Cruisin' with DAJUS - Old City Vibes

Phenomenal 1918 Film Clip of Jerusalem

In honor of Yom Kippur, we break away from our normal presentation of Library of Congress still photos.  Attached is a rare eight minute film found in the collection of an Amsterdam Jewish family and posted on YouTube by Ya'akov Gross of Israel.

The film, consisting of many clips, was taken after the British capture of Jerusalem in late 1917.  It shows the Jewish and Arab markets, the Dome of the Rock, worshippers at the Western Wall, Rachel's Tomb, Jews on their way to the Western Wall (covering their faces lest they be filmed on Shabbat), and much more.  Mr. Gross points out that the film shows the Ottoman clock tower at Jaffa Gate that was taken down by the British in 1920.

רושלים 1918 חשיפה של יעקב גרוס. סרט חובבים נדיר ומיוחד מציג את חיי היום יום בעיר העתיקה, בכותל המערבי, בשוק וברחוב יפו. שער שכם על תרנגולותיו ומקומות קדושים ליהודים: קבר דוד, קבר רחל, מעיין השילוח ויד אבשלום. המוסיקה מתוך רוח מדברית של נחצ'ה היימן הותאמה לסרט האילם במקור, באדיבותו והסרט נערך על ידי יעקב גרוס. הסרט נמצא אצל משפחה יהודית באמסטרדם ולא ברור אם אבי המשפחה ליקט את הקטעים או צילם אותם בעצמו כדי לעודד תיירות יהודית לירושלים לאחר הכיבוש הבריטי. ייתכן שחלק מהתמונות צולמו בתום העידן העות'מני. בסרט נראות החנויות החדשות ברחוב יפו של: שלמה כהן ובניו ושל א.י. לעדערבערג. הסרט הושג ע"י מאיר ברק, עובד והועלה לרשת ע"י יעקב גרוס מחבר הספר ירושלים תרע"ח - 1918. המעוניינים לרכוש עותק יכולים לפנות לת.ד. 909 גבעתיים 53108

The Zilberman Home: A Thriving Jewish Family in the Arab Quarter of Jerusalem

For many religious people, the most important city in the world is Jerusalem. In the early days of the city, after King David purchased the Temple Mount and the First Temple was built by his son King Solomon the city of Jerusalem was not where the “Old City” is today. It was on the opposite side of the Temple Mount. The “Old City” is a much newer city probably around 500 years old. It’s possible that people inhabited the area currently known as the Old City as early as the late Second Temple period, but it wasn’t formally fortified with the walls in their current position until about 500 years ago.

The Old City is rich in religious significance and religion. The Western Wall, the holiest site for Jews, is in the Old City as are the Dome of Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque, two of the most important holy places for Muslims. Additionally, Christians place special significance on several places in the Old City including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The Old City is divided into “Quarters”. The Quarters are not a quarter a piece. They are randomly shaped and sized. The smallest quarter is the Armenian and the second smallest quarter is the Jewish Quarter. The largest quarter is the Arab Quarter. Very few Jews live in the Arab Quarter. (Now, there are more than there had been for quite some time.) One of the more well known Jewish residents of the Arab Quarter is a family named Zilberman. They are also famous for their famed (and perhaps slightly controversial) Torah academy for boys.

It happens that a cousin of my wife married a Zilberman. But not one of the children of the residents of the Arab Quarter. That is his uncle.

He offered to take us to his uncle’s house and show us around. We immediately took him up on the offer.

The Zilbermans live pretty deep into the Arab Quarter. We walked through the Arab Shuk (market) and then up and around a few streets that I had never been on before despite my many trips to Jerusalem. I had never been through the main thoroughfares of the Arab Quarter before.

We arrived at their home.

Their home is neighbored on one side by a Muslim family and on the other by a Christian family. The three of them get along well. They share a cup of coffee (literal, not figurative) every so often.

The first thing that was pointed out to us as we entered the home was something in the threshold. It was a nook for a mezuza. The nook is carved out of the wall so that a mezuza can be placed near the door. It is nearly impossible to affix a mezuza to stone so the nook is necessary. Interestingly enough, the nook was there when the Zilbermans bought the home about 10 years ago. This means that is was either built for Jewish inhabitants when it was first constructed or sometime along the way a Jewish family lived there. That was very interesting to me.

We went through the doorway and saw the entrance-way to the home. It is a very narrow house with at least 3 stories. The bottom level is the dining room. The room was full of garbage when they bought the home. They cleared it out and removed all the rubble and created a beautiful new space. The Zilbermans host a huge Shabbos meal (just about) every week. Their entertaining room is used as a place to welcome hundreds and hundreds of guests into their home every Shabbos. The room is beautiful.

The real treat of the home is the balcony. The Zilbermans have several balconies. The uppermost balcony has a view that most Jewish people don’t get to experience. The Zilberman’s home is much further north than any other Jewish homes so that the view of the Temple Mount is more straight away as opposed to on an angle. From the balcony there is a clear view of the Temple Mount square. The stone tiling on the floor of the Temple Mount is a rare sight for Jews seeing as we are prohibited from approaching the Temple Mount by Jewish law and the views from the Jewish Quarter don’t quite get the right angle. Here is the view looking a bit south from the Zilberman’s balcony. If you look carefully to the left of the photo you can make out some of the Temple Mount floor.

After we took some photos from the balcony we went back down to the dining room for some group photos and to ask a few more questions. Down there we also saw a very old cistern in the dining room bathroom. They also have an album of the construction of their home while they were living there. It was a very ambitious project and it turned out really well. I also got to take a photo with my wife’s cousin’s husband (a Zilberman) and just writing that, makes me realize how fortunate I am to have such wonderful family to share experiences and learn from.

Before we left I just had to ask how their relationship was with their non-Jewish neighbors. The answer was that they got along really well. As I mentioned above, they have coffee together every now and again. They consider their non-Jewish neighbors their friends. I asked what happens between them when there is tension or even terror attacks. I was told that their relationship is unaffected by the actions and rhetoric of others. They have mutual respect for one another and what happens politically or militarily is not of very important consequence between friends. I have to say, I was impressed with that approach and it mirrors my personal experiences as well.

The Zilbermans believe that they are doing good work by making a kiddush Hashem in an area that is generally devoid of Jewish influence and spirituality. They are doing a great job at that. I believe that they are a wonderful example of devotion to religion and tolerance.

We all can learn from them.

The Churva Shul Rises From the Ashes

One of my favorite places in the world is the Jewish Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem. The stones are soaked in history and the roads filled with Jews and non-Jews of all kinds seeking to hear what the Old City has to say.

A landmark of the Jewish Quarter was the Churva synagogue ruins. A majestic arch was all that remained of a beautiful synagogue in the Jewish Quarter square. That landmark has now been supplanted by a far more majestic one. The rebuilt synagogue dominates the Cardo / Square area. I was given a tour and some history that I would like to share with you.


The original synagogue on this plot was built in the early 18th century by students of R’ Yehuda HaChassid who settled in Jerusalem. In order to build the synagogue the builders borrowed a hefty sum from the local Ottoman Arabs. When they fell significantly into arrears, the lenders had the synagogue razed.

For over 140 years the synagogue lay in ruin and became known as the Churva, “Destroyed”. In the late 19th century, students of the Vilna Gaon rebuilt the synagogue and it flourished again as the main synagogue for the Jews living in the Old City. It became an international symbol of Jewish pride and the center for Jewish religious life in Jerusalem.

During the 1948 war for Independence, the synagogue was razed once again by Arabs. This time, not for a debt, rather for vengeance. After the war, the Old City remained under Arab control and the synagogue remained a pile of rubble.

In 1967, Israel regained control over the area. The Churva shul was a priority and it was hoped that it would be rebuilt quickly. Ten years later, with no progress to speak of, the city built a commemorative arch to be a placeholder until the synagogue was rebuilt in earnest. This is the familiar arch that most visitors to the Old City will recall over the last 30 years.

Finally, about 5 years ago, construction commenced and was recently completed. The result is a magnificent building which retains many of the same elements as the two original structures. The outside view is beautiful.

Inside, takes it a whole new level. I felt like I was in the most beautiful shul I had ever been to. Once you get inside, the building takes on the familiar mode of many older synagogues with a main sanctuary on the ground level and balconies for women. The bima is in the middle of the sanctuary.

The artwork throughout the building is beautiful. There are paintings above the entrance as you can see above. There is stained glass all around the shul. The stone work and moldings are exquisite. But most of all, I loved the paintings in the ceiling corners.

The ark is stunning as well. It looks like there are two arks but really there is just one. How would they use the top one!?  The bottom ark is the functional ark. The Torah scrolls are stored in there. The top section is not an ark at all. It just looks nice.

As you can see, the synagogue is stunning. If you look carefully you can see the wall is made of two shades of stone. I believe, the darker stone is original stone from the ruins and the lighter stone is the new stone.

For me, greater than the physical beauty of the shul is the symbolism of the shul. Its original builders were chasidic mystics risked everything to come to Jerusalem in an attempt to hasten the coming of the Messiah. The next builders were vehement opponents of the chasidic movement. The most recent builders was the government of Israel. Now, the shul is maintained by the Zilberman family of the Old City. Four groups of Jews that may not share all that much in common. But the shul connects them all.

Isn’t that one of the points of a shul? To build community? To connect people who would otherwise be disconnected? From Judaism? Or even just from each other?

I think it is. That is why I am proud to represent the Pacific Jewish Center | The Shul on the Beach. Our shul also connects all sorts of people. Our shul is also a common thread among diverse people. The Churva shul is a model for us and others. I hope more shuls can take this model and implement it in their communities in the hope that we can foster unity among our people.

Taking it one step further, the Churva shul has been destroyed twice. And rebuilt twice as well. Our Temple was destroyed twice but only rebuilt (from scratch) once so far. We hope and pray that the Third Temple will be rebuilt speedily in our days.

Finally, in our lives we too can feel destroyed sometimes. Look to the Churva shul for inspiration and hopefully we can rebuild ourselves as beautifully as the Churva shul has been rebuilt.