WALK No. 5      BACK

 

MEA SHE'ARIM

This walk can take you as little as 45 minutes. It leads through Mea She'arim, the quarter in which the veteran members of Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox religious community live, work, study, and pray.

A word of caution. Do not drive through during the Sabbath, from mid-Friday afternoon until Saturday evening. If you do, your vehicle is likely to be stoned as the residents will regard your actions as a desecration of the holy Sabbath. In addition, women should, every day of the week, wear dresses that reach below the knees and make sure their sleeves cover their elbows. Men should wear something on their head on entering the market place, and should also try to avoid wearing shorts.

The people who live here let their hair grow long over the ears, in obedience to the biblical command not to ``round the corners of your heads.'' These side-curls are called ``peyot.'' They also wear the black garb, with long frock-coats, black or white stockings, black homburgs or the variations of fur hats known as shtreimels, which is how Polish merchants dressed in the 18th century. Being a conservative community the ultra-Orthodox kept this mode of dress to the present day.

Mea She'arim was founded in 1875 and was the second area settled by Jews outside the Old City walls. Its name translates as ``one hundred gates'' or ``a hundredfold.'' It derives from the passage in Genesis 26:12, where ``Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold.''

Many of the buildings in the quarter have small balconies with iron grilles that overhang the cloistered lanes, streets and alleys.

There are patios and courtyards and the general atmosphere is that of the lost ``shtetls'' of eastern Europe, from where their forebears emigrated. Everywhere there is the sing-song sound of Yiddish, the tongue spoken by many who regard Hebrew as a holy language to be used only in prayer.

Naturally, Mea She'arim is a quarter filled with shops selling religious artifacts. You will find silverware, candelabra, mezuzot, yarmulkas (skullcaps), tallithot (prayer shawls), tefillin (phylacteries) and many other items for sale.

The quarter abounds in synagogues, mikvaot (ritual baths) and scribes who write the long Tora Scrolls by hand. Scores of yeshivot (Talmudic academies) hum with the recitations of students. Many of the residents group themselves around rabbinical leaders, some of whom owe their leadership to dynastic right.

There is also the extremist sect, the Neturei Karta, which does not recognize the State of Israel as its proclamation was not preceded by the coming of the Messiah. Some of this extremism is manifested in slogans which are spray-painted on walls.

Start the walk at Kikar Zion in Jaffa Road. Walk northeast, away from the Old City, and turn right into Rehov HaRav Kook. Follow it uphill (Ticho House is on your left), proceed into Rehov Hanevi'im (Street of the Prophets). Throughout this area are some of the first houses to have been built outside the Old City Walls at the turn of the century.

The Avraham Chaba Exhibition, at the Yad Sara headquarters at 43 Rehov Hanevi'im, displays over 300 works of miniature Judaica, portraits of world renowned political figures and scriptures written on eggs, straw and small pieces of parchment.

Cross the road and bear right down the hill. Pass the Ethiopian Consulate General with the mosaic of a lion on its facade. Turn left into Rehov Devora Hanevia. The castle-like building on your right, behind the huge white building, is the Ministry of Education and Culture. It was formerly the Italian Hospital.

Turn right at Rehov Rabbi Shmuel Salant. Now, as you walk down to the junction with Rehov Mea She'arim, you get your first view of the charming narrow streets where the frail upper balconies meet to form a kind of arcade.

Turn left at Rehov Mea She'arim. If you want to buy some religious artefacts, now is the time. After a hundred metres you arrive at the entrance to the market-place on the left. The sign above the gate makes it unequivocally clear how modest your dress should be ``so as not to offend the residents of the quarter.'' The main residential area is across the road from the market.

We feel it is better to let you roam around here without guiding you along any particular streets. Beyond the stalls with fish, meat, vegetables and other produce are more warrens of lanes that lead you into areas with houses resembling those on Rehov Salant. Return to the market entrance and continue left on Rehov Mea She'arim. Further on, turn left into Rehov Nathan Straus up the hill and pass, on your right, modern office blocks. More Mea She'arim homes are on your left.

Cross Rehov Hanevi'im and walk down the road to Jaffa Road. Turn left and walk one block to Kikar Zion, where this walk began.