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Ben Yehuda Street (), known as the "Midrachov" (), is arguably the most famous street in
Ben Yehuda was already one of Jerusalem's main streets long before the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. As a busy thoroughfare, it has been a prime target for terrorist bombings between 1948, when the worst atrocity happened, and 2001, during the
File:BezalelBenYehudaStreetsJerusalemNov112022 05.jpg, the upper part of the street
File:KingGeorgeStreetJerusalemMay062023 03.jpg, the lower part of the street
Ben Yehuda Street (), known as the "Midrachov" (), is arguably the most famous street in Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
, along with Jaffa Road. Ben Yehuda Street joins with Jaffa Road
Jaffa Road, also called Jaffa Street (; ) is one of the longest and oldest major streets in Jerusalem. It crosses the city from east to west, from the Old City walls to downtown Jerusalem, the western portal of Jerusalem and the Jerusalem-Tel ...
and King George Street in the heart of downtown Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
to form the main Downtown Triangle central business district
A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...
. Closed to vehicular traffic, the street is now Jerusalem's most popular pedestrian mall
Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town restricted to use by people on foot or ...
. The street runs from the intersection of King George Street east to Zion Square
Zion Square () is a public square in Jerusalem, located at the intersection of Jaffa Road, Ben Yehuda Street (Jerusalem), Ben Yehuda Street, Herbert Samuel Street, and Yoel Moshe Salomon Street.
The square is one of the Vertex (geometry), verti ...
and Jaffa Road
Jaffa Road, also called Jaffa Street (; ) is one of the longest and oldest major streets in Jerusalem. It crosses the city from east to west, from the Old City walls to downtown Jerusalem, the western portal of Jerusalem and the Jerusalem-Tel ...
. The street is named after the founder of Modern Hebrew
Modern Hebrew (, or ), also known as Israeli Hebrew or simply Hebrew, is the Standard language, standard form of the Hebrew language spoken today. It is the only surviving Canaanite language, as well as one of the List of languages by first w ...
, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda
Eliezer Ben‑Yehuda (born Eliezer Yitzhak Perlman; 7 January 1858 – 16 December 1922) was a Russian–Jewish linguist, lexicographer, and journalist who immigrated to Jerusalem in 1881, when the Ottoman Empire ruled it. He is renowned as the ...
.
History
Ben Yehuda was already one of Jerusalem's main streets long before the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. As a busy thoroughfare, it has been a prime target for terrorist bombings between 1948, when the worst atrocity happened, and 2001, during the Second Intifada
The Second Intifada (; ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada, was a major uprising by Palestinians against Israel and its Israeli-occupied territories, occupation from 2000. Starting as a civilian uprising in Jerusalem and October 2000 prot ...
.
In 1983, the street was closed to automobile traffic. In Hebrew it is called a ''midrachov'' (pedestrian mall – a Hebrew neologism
In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...
formed from the words "midracha" idewalkand "rechov" treet
Treet (Armour Star Treet) is a canned lunch meat product similar to Spam first introduced in 1939 by Armour and Company in the United States. Sold as "spiced luncheon loaf", it is made with chicken and pork and has a more finely ground texture ...
Many of the businesses cater to tourists. The street is lined with souvenir and Judaica shops and sidewalk cafes, and street musicians
Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pr ...
play there throughout the day. It was long considered the "secular heart of Jerusalem", but since the 2000s, disaffected Orthodox Jewish
Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...
youth have joined the mix of tourists and locals.
Gallery
See also
*Ben Yehuda Street bombings
A series of attacks were perpetrated or ordered by Palestinian Arabs, some of them acting as suicide bombers, on Jewish targets in Jerusalem's Ben Yehuda Street from February 1948 onwards. Ben Yehuda Street was a major thoroughfare.
1948 (49†...
References
{{coord, 31.7815, N, 35.2176, E, scale:10000, display=title Car-free zones in Asia Downtown Triangle (Jerusalem) Pedestrian malls Streets in Jerusalem Tourist attractions in Jerusalem Year of establishment missing