Hashabat Square sits at the intersection of Malchei Yisrael and Yesha'yahu streets, marked by a stone monument topped with a flickering eternal flame. It functions as the symbolic boundary of the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Geula.…
Mea Shearim Neighborhood History
Walk respectfully along the outer edges, historical borders, and main public thoroughfares of Mea Shearim to observe its unique 19th-century Eastern European design and self-defense layout.
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1. Hashabat Square/Yesha'yahu
2. Batei Varsha Street
The low stone houses of Batei Varsha are defined by their enclosed central courtyard, a design intended to create a defensible, private space for the immigrant families who built it in the late nineteenth century. Established by Jews from…
3. Mea Shearim Talmud Torah
The Meah Shearim Talmud Torah features a stone facade with tall, narrow arched windows that face inward toward the neighborhood’s tight maze of alleyways. Founded in the late nineteenth century, it served as the original educational anchor…
4. Shtiblach Mea Shearim
The Shtiblach of Mea Shearim is a low, unassuming stone building that operates as a perpetual motion machine of prayer. Inside, small rooms are packed with men chanting in overlapping rhythms, twenty-four hours a day. It began in the…
5. Chabad Synagogue Meah Shearim
The Chabad synagogue in Meah Shearim features a distinctive stone facade with arched windows that contrast sharply with the narrow, crowded alleyways of the neighborhood. This building serves as a central hub for the Chabad-Lubavitch…
6. Batei Ungarin
Batei Ungarin features a cluster of low stone houses wrapped around a narrow, rectangular courtyard. Built in the late nineteenth century, the neighborhood provided housing for impoverished Jewish immigrants from Hungary. The founders…