Ben Yehuda Street known as the "Midrachov" is a major street in downtown Jerusalem, Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

. It is now a pedestrian mall

Pedestrian mall

Pedestrian malls in the United States are also known as pedestrian streets and are the most common form of pedestrian zone in large cities in the United States. It is a street lined with storefronts and closed off to most automobile traffic...

 and closed to vehicular traffic. The street runs from the intersection of King George Street

King George Street (Jerusalem)

King George Street is a street in central Jerusalem, Israel. It was named for King George V on December 9, 1924.-History:King George Street was dedicated in honor of the seventh anniversary of the British conquest of Jerusalem under General Allenby...

 to Zion Square

Zion Square

Zion Square is a public square at the east end of the Ben Yehuda Street Pedestrian Mall in downtown Jerusalem. It abuts Jaffa Road, Herbert Samuel Street and Yoel Moshe Salomon Street as well....

 and Jaffa Road

Jaffa Road

Jaffa Road is one of the longest and oldest 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 Aviv highway. It is lined with shops, businesses and restaurants...

. The street is named after the founder of Modern Hebrew

Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...

, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda

Eliezer Ben-Yehuda

Eliezer Ben‑Yehuda was a Jewish lexicographer and newspaper editor. He was the driving spirit behind the revival of the Hebrew language in the modern era.-Biography:...

.

History

Ben Yehuda Street was a main street in Jerusalem even before the founding of the state. As a busy thoroughfare, it has been a prime target for terrorist bombings.

In 1983, the street was closed to automobile traffic. In Hebrew it is called a midrachov (pedestrian mall — a Hebrew neologism formed from the words "midracha" [sidewalk] and "rechov" [street]. Many of the businesses cater to tourists. The street is lined with souvenir and Judaica shops and sidewalk cafes, and street musicians play there throughout the day. It was long considered the "secular heart of Jerusalem," but since the 2000s, disaffected Orthodox Jewish

Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...

 youth have joined the mix of tourists and locals.

See also

• Ben Yehuda Street bombings