I NEWS I
1111•11 ■ 11111W
Greater Detroit Chapter
for the
City of
Hope
and
Ben Goldberg, Founder
Beckman Institute
Wish Everyone
A New Year
Filled With The Very
Utmost in Good Health
CITY OF
H•O•P•E
and
The living room of "The House of Noble Dimensions."
Remains To Be Seen
In Herodian Quarter
MICHELLE MAZEL
Thorough Contentment
and Complete Happiness
OMEGA ALWAYS MARKS SIGNIFICANT MOMENTS.
IN THE OLYMPICS. IN THE SPACE PROGRAM.
IN SIGNIFICANT LIVES LIKE YOURS. THE OMEGA
CONSTELLATION. MEN'S OR LADIES'.
IN 18K GOLD. COMBINATIONS OF 18K GOLD AND
STAINLESS STEEL OR ALL STAINLESS STEEL
.
Happy
New Year
From Your
Friends
at
•■■■■■■
TOP
IT OFF
3015 W. 12 Mile Rd.
547-5992
BERKLEY
Across from the Berkley Theater
See our newest collection of
Omega Watches from $375 to $6,895
George Ohrenstein
Jewelers Ltd.
Certified Gemologist — American Gem Society
Harvard Row Mall • Lahser and 11 Mile Rd. • 353-3146
HAITI' NEW YEAR
TO ALL
OUR CUSTOMERS
FROM
TRUE FAUX'
JEWELRY
SINCE 1892
Wishing Our Family,
Friends & Customers
A Happy, Healthy & Prosperous
NEW YEAR!
805 E. Maple
(2 Blocks East of Woodward)
Birmingham
158
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1989
647-9090
Special to The Jewish News
V
isitors to Jerusalem
can now enter the fas-
cinating world of the
period that immediately
preceded the destruction of
the city in the year 70 of the
Common Era. A number of
renovated dwellings in what
was then the Herodian
Quarter are now open to the
public. Located on the eastern
slopes of the hill that faces
the Western Wall and the
Temple Mount, they are in
what is today the renovated
Jewish Quarter of the Old
City.
The Herodian Quarter was
named after Herod the Great,
who reigned from the year 37
BCE to the year 4 CE, and
was the greatest builder
Israel has ever known. The
last great Jewish king, Herod,
rebuilt the Temple, and turn-
ed his capital into one of the
most impressive cities of the
ancient world. Jerusalem had
upwards of 150,000 inhabi-
tants in his time, a number
which was doubled by the in-
flux of pilgrims from all over
the country at the time of the
three annual pilgrimages
(Passover, Shavuot and
Sukkot).
Well-to-do families elected
to make their homes away
from the bustle of the city, on
the hill, where there was
plenty of room for construc-
tion. From the spacious win-
dows of their handsome villas,
they could enjoy a spectacular
view of the Temple, with the
wooded summit of the Mount
of Olives in the background;
they could also see the crowds
milling about in the lower
city and its markets. For their
convenience, a network of
monumental stairs was built
to connect the upper city and
the Temple Mount.
The elegant residential
area and its handsome dwell-
ings were the first to bear the
brunt of the Roman attack in
the year 70. When the
soldiers broke through the ci-
ty walls, they set fire to the
houses, lealiing a trail of
devastation as they moved
toward the Temple area.
Jewish historian Josephus
Flavious, who was an
eyewitness to the events,
described the fire and the
devastation in great detail;
but it was not until the
reunification of Jeruslem in
1967 that the true picture of
what had happened on that
terrible day began to emerge.
Because of the systematic
destruction carried out in the
aftermath of the War of -In-
dependence and during the
twenty years of Jordanian
rule, there was nothing left of
the old Jewish Quarter but a
mass of ruins. Following the
Six Day War, blueprints were
being drawn up for the
reconstruction of the Quarter,
archaeologists were given a
free hand. In 1968, they came
upon the vestiges of a
spacious building some 20
feet below street level bearing
the marks of destruction by
fire. It was soon obvious from
the coins and utensils found
on the site that it must have
happened at the time the
Romans entered the city. The
blackened walls and soot-
filled rooms told of the
fierceness of the blaze, while
the pitiful skeletons still ly-
ing where they had been over-
come, told of its suddenness.
More and more remains of
the Herodian Quarter were
brought to light as work went
on. In the beginning, the
whole area was closed to the
public; later, as the work of
renovation of the Jewish