WEST JERUSALEM
West Jerusalem is best known for the eateries, dance clubs, and sandal stores of
the pedestrian midrahov. The ever-popular city center (merkaz ha-ir) provides
welcome entertainment for tourists, but explorations of West Jerusalem's subtler
side-its elegant neighborhoods, well-kept parks, and impressive museums-are
often more rewarding.
Jerusalem has been dubbed "a city of neighborhoods" for good reason. Each of
its twenty-something neighborhoods has a distinct flavor. A sampling of the sub-
tleties: in the artist-haven Baqa'a, it is hardly possible to walk through the streets
without hearing piano practice; the Ultra-Orthodox Mea She'arim area is one of
the last strongholds of the Yiddish language; in Qatamon, 7th-generation Jerusale-
mites mingle with English-speaking university students; the German Colony,
sometimes jokingly referred to as the "Sixth Borough," is replete with New York-
ers who have made aliya, or immigrated to Israel.
Since 1860, when a few Jews moved outside the walls of the Old City, West
Jerusalem has flourished. By municipal law, all new buildings must be cased with
off-white Jerusalem stone, creating a harmony between the uninspired develop-
ments of the 60s, ritzy displays of the 90s, and the ancient buildings of the Old City.
ZION SQUARE AND ENVIRONS
Zion Square (Kikkar Tzion) is the center of West Jerusalem and one of the few
places in the city that is lively at all hours. Less than 1km from the Old City along
Jaffa Rd. it is the epicenter of the pedestrian malls of Ben-Yehuda, Yoel Salomon,
Nahalat Shiva, and Rivlin St. and a good reference point.
Intersecting Jaffa Rd. just northwest of Zion Sq. and forming another boundary
of the midrahov is King George St. a bustling extension of the city center. At the
corner of King George and Ben-Yehuda St. uphill from Jaffa Rd. is the area's larg-
est mall, Ha-Mashbir. Three blocks further away from Jaffa Rd. the enormous and
ornate Great Synagogue of Jerusalem, 58 King George St. is an inspiring architec-
tural compromise between modernity and religion. (Open Su-Th 9am-
lpm, F 9am-noon.) Services here on holidays and Jewish new months feature an
excellent men's choir meant to recall the Levites' choir in the ancient Temple.
Across from Zion Sq. on the other side of Jaffa Rd. Ha-Rav Kook St. eventually
crosses Ha-Nevi'im St. and turns into the quiet, stone-wall-lined Ethiopia St. At the
end of Ethiopia St. on the right is the handsome Ethiopian Church, built between 1874
and 1901. Inscriptions in Ge'ez, the ancient language of Ethiopia, adorn the gate and
doors; black-robed monks and nuns Uve in the surrounding compound and care for
the distinctive, blue-domed church, which feels oddly like a cross between a church,
mosque, and synagogue. (Remove your
shoes before entering.) Directly across from the entrance to the church, at #11, is the
one-time home of the founder of the modern Hebrew language, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda.
MEA SHE'ARIM
Mea She'arim ("Hundredfold," an invocation of plenty), lies just north of Ethiopia
St. on the other side of Ha-Nevi'im St. To get there from Zion Sq. take Jaffa Rd.
and turn right onto Nathan Strauss St. (the continuation of King George St.); con-
tinue until it intersects with Ha-Nevi'im St. (Bank Ha-Poalim is on the corner). This
intersection is known as Kikkar Shabbat (walk through on a Friday night around
11pm to find out why), the unofficial beginning of Mea She'arim.