Jewish
Living In
Shikhunei
Shmuel Hanavi, Yerushalayim
By
Debbie Shapiro
When
people hear that I live on the corner of Shmuel Hanavi and Bar Illan, in one of
the long block-like buildings that were constructed in the early sixties to
provide cheap housing for the large influx of immigrants from North African,
their usual reaction is, "What? Real people actually live there?"
That's because, until recently, the Shikhunei Shmuel Hanavi Neighborhood was notorious
for its gang wars, active Black Panther organization, and (for obvious reasons)
relatively low price of apartments.
About
fifteen years ago, Haredi families began moving into the neighborhood, and
today, the neighborhood is frum, although there are still numerous old timers,
who, although not Hareidi, are definitely traditional and generally extremely
respectful of their more religious neighbors. Despite their lack of outward
religious trappings, for the most part they are simply lacking in knowledge and
open to learning. One first-day Rosh Hashana afternoon about ten minutes before
sunset, for example, my upstairs neighbor dressed to the hilt l'kavod Yom Tov
in a pair of swimming trunks and thongs (and nothing else), knocked on my door
bearing an unlit candle with the request that we light it for him, as theirs
had gone out. I correctly surmised that his wife needed the fire to heat up the
evening meal and explained that al pi halacha they should wait until
after dark to start cooking for second day Yom Tov. My neighbor thanked me
profusely for explaining the halacha and left without lighting the candle, only
to return an hour later, after it was already dark outside, with the same
request.
Although
the people living in the Shikhunim are a real mixture of Chassidim, Litvaks and
Sefardi, the neighborhood has a distinct Middle Eastern flavor. Last night, for
example, as I was putting away the Pesach dishes and hanging loads of laundry,
I could hear my Moroccan neighbors celebrating the Mimouna Holiday. The women,
wearing traditional Moroccan outfits, baked chametzkdik pancake-like cakes
called Muleftas to share with their neighbors. From all four building
surrounding the large parking lot underneath my house I could hear loud music accompanied by bongo
drums, dancing and singing, and yes, even fireworks! Yet, if I have a desire
for a Chassidic tish, I am less than 15 minutes walking distance to Toldos
Aharon, Karlin, Rachmastrivka, Dushinksy, and more. On the other hand, the
Mirrer Yeshiva and Ohr Sameyach is less than ten minutes away, and the
Bucharian shuk is just up the street – how's that for a real cultural
experience?
Actually,
one of the greatest perks of living in the Shikunim, is that I am just a walk
or bus ride from almost everywhere. It takes me ten minutes to walk to Meah
Shearim or Geulah, 15 minutes to Rechov Yaffo, half an hour to the kosel. There
are three community centers with lots of activities for both young and old
within a five minute walk from my door; a large indoor pool is just three blocks
away, a large library three blocks away in the opposite direction. Although my
neighborhood is (meanwhile) predominantly Hebrew and Yiddish speaking, if I get
lonely for my mama-lashon, the Neve Tzvi, Sanhedria, Ramat Eshkol, and Maalot
Dafna neighborhoods, with their large percentage of "chutznikim and
multitude English language shiurim and active "N'sheis" are all
within a five minute walk from my door. The bus stop to Beit Shemesh, Bnei
Brak, Elad, Ashdod, Tifrach, Beitar, Tsfas, and a multitude of other
destinations, is literally around the corner from apartment. Just to give you
an idea of how close that is, twice a week I have to catch the 8 o'clock bus to
Bnei Brak that arrives at my stop at 8:10. To be sure that I get there on time,
I rush out the door at 8:05 and, depending on the lights, I usually make it
with a few minutes to spare! There is a bus stop with lines running to the
Kosel and to Kever Rochel literally across the street from my apartment, with
special early busses for people who want to daven there with the sunrise
vasikin minyan! On a more mundane level, the shopping here is phenomenal. I can
find almost type of store—from a discount grocery store to several bakeries,
drink shops, paper good stores, hardware stores, socks stores, toy stores, book
stores, vegetable stores, clothing stores, as well as pizza, shwarma and
falafel shops within a block of my house –and if it's not, well, Geula and the
center of town is just up the hill.
Each
of the neighborhood's dozen buildings has between 6-8 entrances, with between
8-10 families per entrance, with a park or playground for every 2 to 4
buildings. Recently, young Chassidishe families with lots of children have
moved into the neighborhood, so in in the afternoon the playgrounds are crowded
with mothers sitting and talking while their children play. In addition, the
large, grassy Maalot Dafna park and the Sanhedria Park are a very short walk
away.
Prices of apartments in the Shikhunim are
still lower than the price of comparative size apartments in other Jerusalem
neighborhoods. Part of that has to do with the neighborhood's reputation, the
high population density, and the small, yet, with their tattoos and pierced
ears, very noticeable number of non-religious youngsters who hang out on the streets
here. Despite their outer trappings, they are teyereh Yiddishe
neshomos, and I can count on them helping me to shlep my groceries up the
stairs. On the other hand, in the mornings, when the school busses arrive, the
streets are bustling with of mothers and children waiting for the busses. In
the afternoons, the parks are bursting with frum children, and there always
seems to be a group of Yiddish speaking girls playing jump rope downstairs.
Real Estate
3 1/2 bedroom apartment
Rent $1,000-$1,300 per
month
Purchase between $325,000
to $459,000
Rooms are small; we
converted our 3 1/2 bedroom apartment to
2 1/2 bedrooms, so that we'd have a larger living room and kitchen.
the stairs.
COST OF Living
Grape Juice
About $4.00 per bottle
Milk
$1.35 per liter
Tuition
Girls: about $110 per year
Boys: about $135 per month
Getting there
To Tel Aviv – about 45
minutes by car
New York 10 hours by plane
Weather
Winter is pleasant,
hopefully with lots and lots of rain.
Snow days are so rare that they are almost like holidays.
Summer days are hot and dry, but with very little humidity while evenings are generally
pleasant.
