Most of us tend to move in the same area where we live, do our shopping, and attend religious, social, and cultural events. When reporting on some of the city’s inconveniences over the past year, my focus has been on Mahaneh Yehuda, downtown, Rehavia, Talbiyeh, Emek Refaim, Baka, and Katamon.
But inconvenience and risk are not limited to these neighborhoods. They exist in many parts of the city. Reader Jeffrey Levine takes us to Saloniki Street in East Talpiot, where a very serious unattended danger could prove fatal.
“We have all been inconvenienced by the endless roadworks and construction around Jerusalem,” he writes. “ In Birkat Hamazon (Grace After Meals) we ask that Jerusalem be rebuilt with mercy. At the moment, I would settle for the Jerusalem Municipality and its contractors building it with a little more mercy – and a lot more regard for public safety.”
Levine sent photos with the explanation: This is a construction site on Rechov Saloniki in North Talpiot. The excavation is enormous – at points, perhaps 20 meters deep. And yet, once again, the entrance to the site has been left completely open and unsecured.
Jerusalem should be rebuilt with responsibility, mercy
“This is not the first time. Not the second. I have seen this happen repeatedly. Anyone, including a child, could simply walk into the site and towards a very deep pit.
“I called [municipal hotline] Moked 106, reported the danger, and was told that they would take care of it. I very much hope they do so immediately.
“The Torah itself treats an uncovered pit as a serious responsibility. If you create or leave a dangerous pit exposed and someone is harmed, responsibility follows. That principle could hardly be more relevant here.
“The municipality has now been warned through 106. The site needs to be inspected urgently, the gate properly secured, and somebody needs to make sure this does not simply happen again tomorrow night.
“It should not take a tragedy before someone acts.
“If anyone has influence with the municipality or relevant building inspectors, please bring this to their attention.
“Jerusalem is being rebuilt. It should also be rebuilt with responsibility – and with mercy.”
YET FOR all that the municipality, or at least the mayor, is making efforts toward the aesthetic improvement of the city. Pocket parks and flower beds are springing up all over the place, especially as dividers on roads and highways. Trees are also being planted in great profusion. In fact, too many are being planted too close to each other. Many of the saplings have already grown and have sturdy, albeit slim, trunks. However, a problem well-known to pedestrians in Emek Refaim is the spread of roots and their tendency to cause upheaval. Much of the paving in Emek Refaim has been cracked and raised by the thick, gnarled roots of very old trees pushing their way through the pavement.
But imagine what will happen in the future in places where the trees are less than a meter apart. A little logic never goes astray.
Jerusalem mayor, city council reopen upgraded Ramat Eshkol park
LAST WEEK, Mayor Moshe Lion and most of the members of the City Council, plus several City Hall employees, attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the upgraded park in Ramat Eshkol that was named in memory of 15 paratrooper soldiers in the Armored Corps and those in the artillery who fell on the banks of the Suez Canal in 1970, following an ambush by Egyptian forces. Family members of the fallen were also present.
IN ANOTHER security-related ceremony, Lion honored former Mossad chief David (Dedi) Barnea for his dedication to the safety and security of the State of Israel and its capital, Jerusalem. Barnea served in Mossad operations for 30 years. Lion thanked Barnea for eliminating many of the threats confronting the city.
SEPHARDI AND North African Jews are becoming increasingly prominent in the political, economic, cultural and social life of the city, and their leaders now want people from other streams and denominations to learn more about Sephardi and North African Jewish customs and traditions. Chaim Cohen, the chairman of the World Federation of Sephardi Jews, says that the best way to build the future and a sense of belonging is to preserve the past and safeguard its legacy. Cohen is also the director and chairman of the North African Jewish Heritage Center, which is located in a restored 19th-century building. The restoration was executed by Moroccan artisans who came to Israel to complete it in time for the official opening in 2011. The restoration was financed by Casablanca businessman David Amar.
Public transportation experiences crowding ahead of High Holy Days
Between slihot services and Simchat Torah, all roads to the Western Wall are heavily crowded till the pre-dawn hours. Aware of this, the Transportation Ministry and Israel Railways have extended bus line services on bus line 222. Express buses 1 and 3 will run around the clock. The light rail will run till 2 a.m. on September 17 between the Central Bus Station and the Western Wall, and all night on September 19. There will be additional buses from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. For updates and information about other routes, call the Transportation Ministry at *4515.
JERUSALEM IS becoming a hotel city, as the number of hotel construction projects continues to increase. A new player in the field is AZIMUT, Russia’s largest hotel chain, which will open its first Israel property, the Shamai hotel in Jerusalem, a hop, skip, and a jump away from the Ben-Yehuda pedestrian mall. The hotel, with 122 rooms and suites, has a rooftop swimming pool and a ground-floor restaurant called Jeruz, under the supervision of celebrity chef Haim Cohen. The opening of the facility is scheduled for the end of this year.
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