THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
20 Friday, April 9, 1982
I
1
I
What's in a Name Plenty in Jerusalem
SAID SHOE REPAIR
By SIMON GRIVER
COME IN FOR QUALITY WORK I
Harvard Row Mall, 11 ,Mile & Lahser
355-3628 M-F 9-7, Sat. 9-6
World Zionist
Press Service
11!
a
JERUSALEM — What's
in a street name? In the case
of Jerusalem a treasure
trove of people, places and
events, not to mention ec-
centricity, that reflects the
ethnic and religious diver-
sity of Israel's capital.
An expert who knows the
story behind each street is
sure to have an encyclopedic
grasp of Jewish, Moslem
and Christian history. Such
a scholar is David Ben-
venisti, the chairman of the
municipality's street nam-
ing committee, who came to
Jersualem from Greece in
loo pr. :
I Ladies' Heels
$35o,,r. .1
Men's-Heels (Rubber) ,
I
I 1 Men's Full Leather
.$1875 I
I Soles & Heels :....
1
Men's Leather
I Half Soles & Heels — $14 95 I I
ORTHOPEDIC SHOE WORK DONE
I
I
i
We fix zippers, handbags, luggage,
suitcases and 4eather jackets.
Expires 4-24
WITH THIS AD-
L1111111111=INIMI11111•111•11111111•11•11111111•1
; 115 1111116111111•1111
HAPPY PASSOVER
AMON/
5 LBS. OF MATZO
If I Can't Beat Your Best Deal
Margolis Household Furniture
6 Mile, 1 BIk. W. of Schaefer
ARNOLD MARGOLIS
INTERIOR
DECORATOR
SERVICE
MAT-TRESS SALE
Featuring: Beauty Rest by Simmons and
all other national brands
Furriiture and Bedding
• SCHOOLFIELD • SELIG •SIMMONS •SEALY •SERTA •SPRING AIR •LA-Z-
BOY •STIFFEL LAMPS • KROEHLER •AMERICAN •BURLINGTON •BASSETT
• BARCALOUNGER •LANE •UNIQUE
13703 W. McNichols 342-5351 Hrs. Mon thitu Sat. 9:30 til 5:30
STEVE KAY
ANNOUNCES HE IS NOW OFFERING
BEST POSSIBLE DEALS ON
LEASING ANY CAR
IOU*
.
4:4'Xg;CAR Cris v/e4";
CALL ME PERSONALLY at 649-1300
TO LEASE OR BUY ANY CAR
FREE LOANERS — 8 LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU
• Investment Tax Credits passed through
• Bend Over Backwards Service
• Cash Conserving
NO DOWN PAYMENT PLAN
4 R
ArA wAtER1° . 'SYSTEM
1895 Crooks Road
P.O. Box 730
Troy, Michigan 48099
1913 and has written a book
entitled "The Streets of
Jerusalem."
"When a new neighbor-
hood is built we select a
theme for the streets," he
says. "In Ramat Eshkol, the
first suburb constructed
after the reunification of the
city in 1967, the names re-
call the battles of the Six-
Day War: Golan Heights
Street, Mitla Pass and
Sharm el Sheikh.
"We receive sugges-
tions for names from citi-
zens of Jerusalem and
from dignitaries all over
the world. If a street is to
be named after a person,
it must be somebody who
contributed to life in
Jerusalem and we wait
until three years after
their death. In addition
we name streets after the
great figures of Jewish,
Arab and world history."
Thus Rehavia's streets re-
flect the Golden Age of
Spanish Jewry, remember-
ing poets like Solomon Ibn
Gabirol and Judah Al-
Harizi and traveler-writer
Benjamin MiTudela. This
last street is frequently
pronounced by English-
speaking visitors as
Matilda Street.
Geula's streets are named
after prophets like Elisha,
while Kiryat Hayovel's
thoroughfares are the
names of Latin American
countries. Talbieh avenues
are called after great world
figures ranging from Wash-
ington and Lincoln to Dis-
raeli, the novelist George
Eliot and the musician
Chopin.
The main streets of the
city are named either after
the towns they lead to:
Jaffa, Hebron, Bethlehem,
Gaza, Nablus, Jericho; or
after great figures: Herzl,
former Prime Minister Levi
Eshkol, Suleiman the
Great, who built the walls
around the Old City.
Some streets are even
named after institutions:
Keren Hayesod, Keren
Kayemet (JNF) and Bnai
Brith. Kaf Tet
b'November Street re-
calls the date on which
the UN resolution was
passed for the establish-
ment of the Jewish state.
The main street of the
new neighborhood of East
Talpiot, adjacent to the
former British governor's
residence, is called Olei
Hagardom (those who were
executed). Side streets like
Dov Gruner also recall
Irgun fighters — Menahem
Begin's dissident guerrilla
group. (Some were hanged
by the British for killing
their soldiers.)
Indeed the streets of
Jerusalem reflect an
equivocal attitude towards
the former ruling power.
Some of the main streets in
the capital still remain the
same as in mandate times:
King George V Street,
Lloyd George and Balfour.
As a general rule those
British figures who sup-
ported the Jewish cause
stayed on the map, while
those deemed indifferent or
unsympathetic were re-
moved.
Thus Queen Elizabeth
Street, named after the pre-
sent Queen of England's
mother who recently cele-
brated her 80th birthday,
became Queen Shlomzion
Street.
Rabbi Louis Rabino-
witz, a former deputy
mayor of the city, is also
on the street naming
committee which has 27
members including sev-
eral Arabs. He has an eye
for the more eccentric
names such as Taxation
Square, situated by the
tax office, and Ha-Gidem
Street meaning the "am-
putated one." This road is
named after Zionist hero
Joseph Trumpeldor who
was killed in a battle at
the northern settlement
of Tel Hai and had prev-
iously lost an arm when
fighting for Russia
against Japan.
In recent years there has
been a drive to give names
to Arab streets. The Arab
practice had not been to give
names to minor streets, and
people like the postman, if
new, would have to ask
neighbors where Moham-
med the butcher or Ahmed
the baker lived. The policy
has not been to impose
names of rabbis or Zionist
leaders but to allow the
Arabs to select their own
names. But prominent
anti-Zionist names are re-
jected.
There is .a King Hussein
street (the present Jorda-
nian
king's great-
grandfather) but not Abdul-
lah (his grandfather). The
municipality had wanted to
call the main street of the
village of Bet Safafa, which
was divided between 1948
and 1967, Reunification of,
the City Street, referring to
Jerusalem. However, the -
Arab inhabitants were out-
raged but an amicable com-
promise was reached when
the street was named 0
Reunification of the Village
Street.
A similar liberal ap-
proach is taken in Mea
Shearim, itself the name of
the shtetl's main street,
where the Hasidic popula-
tion ranges from relu*
supporters of Zionism t •
vocates of PLO policy. r e
streets here bear the names
of famous Belzer and Sat-
mar rabbis.
In the Old City the
names are perhaps the
most diverse. Latin Pat-
riarchate Street, Demet-
rius the Holy Street, El
Omar Street after the
famous mosque and of ,
course the Via Dolorosa,
where Christ is said to
have carried his cross on
the way to his crucifixion.
The streets in the rebuilt
Jewish quarter relate to
the destroyed temples.
"Traditionally the bulk of
the streets have been
named after people," says
Benvenisti. "But in recent
years re idents of new
neighborhoods, like Ramot
and Gilo, have been re-
questing that their streets
have the nairlbs of natural
things."
Consequently the streets
of Gilo, a new southern sub-
urb, are being named after
flowers. Of all the city's
street names perhaps these I
are the most appropriate,
representing the renewed
blossoming of Israel's capi-
tal.
s
Soviet Emigres Aid Kibutz
JERUSALEM — When
Ben-Ami Gatzur was as-
signed to find a suitable fac-
tory for Nir-Oz, a settle-
ment of 150 families in the
southern Negev, he came
back with two new Russian
immigrants. Today the two,
Michael and Olga Shepelev,
head the kibutz's latex rub-
ber factory which' has
earned close to $175,000
since its inception a year
ago.
In the rambling shed that
houses the factory until a
$700,000 complex is com-
pleted, the Shepelevs ex-
periment to produce
custom-tailored latex prod-
ucts. These include methods
for carpet-back treatment,
insulators for water reser-
voirs and seals to prevent
soil erosion.
Both Shepelevs have
been senior chemists at
Moscow's Scientific Re-
search Institute of Rub-
ber before being expelled
from their jobs in 1974
when they applied for
visas to come to Israel.
Settling in Carmiel in
1977, the two scientists suc-
cessfully developed a
number of formulas with
funding from the govern-
ment's Absorption Center
for Scientists. Among these
were special latex inner
soles for an orthopedic shoe
company, carpet backing
that was strong and tensile
and stood up well to dry
cleaning and washing, and -
a spray ag4inst erosion and
evaporation for use on re-
cently landscaped terrain
and roadsides where
natural vegetation could
not hold the soil in place.
Vision Problems
Common Among
Yeshiva Students
LONDON — A group of
ophthalmologists at Sha-
are Zedek Hospital in
Jerusalem have found that
yeshiva studies can cause
near-sightedness, the
don Jewish Chronicle —as-
reported.
In a hospital study, the
doctors discovered a greater
incidence of myopia among
local yeshiva students than
among pupils in secondary
schools. They found one
yeshiva where 46.7 percent
of the students were near-
sighted.
The doctors believe that
texts printed in small, ir-
regular type that are read
while swaying back and
forth, could be the major
cause for the high rate of
near-sighted students.
In moderating, not in
satisfying desires, lies
peace.