36 | APRIL 2 • 2020 

T

here’
s an old Israeli 
platitude: We’
ll take 
your donations; but 
until you make the sacrifice 
to live here, you have no say 
in our affairs.
After moving to Israel 
from Birmingham 10 
years ago, I now under-
stand this is out of time 
with the actual influence 
diaspora Jews have on the Jewish 
state. In fact, when it comes to 
the fight for religious pluralism, 
North Americans are the vital 

backbone behind Israeli 
activists.
In Israel right now, the 
minority ultra-Orthodox 
political parties (represent-
ing 8% of the country’
s 
population, according to 
the Pew Research Center) 
have outsized influence in 
the Knesset, and religious 
imperialism has creeped 
across society. The country 
suffers under the institutional-
ization of the ultra-Orthodox’
s 
brand of Judaism, including 

legally allowing the ultra-Or-
thodox to abstain from Israeli 
Defense Forces conscription; 
halting buses on Shabbat; and 
creating an effective ultra-Or-
thodox monopoly around the 
officiating of conversion, mar-
riage, divorce and funerals. They 
have managed to, in some areas, 
legally close or impose fines on 
businesses that open on Shabbat. 
Secular Israeli Jews (40% 
of the population) will often 
voice their irritation with these 
issues. However, most Israelis 

are less bothered when it comes 
to pluralism at Jerusalem’
s holy 
Western Wall, where women 
have been arrested and impris-
oned for wearing tallit and tefil-
lin, and bringing in holy Torah 
scrolls for religious services. 
There are more than 200 
Torah scrolls on the men’
s side 
for free use and none on the 
women’
s side. This is intentional, 
because ultra-Orthodox custom 
— not Jewish law — forbids 
women from reading from the 
Torah. In addition, the official 
Western Wall “
rulebook” of 
laws and traditions states that 
women may only pray silently. 
If we are menstruating, we are 
not allowed to touch the Wall or 

I

f you’
re looking to find the 
Video Pub in Jerusalem, you 
might have to look a little 
harder than usual. 
Located in a little niche a 
floor up from street level, the 
only official gay bar in the city 
hides from the undiscerning eye. 
Occasionally, you might find 
a pride flag hanging at the top 
of the stairs, leading not only 
to the bar but also to a small 
Eritrean church. Children from 
the church often spend the early 
hours of the night asking the 
Video’
s bartender questions. I 
know, because as a bartender 

there, I used to answer them. 
Chances are, though, you will 
see nothing of gay significance 
as you approach the place. The 
magic hides inside.
The block where the Video is 
located is dubbed by the workers 
of the area “
the district.
” That’
s 
partially because most of the 
businesses on the block (a dance 
club, two other bars, a restaurant, 
a French fry stand and a queer, 
feminist, vegetarian/vegan café) 
have the same group of owners. 
But the name mostly reflects 
the queer-friendly nature of the 
whole area. Working in “
the dis-

trict” is something a lot of queer 
people in Jerusalem have done 
or will do in their lifetime; it’
s an 
experience that makes you feel 
you belong somewhere.
Open for almost a decade now 
(eight years, to be precise), the 
Video is the spiritual successor to 
the first official gay bar to have 
opened in the city in 2011, the 
Mikveh, which has by now been 
closed for about five years. 
Jerusalem is not an easy city 
to live in; not only the heart of 
every conflict that plagues the 
country, from Israel/Palestine 
to the relations between state 

and religion, it’
s also the heart of 
the conflict surrounding LGBT 
rights and queer people’
s safety. 
There are people who believe 
we desecrate the holy city with 
our mere presence, and local 
reactions to our visibility range 
from dirty looks to physical 
violence — necessitating an 
abundance of cops and security 
during Pride marches. 
The existence of a gay bar in 
Jerusalem is not trivial, its suc-
cess even less so, as the closing 
of the Mikveh shows. Ask any 
queer person in Jerusalem if 
they feel safe being visible, and 

MICHAEL ELIAS

A bartender mixes drinks in the Video Pub.

A Personal History 
of Jerusalem’s Only 
Official Gay Bar

The Video Pub is a valuable queer 
space in the holy city, and it may not 
survive COVID-19.

MICHAEL ELIAS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

eretz
brought to you in partnership with 
www.WalkForIsrael.org

Join us. Sunday, May 3, 2020

Zionism is NOT a Spectator Sport

Even if you’
re not Israeli, your Jewish voice counts in 
determining the Jewish values of the Jewish State.

Pamela 
Franklin 
Azaria
Contributing 
Writer

036_DJN040220_Eretz.indd 36
036_DJN040220_Eretz.indd 36
3/30/20 12:25 PM
3/30/20 12:25 PM