May
24th was Yom Yerushalayim – Jerusalem Day – and the 50th anniversary of the
reunification of Israel’s capital in the Six-Day War. Jerusalem is often called “the Eternal City”
but although it has existed for over 3,000 years, it is continually evolving.
Two
days after Yom Yerushalayim, visitors to Jerusalem’s Tower of David Museum can
enjoy a guided tour that traces the Six Day War’s influence on the architecture
of the city as euphoric construction began
in the city after June 1967. Jerusalem’s
landscape is still in flux, with the commencement of work on a new $364
million, 173-acre Jerusalem
Gateway business park. It will
include nine 36-floor skyscrapers, business centers, hotels, and 70,000 square
meters of leisure and cultural spaces. On
a smaller scale, the Talpiot neighborhood of Jerusalem used to be known mostly
for its garages, but tech startup initiatives are replacing the
garages with modern office buildings and showrooms.
Public
institutions recently constructed in Jerusalem, or in progress, include the Schottenstein
National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel - the largest center in
the world for the presentation of the archaeological
heritage of the Land of Israel. Then
there is the new interactive, state-of-the-art Jewish
Music museum, which attracts 1000 visitors a month. Another development
is a 2.5 acre $50 million Jerusalem
Arts Campus with 4 schools and 650 students which plans to open in
2020.
Sea
Israel: The Gottesman Aquarium, at
Jerusalem’s Biblical Zoo, is set to open on June 19. Meanwhile, Robert
Kraft - owner of the New England Patriots - has donated $6 million to
create Jerusalem’s Kraft
Family Sports Campus. And I must include the rebuilding of the 144-year-old
Tiferet
Yisrael Synagogue. It should look magnificent, judging by the success in
rebuilding the Hurva Synagogue which, like the Tifert Yisrael, was destroyed by
the Jordanian army in the 1948 War of Independence.
Jerusalem
is also undergoing a technical upgrade.
Its largest public park, 40-acre Gan
Sacher is to be made safer and greener with smart lighting, new
irrigation, photovoltaic panels, electric bike and smart phone charging
stations and public Wi-Fi. In fact, free Wi-Fi, already available in the
German Colony and Ben Yehuda street, is now being installed to all
four quarters of the Old City to benefit millions of tourists,
merchants and residents. In 2018,
Israel’s first high
speed electric train is scheduled to arrive from Tel Aviv,
revolutionizing Jerusalem’s transportation system and ushering in an economic
boom. In just 28
minutes, the train will travel over Israel’s longest bridge, through
Israel’s longest tunnel and cross its tallest bridge, before reaching Israel’s
deepest station and one of the largest in the world.
Whilst
anticipating an economic boom in 2018, Jerusalem is already one of the world’s
top emerging technological hubs, according to Time Magazine. Jerusalem-based OurCrowd hosted Israel’s
largest-ever investment event with over 6,000 attendees from 82
countries, including startups, investors and 200 multinational corporations. One
multinational, medical device giant Medtronic is to open a new
R&D center in Jerusalem. Meanwhile, the Jerusalem Development
Authority’s Jnext program has helped set-up 110 new
Jerusalem startups in 2016 alone, no doubt encouraged by a reduction in
Corporation tax from 25% to 9%. Israel’s
largest exits also came out of Jerusalem when Cisco bought NDS and Intel bought
Mobileye.
Jerusalem
is re-building on firm foundations.
Almost every week there is news of archaeological discoveries proving
ancient Jewish roots to the Holy City – evidence that UNESCO and Israel’s detractors
turn a blind eye to. This includes shells
from the sea-snail Murex trunculus, used in Biblical times to make the
blue dye Tekhelet, which colored the fringes worn on 4-cornered Jewish garments
and the robe
of the High Priests serving in the Jerusalem Temple. Other finds include a 2,100-year-old
inscribed bowl from the Hasmonean period; coins depicting Greek,
Roman
and Jewish
leaders mentioned in ancient Jewish historical writings. There are even weapons
and sling stones that the Romans used to destroy Jerusalem’s walls,
nearly 2,000 years ago. Where are the
Romans now?
Ancient
Jerusalem streets are being excavated and re-dedicated, such as the 2,000-year-old
“Pilgrim’s Way” in the City of David, where pilgrims walked to the entrance
of the Temple. Another new route, that pilgrims also used, is the Jerusalem Park
trail that passes many of the capital’s 200
purification baths (mikvot), of which 50 have been unearthed adjacent
to Temple Mount. And this video
describes the Temple Sifting Project’s discovery of fragments of the decorative
tiles with which King Herod refurbished the floor of the Second Temple.
No
wonder Jerusalem is one of the best
places to travel to – according to Travel & Leisure magazine. Jerusalem
of Gold has never looked so beautiful.
The excitement of the “build-up” to
Jerusalem Day is almost physically tangible - huge numbers gathered to
celebrate Yom Yerushalayim at the Western Wall last year, so one can only
imagine the joyful scenes at the upcoming 50th Anniversary of the city’s
reunification.
Finally,
Jerusalem’s Hadassah hospital and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have
re-built thousands of lives (of all religions) with their medical innovations
and discoveries. But I have no space
left in my blog to re-construct these articles.
So please go to www.IsraelActive.com,
and search for “Hadassah”
and “Hebrew
University”.
At
the end of the Passover service, Jews around the world express the hope “Next
Year in Jerusalem”. In my home we said:
“This
Year in Rebuilt Jerusalem”
Michael
Ordman writes a free weekly newsletter containing positive news stories about
Israel.
www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com
and a searchable archive www.IsraelActive.com
For
a free subscription, email a request to michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com
