Selichos In Mazkeret Moshe
When my husband Haim was growing up way before the Six-Day War, life in Jerusalem resembled a small, sleepy Jewish town. His neighborhood, Mazkeret Moshe (now known as Nachlaot), was comprised of housing in the shape of a large rectangle, with one side backing Agrippas Street and the Shuk, and the other side ending with a small entrance from Bezalel. There were many shechunot like this layered one after the other, that were originally built in the late-1800s by Moses Montefiore for Jews who were spreading out of the Old City and needed new housing.
In the middle of this square in Mazkeret Moshe was a soccer field with a dirt floor and a little maadone(recreation building), that was meant for the kids, but I have no idea if they ever used it since I only remember them using it as a meeting place as in, “Let’s meet at three in front of the maadone.”
Today, some modernization has come to the shechunah. The soccer field is now split in two and paved; many of the stone buildings were renovated into luxury properties even as they retained the charm of the area. The well in the middle of the square, where people once drew water, is now sealed since sewers and modern plumbing were introduced in the 1950s. Sidewalks resembling blacktop narrow streets encircled the maadoneand soccer field, and this is where people walked since cars had no access there.
Opposite the maadone and backing Agrippas Street was the shul, Chessed v’Rachamim, which was founded by Sephardim who had left the Old City but whose families had lived there for hundreds of years, many coming there right after the inquisition.
Inside the shul is an old sign in Hebrew that says: “Only pure Sephardim may enter here.” When I first saw the sign, it was a little offensive until someone explained to me that it was placed there originally to keep out those Spanish Jews who had converted during the Inquisition to delay their departure, and after some time, left Spain to join their old communities wherever they were.
Those who refused to convert to Christianity and remained true to Judaism considered these converts turncoats and would not allow them to enter their shuls.
As years go by and so many things change, this shul seems to be frozen in time. Sephardim (who daven Selichot from the 1st of Elul through Yom Kippur) in these shechunot and particularly in this shul Chessed V’Rachamim start Selichot each morning at 3:30, at which point you can hear the crier screaming “Selichot…” from a mile away as he walks from shechunah to shechunah making sure everyone is awake and getting to shul for Selichos. These days tourists flock here from all over Israel and beyond in the middle of the night to try and experience this special activity buzzing from all over the old shechunot.
Sometimes, the tourists make so much noise that they are told to keep quiet so the Selichot davening in the different shuls in that area can be heard.
In Chessed v’Rachamim, an interesting phenomenon has occurred as the children who grew up in the shechunah come back each year for Selichot whether they live out of Jerusalem or out of the country. One by one they come in and take the jobs that were theirs as children or the ones that belonged to their fathers or grandfathers.
One man is in charge of the key to the shul and he is supposed to open and close the shul. Another man is in charge of making sure the guy with the key comes on time. Each member has a job, whether it’s laying out the Siddurim or checking that the pushkas are in place.
A man named Nissim is in charge of tea—because davening is a thirsty business! The shul though has only six glasses, so Nissim gives out six glasses of tea and when those men are finished, he takes the glasses back to the kitchen, washes them, and gives the next six guys tea, etc. Selichot go on for at least an hour and a half, so six by six, everyone eventually gets a cup of tea.
There is even a man in charge of chasing away noisy tourists so they do not interfere with the davening.
After davening is over, there is another guy who is in charge of giving each person bourekas, and another guy who is in charge of cleaning up. It’s not unusual to see many of the now grown-up kids (most of whom are grandfathers) sitting and singing old songs while the cleaning is going on, reliving memories of how much better life was all those years back. n
Anessa Cohen lives in Cedarhurst and is a Licensed Real Estate Broker (Anessa V Cohen Realty) with over 20 years of experience offering residential, commercial and management real estate services. You are invited to visit her website at AVCRealty.com. She can be reached at 516-569-5007. Readers are encouraged to send any questions or comments by email to [email protected].
