IT APPEARS that synagogues throughout the capital will yet again be lacking in foreign congregants during the High Holy Days due to the number of airline companies that have suspended flights. But with many evacuees still living in Jerusalem hotels, coupled with domestic tourists who just want to enjoy Jerusalem for a week or two, synagogue attendance may be higher than anticipated.
A sign of such a possibility was apparent at the Great Synagogue last Saturday, which, aside from the massive Belz Great Synagogue, is probably the largest synagogue in the capital – with a seating capacity for 1,400 people, not counting those who sit on the staircases on Kol Nidre night. The shul is currently celebrating its 42nd anniversary and was more than 75% full. At least half the congregants were under the age of 30 and included native English speakers attending seminaries and yeshivot in Israel, who will return to their respective countries after a year or two of study.
For those who enjoy cantorial music, the service was a special treat, with cantor Tzvi Weiss and the synagogue choir in fine form. In addition, over a dozen members of the priestly tribe lined up alongside the Holy Ark to bless the congregation. Although the kiddush after the service was far from the Great Synagogue’s sumptuous buffets of yesteryear, it did include cholent, kugel, and cookies.
Why does Rami Levy keep prices low?
■ EVERY NOW and then, newspapers conduct surveys to see which supermarkets have kept prices reasonably low and which have raised them beyond reason. The surveys tally up and compare the total costs of shopping carts full of identical products from four or five different supermarket chains. Jerusalem’s discount king Rami Levy does increase prices on some products, but by and large his shopping cart, measured against those of his rivals, is usually the least or the second-least expensive.
When interviewed by Yediot Aharonot’s Nuriit Zomer and asked why he has kept his prices low, Levy replied that it was not right to exploit the current situation – and certainly not at the expense of the public, which is already suffering enough. In line with the old English proverb “Look after the pennies, and the pounds will look after themselves,” Levy’s stores always have a steady stream of customers looking to get the best value for their money. He may be making less on each item, but he has a lot more customers than his competitors.
When secular musicians go religious
■ IT’S NOT a hard and fast rule, but during wars and other crises, more people seem to turn to religion than when things are running smoothly. While members of the entertainment industry may not be at the forefront of this shift, they appear so because they get a lot of publicity when they change their lifestyles.
Examples of such returnees to Jewish practice were the late Uri Zohar and Mordecai (Pupik) Arnon. Others include Hanan Ben Ari, Etti Ankri, Ehud Banai, Yuval Dayan, and Ariel Zilber, as well as the husband and wife couples Yael Bar Zohar & Guy Zo-Aretz, and Eden Harel & Oded Menashe. Actor and singer Shuli Rand was born into a Religious Zionist family, went off “the path,” and later “returned,” becoming a Breslover Hassid and moving to Jerusalem with his previously secular first wife, Michal, and their seven children.
Now there’s another Breslover Hassid by the name of Uri Groder. He sees himself as a bridge between religious and secular. Groder and some of his like-minded friends – who, like him, went from being rappers in the secular world to taking up a religious life and moving to Mea She’arim – after a long hiatus, have got together and revived their musical talents. The story appeared in a KAN 11 TV series Underground – Mea She’arim. Of course, they are not the only people with secular backgrounds living in that ultra-Orthodox neighborhood. Another is Noa Roth, the daughter of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from the first of his three marriages.
So many initiatives!
■ THE VARIETY of initiatives that have taken root since Oct. 7 is mind-boggling.
Tens of thousands of people around the world – both Jewish and non-Jewish – have been thinking up a myriad of ways in which to support those displaced from their homes; youngsters missing out on education; soldiers on their bases and in the field; hospitals; food and clothing collectors and dispensers; volunteer groups; and so much more.
Jeff Seidel, who runs student information centers from his headquarters in the Old City, reports that since the onset of the war, his people have set up barbecues for thousands of soldiers all over Israel. This week, they hosted a barbecue for more than 500 soldiers at the Tze’elim Training Base. They also prepared food that was taken to Gaza so that soldiers stationed in Khan Yunis could also enjoy the feast while taking a respite from the fighting.
Hansen House's legacy
■ HANSEN HOUSE, located relatively close to the Jerusalem Theatre, originally a leper colony built in 1887 by German and Anglican Protestants, has become a center for design, media, and technology. It now also houses a movie theater and a fabulous dairy restaurant. In 1950, ownership of the extensive property passed into the hands of the Jewish National Fund-Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (JNK-KKL). In 2009, the government decided that it should come under the auspices of the Jerusalem Municipality for the purpose of converting it into an interdisciplinary cultural center.
On Monday, September 2, at 7 p.m., there will be a book launch for My Wanderings in the Gardens: The Legacy of Hansen House in Jerusalem by Rivka Regev who, in the 1960s, lived inside the compound of the Hansen Government Hospital, where her father served as the resident physician. The launch will be in Hebrew but the book, with its fascinating details, is in English.
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