Shmuel HaNavi Street (, lit. Samuel the Prophet Street) is a main road in north-central

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 ...

. It starts at the intersection of St. George and Shivtei Israel Streets near

Highway 60 The following highways are numbered 60: International * Asian Highway 60 * European route E60 Australia * Bruxner Highway * Dawson Highway (Rolleston to Gladstone) – Queensland State Route 60 Brazil * BR-060 Canada * Alberta Highway 60 ...

, and merges into

Golda Meir Golda Meir (; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was the prime minister of Israel, serving from 1969 to 1974. She was Israel's first and only female head of government. Born into a Jewish family in Kyiv, Kiev, Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine) ...

Boulevard ( Route 436) just past the intersection of Bar-Ilan and Hativat Harel Streets. The continuation of the street winds up to the tomb of

Samuel Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venera ...

the

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...

, after whom the street is named. Shmuel HaNavi Street borders the Beit Yisrael, Bukharim, Arzei HaBira, Shmuel HaNavi, Sanhedria and Gush 80 neighborhoods. With a largely

Haredi Haredi Judaism (, ) is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that is characterized by its strict interpretation of religious sources and its accepted (Jewish law) and traditions, in opposition to more accommodating values and practices. Its members are ...

population, the street houses major

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

s for two

Hasidic Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...

dynasties and many Haredi schools,

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

s, and girls' seminaries.

Name

The street is named after

the prophet (11th century BC), the last Biblical judge, who anointed both

Saul Saul (; , ; , ; ) was a monarch of ancient Israel and Judah and, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, the first king of the United Monarchy, a polity of uncertain historicity. His reign, traditionally placed in the late eleventh c ...

I Samuel 15:1
and

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

I Samuel 16:12–13
as kings of Israel. The Tomb of Samuel, which rests atop the tallest mountain outside the Jerusalem city limits, can be reached by following the continuation of Shmuel HaNavi Street northward.

History

Before 1948, Shmuel HaNavi Street lay at the northern edge of Jewish Jerusalem, with the Arab neighborhood of

Sheikh Jarrah Sheikh Jarrah (, ) is a predominantly Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem, north of the Old City, on the road to Mount Scopus. It received its name from the 13th-century tomb of Hussam al-Din al-Jarrahi, a physician of Saladin, located ...

to the northeast. Its location beyond populated areas such as

Mea Shearim Mea Shearim (, lit., "hundred gates"; contextually, "a hundred fold", Ashkenazi Hebrew and Yiddish pronunciation: Meye Shorim) is one of the oldest Ashkenazi neighborhoods in Jerusalem outside of the Old City. It is populated by Ashkenazi Hared ...

and Beit Yisrael was the reason why Simcha Mandelbaum, a Jewish merchant who had raised his family in the Old City, decided to build a new home at the eastern end of the street in 1927. While Mandelbaum wished to set an example for other Jews to build in the area and expand the borders of Jerusalem, the

Waqf A (; , plural ), also called a (, plural or ), or ''mortmain'' property, is an Alienation (property law), inalienable charitable financial endowment, endowment under Sharia, Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot ...

, which owned large tracts all around, forbade Arabs from selling any more land to Jews, so the three-story house stood on its own.Bird (2010), pp. 20–21. During the riots of 1929 and 1936, the

Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...

took up positions in the Mandelbaum House to drive back the rioting Arabs leaving

Damascus Gate The Damascus Gate is one of the main Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is located in the wall on the city's northwest side and connects to a highway leading out to Nablus, which in the Hebrew Bible was called Shechem or Sichem, and from the ...

toward Mea Shearim and Beit Yisrael.

Arab Legion The Arab Legion () was the police force, then regular army, of the Emirate of Transjordan, a British protectorate, in the early part of the 20th century, and then of the Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, an independent state, with a final Ar ...

naires blew up the house during the

1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

.Regev, Chaya. "The Mandelbaum Gate: Home of the Mandelbaum Family". ''Yated Ne'eman'' (Israel-English edition), 5 November 2004, pp. 16–18. During the 1947 civil war, residents on Shmuel HaNavi Street were subject to frequent shooting from snipers in Sheikh Jarrah. When

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

broke out in 1948, the street was thrust onto the frontlines, becoming a strategic gateway for Arab Legionnaires seeking to enter Jewish Jerusalem. Mandelbaum gateway

The

1949 Armistice Agreements The 1949 Armistice Agreements were signed between Israel and Egypt,no man's land of barbed wire and minefields separating it from

Ammunition Hill Ammunition Hill (, ''Giv'at HaTahmoshet''; ) was a fortified Jordanian military post in the northern part of Jordanian-ruled East Jerusalem and the western slope of Mount Scopus. It was the site of one of the fiercest battles of the Six-Day Wa ...

to the north. From 1949 to 1967 the official crossing point between Israeli- and Jordanian-held territory stood at the eastern end of Shmuel HaNavi Street at a checkpoint called the

Mandelbaum Gate The Mandelbaum Gate is a former checkpoint between the Israeli and Jordanian sectors of Jerusalem, just north of the western edge of the Old City along the Green Line. The first checkpoint for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan/Israel Mixed Armis ...

. This checkpoint was named after the destroyed Mandelbaum House, whose ruins lay nearby. Clergy, diplomats and

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

personnel used the Israeli (2002), pp. 95–97. gateway to pass through the concrete and barbed wire barrier between the sectors, but Jordanian officials allowed only one-way passage for non-official traffic. Anyone with an Israeli stamp in his or her passport was denied passage. After the Six-Day War and the reunification of Jerusalem, the Israelis dismantled the Mandelbaum Gate. Today a

sundial A sundial is a horology, horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the position of the Sun, apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the ...

standing in the middle of the

Jerusalem Light Rail The Jerusalem Light Rail (, ''HaRakevet HaKala Birushalayim'', , ''Qiṭār Al-Quds Al-Khafīf'') is a light rail system in Jerusalem. Currently, the Red Line (Jerusalem Light Rail), Red Line is the only one in operation, the first of several ...

tracks near the beginning of Shmuel HaNavi Street marks the site where the Gate once stood.

Shmuel HaNavi neighborhood

To reinforce its claim on the territory on its side of the 1949 armistice line, in the early 1960s the Jerusalem municipality erected a complex of "long train" tenement buildings built in the manner of fortresses. The Israel Housing Ministry mandated that the external concrete walls of the buildings be three times the normal thickness to withstand shelling. The roofs of the buildings had raised parapets fitted with gun slots. The buildings themselves were arranged in a "confusing zig-zag pattern" to slow down Arab armies that might charge the complex, and the courtyards between the buildings were designed to accommodate mass mobilization of Israeli troops in the event of an attack. Shmuel HaNavi facade

This housing project, known as ''Shikun Shmuel HaNavi'' (Shmuel HaNavi neighborhood), was largely populated by

Sephardi Jewish Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

immigrants from North Africa. The overcrowded conditions and lack of infrastructure quickly turned it into a

slum A slum is a highly populated Urban area, urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are p ...

. In the late 1970s an urban protest movement called Ohalim established a branch here, initiating cultural and productive activities for disadvantaged youth and elderly. In the 1980s the neighborhood was significantly upgraded as part of Project Renewal, a national

urban renewal Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...

program that upgraded housing, infrastructure and utilities in 84 Israeli neighborhoods between 1977 and 1984. A new facade was added to each building in the complex and apartments were enlarged or combined to create larger living quarters. As the first generation of immigrant children matured and left the neighborhood, their parents followed, and Haredi families from Mea Shearim, Bukharim and

Geula Geula ( lit. ''Redemption'') is a neighborhood in the center of Jerusalem, populated mainly by Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews. Geula is bordered by Zikhron Moshe and Mekor Baruch on the west, the Bukharim neighborhood on the north, Mea Shearim on t ...

took their place. In the 1990s the corner of Shmuel HaNavi and Bar-Ilan Streets was the site of frequent protests to close both streets to traffic on the

Jewish Sabbath Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical stories describing the cre ...

, a law that was eventually enforced. According to a 1997 appeal by the Ministry of Transportation to the

Supreme Court of Israel The Supreme Court of Israel (, Hebrew acronym Bagatz; ) is the Supreme court, highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction. The Supreme Court consists of 15 jud ...

on the closure, "almost 100% of the residents living in the vicinity of the Shmuel HaNavi and Jeremiah Streets, as far as Shamgar Street, are all religious or Ultra-Orthodox".

1997–99 Jerusalem stabbings

A number of the 1997–99 Jerusalem stabbings took place on Shmuel HaNavi Street. The serial stabbings were carried out by an ultra-orthodox Jew on Palestinian workers, killing three and injuring seven others.

Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing

In 2004 a suicide bomber dressed as a Haredi Jew boarded a crowded #2 bus on its return route from the

Western Wall The Western Wall (; ; Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: ''HaKosel HaMa'arovi'') is an ancient retaining wall of the built-up hill known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount of Jerusalem. Its most famous section, known by the same name ...

and detonated himself as it turned the corner to Shmuel HaNavi Street. The bus was filled with Haredi families with small children; 23 were killed and more than 130 wounded.

2014 Jerusalem tractor attack

In 2014 an Arab workman took a tractor from a work site and went on a terror rampage, overturning a bus with the Arab driver inside, killing one person and wounding several. In October 2015 an Arab terrorist stabbed and lightly wounded a 16-year-old Jewish teenager on Shmuel Hanavi Street.

Archeological discoveries

Evidence for the presence of the Third Wall of the New City from the time of King

Agrippa I Herod Agrippa I ( Roman name: Marcus Julius Agrippa; ), also simply known as Herod Agrippa, Agrippa I, () or Agrippa the Great, was the last king of Judea. He was a grandson of Herod the Great and the father of Herod Agrippa II, the last known k ...

has been found on Shmuel HaNavi Street. Reinforcing this connection, Simcha Mandelbaum found coins from the

Bar Kokhba Simon bar Kokhba ( ) or Simon bar Koseba ( ), commonly referred to simply as Bar Kokhba, was a Jewish military leader in Judaea (Roman province), Judea. He lent his name to the Bar Kokhba revolt, which he initiated against the Roman Empire in 1 ...

era on the site of his new house at the beginning of the street. The

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

(''Zevachin'' 107a) and the author of ''Kaftor VeFerach'' cite a location near or on the street as the site where the ''deshen'' (ashes) from

sacrifices Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an offering of praise and thanksgiving. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks ...

on the Temple Altar were deposited. Roman tombs and

ossuaries An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years th ...

have also been found on Shmuel HaNavi Street. A few hundred meters north of the western end of the street lies the

Second Temple The Second Temple () was the Temple in Jerusalem that replaced Solomon's Temple, which was destroyed during the Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC), Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. It was constructed around 516 BCE and later enhanced by Herod ...

-era Tombs of the Sanhedrin in a large park. In July 2009 archaeologists discovered an ancient

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

on Shmuel HaNavi Street, near the intersection with Yehezkel Street, during new residential construction. The quarter-acre (one-dunam) area was thought to be part of a larger network of quarries extending from

Musrara Musrara (, , also known by its Hebrew name, Morasha, ) is a formerly Ottoman neighborhood in what is now West Jerusalem. It is bordered by the Israeli neighborhoods of Mea Shearim and Beit Yisrael to the north, by the Russian Compound and Kik ...

to Sanhedria, from which the giant stones used by

King Herod Herod may refer to: Members of the Herodian dynasty Members of the Herodian dynasty, named after Herod the Great, in chronological order: * Herod the Great (born c. 74 BC, ruled 37–4 BC or 1 BC), client king of Judea who expanded the Second Tem ...

in the construction of the

(first century BC) were hewn.

Cultural institutions

From 1941 to 1947 the street was home to the

Jerusalem Biblical Zoo The Tisch Family Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem (, ), popularly known as the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, is a zoo located in the Malha neighborhood of Jerusalem, Israel. It is famous for its Afro-Asiatic collection of wildlife, many of which are descri ...

founded by Professor Aharon Shulov of the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

Present-day landmarks

Synagogues

*Beis Yosef Tzvi – Dushinsky (headquarters of the Dushinsky Hasidic dynasty * Sadigura

Boys’ schools

Talmud Torah Talmud Torah (, lit. 'Study of the Torah') schools were created in the Jewish world, both Ashkenazic and Sephardic, as a form of religious school for boys of modest backgrounds, where they were given an elementary education in Hebrew language, H ...

Eitz Chaim *Talmud Torah Ramat HaTorah *Talmud Torah Kedushat HaTorah – Sadigura *Talmud Torah Zhvill

Girls’ seminaries

Bais Yaakov Bais Yaakov (, also Beis Yaakov, Beit Yaakov, Beth Jacob or Beys Yankev; ) is a genericized name for full-time Haredi Jewish elementary and secondary schools for girls worldwide. Bais Yaakov, started by Sarah Schenirer in post-World War I K ...

Maalot seminary *Nachlas Bais Yaakov seminary *Neve Yisrael Seminary *Tehillas Bais Yaakov seminary

Yeshivas

*Ahavat Moshe yeshiva and

kollel A kollel (also kolel) (, , , , a "gathering" or "collection" f scholars is an institute for full-time, advanced Torah study, study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features Shiur (Torah), shiurim (lectures) and ...

(

Breslov Breslov (also Bratslav and Breslev) is a branch of Hasidic Judaism founded by Nachman of Breslov (1772–1810), a great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, founder of Hasidism. Its adherents strive to develop an intense, joyous relationship with ...

) *Beis Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky yeshiva gedolaRossoff (2001), p. 464. * Chut shel Chessed *Eitz Chaim yeshiva *Shaarei Torah Hasidic yeshiva gedola *Tiferet Tzvi yeshiva *

Yeshivat HaRaayon HaYehudi Meir David HaKohen Kahane ( ; ; born Martin David Kahane; August 1, 1932 – November 5, 1990) was an American-born Israeli Orthodox ordained rabbi, writer and ultra-nationalist politician. Founder of the Israeli political party Kach—w ...

(Yeshiva of the Jewish Idea), founded by

Meir Kahane Meir David HaKohen Kahane ( ; ; born Martin David Kahane; August 1, 1932 – November 5, 1990) was an American-born Israel, Israeli Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox ordained rabbi, writer and ultra-nationalist politician. Founder of the Israeli pol ...

on Shmuel HaNavi Street in 1989 and relocated to

Kfar Tapuach Kfar Tapuach (, ''lit.'', Apple-village) is an Orthodox Jewish Israeli settlement in the West Bank, founded in 1978. It sits astride Tapuach Junction, one of the major traffic junctions in the West Bank. The executive director of the village ...

in 2001 *Zhvill yeshiva gedola

Notable residents

Ben Zion Abba Shaul Ben Zion Abba Shaul (; 31 July 1924 – 13 July 1998; on the Hebrew calendar: 29 Tammuz 5684 – 19 Tammuz 5758) (first name also spelled Ben Sion) was one of the leading Sephardic rabbis, Torah scholars and halakhic arbiters of his day, ...

* Yisroel Moshe Dushinsky, Second Dushinsky

Rebbe A Rebbe () or Admor () is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spirituality (Audio)''. UCTV, 20 Oct 2011. web. ...

* Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky, Third Dushinsky Rebbe *Sadigura Rebbe

References

Sources

* * * *

External links

Google map of Shmuel HaNavi Street
{{Streets in Jerusalem Streets in Jerusalem