Mea Shearim

Me'a She'arim, also Mea Shearim, in Yiddish and Ashkenazi pronunciation Meye Shorim (Hebrew מאה שערים, German " hundreds of times ", often translated as Hundred Gates ) is one of the oldest neighborhoods of Jerusalem outside the Old City. It is mainly inhabited by ultra-Orthodox Jews.

History

With the construction of the designed by German architect Conrad Schick Condominium Me'a She'arim was started in 1874. Religious Jews of Jerusalem wanted to escape the cramped conditions in the city and built there an applied as an autonomous cooperative own settlement on the outskirts of the city. The name derives was a word from the weekly portion of the Torah, which was read at the time of the founding of Mea Shearim Society ". Isaac sowed in his land, and received in that year a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him " (Gen 26:12 ) In 1880 the first hundred small apartments ready for occupation, which is an open landscaped courtyard, which was later replaced by cow-houses, clustered. Until the turn of the century a complex, unique small town was built around 300 residential units within Jerusalem. In addition to orthodox Jews from other parts of Palestine primarily halachically Jewish survivors from Poland and Hungary in Me'a She'arim and its immediate surroundings settled.

Presence

Me'a She'arim is now a neighborhood in the western part of Jerusalem, where the everyday language is primarily Yiddish. Its inhabitants, who belong to different ultra-Orthodox, Hasidic or misnagdischen communities adhere to the traditional interpretation of the Torah and the commandments, which is passed for more than 3,300 years from teacher to student, father to son and mother to their children. In Me'a She'arim strict observance of Shabbat rest of the Jewish holidays, family purity applies. It is considered to be known that here prevails the political opposition to a secular Zionist state of Israel. For this purpose, it should be mentioned from Me'a She'arim the anti-Zionist Neturei Karta organization.

Mea Shearim has become a tourist attraction and is increasingly in guidebooks mention. With multi-lingual signs is pointed out at the entrances to the neighborhood on the prevailing behavioral and dress codes, primarily for women who are to be respected by visitors. On Shabbat cars may not operate in the district, all served by human electrical systems are off and the use of cameras, cellular phones, etc. on the street is prohibited. Background is for the strictly practiced by the inhabitants of this district Shabbat rest, in the no fire may be made. With respect to this commandment of the Torah, the electric spark and the car started motor is set equal to the burning of fire. This type of compliance of the Jewish commandments, the Halacha, was practiced until the occurrence of Reform Judaism in the 19th century by all Jewish communities. The "switching" of electrical equipment of any kind, to the switch on the room lighting or the spark of the spark plug of a car, is the continuation of this tradition in modern times.