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Multilayered Jerusalem
Brace yourself for “ascending” into the Israeli capital.
T
here’s a reason that Metro Detroit
Jews who visit Israel on an orga-
nized mission typically say the
Shehecheyanu from Mount Scopus as
they “ascend” into Jerusalem, a hilltop
metropolis like no other. It’s Israel’s holiest
city and the ancestral homeland for the
Jewish people.
Jerusalem, the City of David, has stood
through the ages as the
soul of our peoplehood.
The Shehecheyanu is
the blessing to fete very
special moments — for
example, exuding our
love for Eretz Yisrael,
the biblical land of
our forebears. That
land encompasses the
Robert Sklar
Contributing Editor
State of Israel and the
West Bank, biblically
composed of Judea and
Samaria.
Jerusalem — Israel’s animated, his-
toric, united capital. It’s Israel’s most
populous, poorest, most eclectic city. In
Jerusalem, we’re most likely to discover
who we are, and who we could be as
Jews. It’s there you feel closest to God,
whatever your level of Torah obser-
vance.
Nonetheless, Jerusalem, a city of 865,000
people, including nearly 300,000 Arabs,
remains a cauldron of contention amid
the bustle, splendor and religious ruins.
Palestinians imagine the Arab-
dominated eastern sector of Jerusalem
as the capital of their future independent
state. As such, they rail about new Jewish
housing encroaching in east Jerusalem.
They also complain about the inadequacy
of services such as schools, parks, sewage
infrastructure and trash pickup.
Most Jews live in west Jerusalem.
Whichever part of the city they live, Jews
complain about the burdensome cost of
housing and household staples as well as
about traffic congestion and neighbor-
hood cleanliness — and the ever-present
threat of terrorist
attacks.
FORGING AHEAD
Still, Jerusalem is mov-
ing in the right direc-
tion, touts Mayor Nir
Barkat, who, in sharing
a litany of reasons why,
Nir Barkat
ignored lingering social
and political unrest.
The city was reunited
in 1967 by Israel’s triumph against amass-
ing Arab forces from Syria, Jordan and
Egypt. The 50th anniversary of the city’s
reunification, marked each year on
Jerusalem Day (this year May 24), provides
a fitting backdrop for Barkat to regale
world Jewry.
“Jerusalem is a flourishing, thriving city
— in the fields of education, high tech and
culture, in business and all areas of life,”
Barkat suggested proudly in a Jerusalem
Day statement.
MAKING THE CASE
In staking his claim, Barkat cites increased
Jewish student enrollment, an increase
in high-tech jobs well above the national
average, additional housing (without
distinguishing between west and east
Jerusalem) and widespread upgrading of
playgrounds. He notes continued aliyah to
the city — upwards of 19,000 since 2011.
And he rattles off plans to extend light
rail, improve traffic flow, unveil new job
centers, extend bicycle and walking paths
and open the country’s largest aquarium
at the Biblical Zoo. In the works is a
gadget lab (a collaborative initiative of
Intel, startups and developers) as well as
citywide sports facility, community center,
youth movement and preschool day care
improvements.
For the 20th Maccabiah Games this July,
the city will open the Kraft Family Sports
Campus, a $6 million facility donated by
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
Notably, the number of students study-
ing at higher education institutions in
Jerusalem has grown to a record 36,200;
about half study at Hebrew University.
GOOD TIDINGS
Barkat points to the latest Central
Bureau of Statistics (CBS) report that
lauds the relative satisfaction of Jews (93
percent) and Arabs (89 percent) living in
Jerusalem. Given the vocal outcry among
both resident groups, those percentages
shouldn’t diminish longstanding munici-
pal needs. Content frayed when CBS
asked respondents how satisfied they
were with their economic status; the per-
centages dropped to 68 percent for Jews
and 43 percent for Arabs — rates reflec-
tive of the general population.
It’s no surprise that 78 percent of the
tourists who arrived in Israel last year
visited Jerusalem, which is meaningful
to Jews, Christians and Muslims as evi-
denced by such holy sites as the Western
Wall, Church of the Holy Sepulchre and
Al Aqsa Mosque.
Culturally speaking, Barkat had
much to spotlight, beginning with Israel
Museum and Yad Vashem, world-class
gems that draw almost 2 million visitors
a year combined.
The Kirsh Family Jerusalem Arts
Campus for the performing arts, slated
to open next year downtown, will supple-
ment the array of existing art schools,
theater groups and festivals that help
enrich the city’s cultural character.
THE HAREDI FACTOR
Barkat’s rosy statement doesn’t delve into
Jerusalem being home to most of Israel’s
haredi ( fervently religious) Jews, who
largely don’t seek the kinds of educa-
tional or job opportunities afforded other
Jews. As a result, because of a now-stabi-
lized fertility rate of about 7 children per
woman, haredi Jews disproportionately
benefit from monthly government allow-
ances of $42 to $52 per child.
What’s more, hundreds of thousands
of haredi men get government support of
$120 to $215 a month to study in yeshi-
vot. Almost half don’t work (a percentage
that’s declining).
Israel’s population is 8.68 million,
10 times what it was in 1948 at Israel’s
founding. Of the 6.48 million Jews (74
percent of the population), 9 percent
identify as haredi, according to the CBS.
That underscores the urgency to inte-
grate the haredi community into Israeli
society to the extent possible before wel-
fare demands steepen.
Moshe Friedman,
CEO of Kamatech, an
Israeli nonprofit that
moves haredim into
high-tech careers,
told JTA his group has
trained or found jobs
for 7,000 haredim the
past five years — and
Moshe Friedman
he can’t keep pace with
interest.
“I see a really good
trend who want to be part of society, part
of the economy,” he told JTA. “I under-
stand from this new [Central Bureau of
Statistics] report the importance of the
work we are doing to help the haredim
integrate into society — so I think it will
be OK.”
That’s good news.
Still lurking are such pressing matters
as: Palestinian pressure to divide the City
of David; the city’s relatively high cost of
living plus a shortage of affordable hous-
ing; and Islamist terrorists eyeing our
Jerusalem as an international platform
to murder Jews in a quest to destroy the
Jewish state. •
guest column
continued from page 5
Emily had been vaccinated for men-
ingitis, but had never been vaccinated
against meningitis B — a separate but
equally dangerous strain of meningitis
not covered by the common, required
vaccine. At the time of her death, it was
not even available in the United States.
Meningitis B took her life on Feb. 2,
2013.
There are five strains of bacterial
meningitis — serogroups A, C, W and
Y covered under the commonly rec-
ommended vaccine, and serogroup
B, covered under a separate vaccine.
Meningitis B is easily spread among
8
June 15 • 2017
jn
people who live in close quarters like
dorms, so college students are at par-
ticular risk. According to the Center for
Disease control, meningitis B accounts
for approximately 50 percent of all men-
ingitis cases in persons 17 to 23 years of
age in the U.S.
I recently stood with Wayne County
Health Department officials and others
in health departments across the state
to bring more awareness to the dangers
of meningitis B.
Talk to your family physician and
make sure your children are vaccinated
and protected from meningitis B when
they graduate. They will be more sus-
ceptible and vulnerable to the deadly
disease when they move into their dorm
on campus.
Graduating from high school is a time
for celebration and looking ahead to the
future. Our young people are at a time
in their lives when there are countless
opportunities within their reach. By
getting students vaccinated when they
graduate, parents are ensuring a health-
ier future for incoming freshmen.
At the Emily Stillman Foundation, I
strive to preserve Emily’s legacy through
education and advocacy on meningitis
B. We want to ensure that no other par-
ent and family is forced to experience
what ours has endured. Meningitis B
is a preventable disease and, by raising
awareness of it through better parent
and student education, we are work-
ing to prevent the kind of tragedy that’s
changed our family forever. •
Alicia Stillman is the mother of Emily Stillman and
the director of the Emily Stillman Foundation. The
Foundation was created in 2014 to preserve the
memory of Emily and raise awareness of meningi-
tis B. They are also advocates of organ donation.
For more information about the Emily Stillman
Foundation, visit www.foreveremily.org.