City Center & Services

Hillel.  [See Jan. 2011 post, Orientation Walks.]
Most of our Church & personal business is done on Hillel Street, West Jerusalem. 
It is in the center of a growing metropolis, surrounded by new construction -- including Jerusalem of Gold (left highrise) and the Tower Hotel (rt. below.)

"Hillel" was a Jewish scholar just before the time of Christ.  Born in Babylon in 110 BCE, he died in 10 AD (age 120 years?).  His writings started the Talmud's Mishna.  He also founding a dynasty of "Sages," lasting five centuries.  His voice of reason helped to temper some ambitious kings.

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High-rise Buildings. Below are shown some existing impressive mega-projects in City Center -- near Hillel Street & Jaffa Gate, west of the Old City and the main east-west Jaffa ("Yafo") Street:

Ayalon Tower (left) is the tallest bldg. on our horizon (rt.).  It stands 24 stories high, across King George St. from Ben Yehuda and one block from Hillel.  

Jerusalem Tower Hotel is at 23 Hillel Street -- 15 stories high & 120 rooms.  It actually fronts on the street behind but has a Hillel St. address.

Jerusalem of Gold.  Then underway was an entire residential superblock of luxury apts. & condos adjoining Hillel, including several high-rise buildings.

Waldorf-Astoria.  Situated just S.E. of Hillel at Ramban & King David Streets, next to Mamilla and across from Independence Park.  Some 30 luxury residential condos were being built, followed by 223 high-rise hotel rooms.

 

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Pre-Existing Hillel Street. These & other adjoining projects will forever change today's existing Hillel St., which was really very modest by comparison.   

Our Attorneys.  Yigal Arnon & Co. at 31 Hillel has represented JC & the Church since the mid-1990s.   (South side of their bldg. was in the large photo first above.)













Hagai Shmueli has been our lead attorney on all real estate, immigration, employment, tax & general legal matters since about 1995. He joined the firm in 1977 and passed the Israeli bar in 1979 with a degree from Hebrew Univ.

On 1/4/12 he & I discussed many of the JC & Church legal relationships -- in his office and conference room. 

Their offices had a happy, upbeat feel to them.  (Note their wall art.)  Free parking behind the bldg. was also a big benefit.

I worked closely with Hagai's associate Tal Lecker -- practicing since 2005.  On 9/27/11 she brought her replacement to meet Eran & me at the JC -- Etai Kramer.  He practiced law at Fried Frank (NY firm) before "making aliya" to Israel in 2010.  (His mother is an American.)  Tal left to join the Milkin Institute to do research on alternative energy policies for Israel.

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Rambam Laboratories.  At 16 Hillel -- midway between our bank & law firm -- was our lab for blood tests.  Melanie & Carl Harris joined me for tests on 3/9/11.

"Rambam" seemed like an apt description for taking blood, but it is an acronymn for  "Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon" or Maimonides in Greek (meaning, "son of Maimon").  He was a Jewish scholar-philosopher from Egypt during the Middle Ages; also Saladin's doctor & advisor until his death in 1204 AD.

The existing Hillel neighborhood is in sharp contrast to the surrounding mega-projects.  Much of it may undergo some future major urban renewal.

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WIZO. Directly across from the bank at 11 Hillel is a charity that takes excess clothing left by students returning to the USA. The "Women's International Zionist Organization" is a large umbrella that retails or distributes it thru others to the truly needy in the Holy Land -- much like Good Will Thrift or Deseret Industries in the USA.

On 9/6/11 we left WIZO another load of excess clothing, then lunched at Focaccia Cafe -- much like Karma cafe at Ein Kerem.  (See Feb. '11 post, Israel Philharmonic and Jan. '12 post, Ein Kerem). It adjoined the new Jerusalem of Gold complex -- one block away from the Tower Hotel on Hillel.

Seafood pasta was a favorite dish at both Focacia and Karma.

On 8/14/11, we had also lunched there with Marlon & Tina Walker after a walk thru Independence Park.  [See also Feb. '12 post, Ramat Rachel & U.S. Consulate.]

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Other Medical Services.  In June 2011 we saw dermatologists at the huge Jerusalem Medical Center complex, 3rd underground level,  9 Diskin St. near Ramban St.  (That road's extension led to the Knesset & Israel Museum.)

It was built beneath the 2 apt. bldgs. on the left (photo from the Sup. Ct.)

Deep underground, those facilities seemed more like a bomb shelter.

Inside, it was modern and serviceable.  Having dropped my camera there while doing a handoff to Marilyn on 7/4/11, I returned for a photo on 1/1/12.

There, Dr. Sergio Lusthaus excised a potential melanoma from my scalp.  Happily, it was benign. So on 7/4/11, I was declared "free & independent" of cancer.

Dermatologist Dr. Fisher-Feld confirmed that fact on New Year's Day, 1/1/12.

Like Rambam, the name "Ramban" is an acronymn -- for Rabbi Moshe ben Naḥman ("Nahmanides" in Greek). A Jewish scholar, he lived in Spain & Israel 100 years after Rambam -- whom he sometimes had to defend. 

Rehavia Windmill.  En route, we passed this on Ramban St.  Built in the 1800s to mill grain for Christian pilgrims coming for Easter, it was moved from a farm to Rehavia in the 1980s, becoming a commercial landmark.

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Dental Services.  Dr. Anna Jotkowitz  was terrific.  She was a frequent instructor at Harvard Univ. and charged very fair prices.  In Dec. '10 she re-cemented my always-troublesome, root-canal tooth after some Christmas caramels dislodged it.  She did some other state-of-the-art work for us at her Keren Hayasod St. offices. 

We were very pleased with all necessary medical services in Jerusalem.