Geula

Malkhei Yisrael Street

Geula (Hebrew: גאולה‎‎ lit. Redemption) is a neighborhood in the center of Jerusalem, populated mainly by Haredi Jews. Geula is bordered by Zikhron Moshe and Mekor Baruch on the west, the Bukharim neighborhood on the north, Mea Shearim on the east and the Jerusalem city center on the south.

History

Kikar HaShabbat, Geula's main intersection

Geula was established in 1927–28. It was originally a mixed neighborhood of secular and religious Jews. The British consul to Jerusalem, James Finn, built his home in the area in 1855, employing Jewish labour.[1] It was the third building constructed outside the walls of the Old City.[2]

Geula was named for the neighborhood's main street, Geula Street, now Malkhei Yisrael Street. Geula Street was the commercial center for various local communities such as Kerem Avraham, Yagiya Kapayim, Zikhron Moshe, Batei Horenstein, and the Achva neighborhood. Today these communities are collectively known as the Geula neighborhood. Malkhei Yisrael Street is lined with dozens of small shops. The neighborhood is home to many yeshivas and synagogues.

Landmarks

Kikar HaShabbat is the main intersection. The Zion Blumenthal Orphanage, founded in 1900,[3] and Camp Schneller – formerly the Schneller Orphanage, founded in 1860 – became part of Geula as the neighborhood expanded. The Gur yeshiva, with a beit midrash of 10,000 seats, is also in Geula.[2] The neighborhood is also home to Kretshme, Jerusalem's first Haredi bar.[4]

Education and culture

A self-learning center for English as a second language opened in Geula in 2007. It is the first such business catering to Haredim as a means of increasing their employment and earning potential. The founder, Laurin Lewis, is a veteran ESL educator at the Jerusalem College of Technology.[5]

Notable residents

References

  1. ↑ Ari Lewis: History of Jerusalem – Kerem Avraham, Jewish Magazine, January 2008.
  2. 1 2 Jerusalem neighborhoods, Eiferman Properties Ltd.
  3. ↑ Rossoff, Dovid (2001). Where Heaven Touches Earth: Jewish life in Jerusalem from medieval times to the present (6 ed.). Feldheim Publishers. p. 392. ISBN 0873068793.
  4. ↑ http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4629407,00.html
  5. ↑ Gil Zohar: People of the Book learn ESL at Geula Home Learning Store, israelplug, 17 September 2007.
  6. ↑ Livia Bitton-Jackson: Israeli women of science, Jewish Press, 11 November 2009

Further reading

Coordinates: 31°47′N 35°13′E / 31.78°N 35.21°E / 31.78; 35.21

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