Old And New Jerusalem

By: Anessa Cohen

This year I wasn’t able to go on my yearly trip to Israel, but thought I would take you along on a little tour of Jerusalem to share some of the wonderful neighborhoods that you can find when you go to visit.

Since many of us do try to visit at least once a year, you may recognize some of the trends, but for the rest, you’ll hear something new or nostalgic that will make Israel seem that much closer to home.

I will start by going a long way back—30 years to be exact—when the choice neighborhood where everyone wanted to stay in Jerusalem was Rechavia given that it was in an upscale, centralized area that attracted Americans when they were staying in Jerusalem. The “Big Synagogue” or “Great Synagogue” was not yet built, so Heichal Shlomo was the main shul where people gravitated. Of course, there were other shuls as well, the Nasi shul, Yeshurun, and Pinsker, to name a few.

Choosing a hotel within walking distance of Ben Yehuda Street, King George, and Rechov Jaffa (years ago, they were two-way streets, not pedestrian malls) was an added incentive in order to reach the Kotel and the Old City on foot, or to the center mall in town.

Back then, only a lucky few could afford to buy that additional home in Rechavia, and most stayed in hotels nearby. The Prima Kings Hotel is a landmark hotel in the Center of Jerusalem, and goes way back. The Plaza, of course, is as popular now as it was back then. There’s also a little hotel a couple of blocks from the Great Synagogue that has recently been renovated and reopened by new owners, the Tirat Bat Sheva, that 50 years ago was considered a real luxury hotel even though it was small and packed with a waitlist during all the yomim tovim and the busy tourist seasons.

We now come to the present time, when it is not unusual to have many friends and family owning apartments in Jerusalem to use for the times they visit during the course of a year. What has changed, though, are the neighborhoods where Americans are buying apartments.

Whereas years ago, Rechavia was the place to buy, the neighborhoods to buy for Americans has stretched to Talbiya, an upscale neighborhood between Rechavia and HaMoshava HaGermanit (German Colony), and even parts of Talpiot (alongside Baka) not to really stretch a little further out to where large numbers of American are buying: Arnona, which is next to Ramat Rachel, and really on the outskirts of where Jerusalem borders ended years ago.

Many of these neighborhoods share the distinction of being in walking-distance to the Old City, and hanging out on Emek Refaim Street in German Colony has become the equivalent to Central Avenue here in the Five Towns.

Although people still go to the Ben Yehuda Street mall, it has become eclipsed in comparison to Emek Refaim, perhaps because of the ease of getting there. Unfortunately, transportation has become more problematic at Ben Yehuda Street, with the buses not stopping at a variety of bus stops as they used to years ago, and the train on Rechov Yaffo taking over as the main means of transportation in the main part of town.

It is not unusual to walk down Emek Refaim Street on Chol Hamoed Sukkot and feel as if you’ve never left New York since you’re bumping into all your neighbors and friends from back home. Along this strip are many restaurants, cafes, as well as many artsy boutiques and interesting shops all full of people both American and Israeli, which have made this street a very popular venue. Buses stop regularly along this strip, making it very easy to reach.

Of course, there are many other beautiful neighborhoods available in Jerusalem, including Armon Hanatziv (off Derech Hebron Road), Beit HaKerem, Kiryat Shmuel, and Rassco (behind Rechavia), to name but a few.

These neighborhoods offer lots of good deals with great apartments, but because they are not typically neighborhoods where “Americans” are buying second homes, they can be purchased at a lower price (everything in Jerusalem is priced with lots of zeros!) than those being purchased in the “belt” near the Old City and the Kotel. (I have now given the Rechavia, Talbiya, German Colony, Baka sections a new name: the Belt). The “Belt” of course has one important distinction that the others do not: they are within walking distance of the Old City and the Kotel on a Shabbos or yom tov, some a short walk, some a very long walk, but walking distance nonetheless, a priority for Americans coming for a short visit during a yom tov and wanting to get the most they can from being able to walk to the Kotel.

New construction is going up all over the outer areas of the city, offering luxury apartments for those that can afford them near the Malka Mall, near the zoo, and in Givat HaMatos. I have already seen the specs for some of them and if you can afford them, they are spectacular.

On the other side of Rechavia, going towards the older side of town, are also very popular neighborhoods. Shaare Chesed, which has been very popular with the Haredi community, is consistently building additions to existing villas and townhouse-style old Arab homes. Some older structures that are not in good enough condition to be rehabilitated are being torn down and replaced with beautiful one- and two-family homes.

Lots of wonderful shopping are available here and in the Wolfson Center, which is to be found at the start of Shaarei Chesed and of course, there are loads of stores and restaurants as you walk up Keren Kayemet Street towards Keren Hayesod.

Next to Shaare Chesed are the neighborhoods of Nachlaot, Mazkeret Moshe, Shivtei Yisrael, etc., all neighborhoods next to the Machane Yehuda shuk, which go back to the end of the 19th century, built at that time by Sir Moses Montefiore, who wanted housing for the Jews coming out of the Old City which was very crowded at that time.

My tour for today is over—Next Year in Jerusalem! Shanah Tovah to all! 

Anessa Cohen lives in Cedarhurst and is a Licensed Real Estate Broker (Anessa V Cohen Realty) with over 20 years of experience offering full service residential, management, and commercial real estate services in the Five Towns of Long Island as well as the tri-state area. She can be reached at 516-569-5007 and encourages readers to send any questions or scenarios by email to [email protected].