre of Tel Aviv.
By the end of the 1980s, efforts began to renovate and preserve Neve Tzedek's century-old structures. New establishments were housed in old buildings, most notably the Suzanne Dellal Dance and Theater Center and the Nahum Gutman Museum, located in the artist's home.
Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook was the first Rabbi of Neve Tzedek; he even maintained a Yeshiva there. During his time in Neve Tzedek he became very close friends with many of the writers, especially Agnon. Sadly, the city of Tel Aviv refuses to put signs noting Rabbi Kook's presence in the city on his old house and Yeshiva.
The well-needed gentrification led to Neve Tzedek's rebirth as a fashionable and popular upmarket residence for Tel Avivians. Its main streets became lined once again with artists' studios, alongside trendy cafés and bars, and more recently boutique hotels and shops selling hand-made goods to wealthy Israelis and tourists.
The Tel Aviv Light Rail, which is expected to pass near Neve Tzedek, will make the neighbourhood even more accessible for visitors and residents alike.
