This Week in Jerusalem: Even at Safra Square

The first case of coronavirus among municipal employees has been registered – a 42-year-old female.

By PEGGY CIDOR
RENOVATIONS WILL enable the Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue to reclaim the title of tallest building in the Old City (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
RENOVATIONS WILL enable the Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue to reclaim the title of tallest building in the Old City
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Even at Safra Square
The first case of coronavirus among municipal employees has been registered – a 42-year-old female. She has been instructed to remain in home isolation for the moment; a special team from municipal emergency services is in contact with her and her family. All employees who came in contact with her have been informed that they must quarantine themselves for 14 days.
Corona hotel
The municipality has announced that, following the instructions of Pikud Haoref (Home Front Command), all Jerusalemites who became ill due to the coronavirus will be sent to a special “hospital” just for them. The new ad-hoc medical center is located in the Dan Hotel in French Hill (close to Hadassah University Medical Center and the Hebrew University), which is being adapted for this purpose and has a capacity of 500 people. Only those who need to be under medical care for the virus will be hospitalized there; their medical teams will be recruited from the IDF and local hospitals.
Splendor of Jerusalem
The ancient Tiferet Yisrael (Splendor of Jerusalem) Synagogue in the Rova (Jewish Quarter) of the Old City was one of the city’s most beautiful structures and symbols. Built for the hassidic community of Rujin and inaugurated in 1872, it was funded through generous donations from many Jewish communities around the world – and even a financial gift from the Austrian emperor.
The synagogue was blown up by the Jordanian Arab Legion in May 1948, during the War of Independence, leaving little more than rubble on its foundation. (Jordan methodically destroyed virtually all of the dozens of synagogues in the Old City and other Jewish sites during their occupation from 1948 to 1967).
Like the Hurva Synagogue, Tiferet Yisrael (also known as the Nisan Bak Shul) was left in symbolic ruins after Israel recaptured the Old City in the Six Day War. The Hurva has now been rebuilt – and in November 2012 the Jerusalem Municipality approved plans to reconstruct Tiferet Yisrael, too. However, before building could begin, years of archeological excavations had to be carried out to discover and preserve important findings. These works were recently completed, and as nothing now stands in the way of beginning renovations, work is scheduled begin shortly.
Herzl Ben-Ari, CEO of the Jewish Quarter Preservation and Development Company, estimates cost of the construction at NIS 50 million. When the renovated building reaches its original height, 25 meters, it will again be the highest building in the Old City.