Kanfei Nesharim Street (Jerusalem)
Encyclopedia
Kanfei Nesharim Street is a major east-west thoroughfare in the Givat Shaul
neighborhood of western Jerusalem. Unlike most Jerusalem streets, Kanfei Nesharim is a wide thoroughfare with two traffic lanes in each direction, separated by a median
, and spans three kilometers in a straight line. It connects the neighborhood of Kiryat Moshe
on the east to Har Nof
on the west, and includes the modern commercial strip of office buildings, stores and restaurants in what is termed Givat Shaul Bet.
to airlift the entire community of more than 40,000 Yemenite Jews
to Israel in 1949-1950. Officially code-named "Wings of Eagles" (though colloquially referred to as "Operation Magic Carpet"), this operation was named after the Biblical description of God
taking the Israelites out of Egypt
and protecting them through their wanderings in the desert "on eagles' wings" (Exodus 19:4).
, when convoys were often attacked on the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway
, the back roads from Tel Aviv — like the one leading to Givat Shaul — became crucially important. In late 1946, the Haganah
straightened and paved the road in order to use it as a landing strip
. At the height of the siege, the Haganah flew in supplies, armaments, food and even soldiers on this runway.
On 3 April 1948, the Haganah launched Operation Nachshon
to capture the high ground on both sides of the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway. On 9 April it fought to regain Castel (at Latrun
); simultaneously, the Irgun
and Lehi
forces attacked the Deir Yassin
village at the western end of Kanfei Nesharim Street. Many of the inhabitants were killed in the attack, now known as the Deir Yassin massacre
. The Israelis expelled the surviving residents and repopulated the area with Orthodox Jewish
immigrants from Poland, Romania, and Slovakia; the center of the village was renamed Givat Shaul Bet. Today, the remaining buildings of Deir Yassin are part of the Kfar Shaul Mental Health Center
at the border between Givat Shaul Bet and Har Nof.
, running roughly parallel and to the south, remained largely industrial with discount supermarkets and outlet stores that attract bargain shoppers.
The development of Kanfei Nesharim Street also aided the Haredi
Jewish residents of Har Nof from a halakhic
standpoint: With a contiguous stretch of buildings leading from Har Nof to the Old City, Har Nof could now be halakhically considered "part" of Jerusalem and could observe Shushan Purim on 15 Adar
as opposed to Purim
on 14 Adar
.
Kanfei Nesharim Street is home to these government offices:
The New York State Department of Economic Development also maintains an office here.
Givat Shaul
Givat Shaul is a neighborhood in western Jerusalem named after the Rishon Lezion, Rabbi Yaakov Shaul Elyashar, the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, and not, as commonly believed, for the biblical King Saul, whose capital was probably located on the hill Gibeah of Saul near Pisgat Ze'ev, on the way...
neighborhood of western Jerusalem. Unlike most Jerusalem streets, Kanfei Nesharim is a wide thoroughfare with two traffic lanes in each direction, separated by a median
Median
In probability theory and statistics, a median is described as the numerical value separating the higher half of a sample, a population, or a probability distribution, from the lower half. The median of a finite list of numbers can be found by arranging all the observations from lowest value to...
, and spans three kilometers in a straight line. It connects the neighborhood of Kiryat Moshe
Kiryat Moshe
Kiryat Moshe is a neighborhood in western Jerusalem, Israel named for the British Jewish philanthropist Moses Montefiore. Kiryat Moshe is bordered by Givat Shaul.-History:...
on the east to Har Nof
Har Nof
Har Nof is a neighborhood on a hillside on the western boundary of Jerusalem, Israel, with a population of 20,000 residents, primarily Orthodox Jews.-History:...
on the west, and includes the modern commercial strip of office buildings, stores and restaurants in what is termed Givat Shaul Bet.
Name
The street was named after the operationOperation Magic Carpet (Yemen)
Operation Magic Carpet is a widely-known nickname for Operation On Wings of Eagles , an operation between June 1949 and September 1950 that brought 49,000 Yemenite Jews to the new state of Israel. British and American transport planes made some 380 flights from Aden, in a secret operation that was...
to airlift the entire community of more than 40,000 Yemenite Jews
Yemenite Jews
Yemenite Jews are those Jews who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen . Between June 1949 and September 1950, the overwhelming majority of Yemen's Jewish population was transported to Israel in Operation Magic Carpet...
to Israel in 1949-1950. Officially code-named "Wings of Eagles" (though colloquially referred to as "Operation Magic Carpet"), this operation was named after the Biblical description of God
Names of God
Names of God, or Holy Names, describe a form of addressing God present in liturgy or prayer of various world religions. Prayer involving the Holy Name or the Name of God has become established as common spiritual practice in both Western and Eastern spiritual practices...
taking the Israelites out of Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
and protecting them through their wanderings in the desert "on eagles' wings" (Exodus 19:4).
History
The land on which Kanfei Nesharim Street lies was originally a dirt road leading out of Givat Shaul toward a cluster of Arab villages on the western perimeter of Jerusalem. During the Arab siege of JerusalemSiege of Jerusalem (1948)
The Battle for Jerusalem occurred from 30 November 1947 to 11 June 1948 when Jewish and Arab population of Mandatory Palestine and later Israeli and Jordanian armies fought for the control of the city....
, when convoys were often attacked on the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway
Highway 1 (Israel)
Highway 1 , is the main highway connecting Tel Aviv with Jerusalem.-History:The section between Latrun and Jerusalem roughly follows an ancient path connecting Jaffa and Jerusalem...
, the back roads from Tel Aviv — like the one leading to Givat Shaul — became crucially important. In late 1946, the Haganah
Haganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
straightened and paved the road in order to use it as a landing strip
Runway
According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...
. At the height of the siege, the Haganah flew in supplies, armaments, food and even soldiers on this runway.
On 3 April 1948, the Haganah launched Operation Nachshon
Operation Nachshon
Operation Nachshon was an Jewish military operation during the 1948 war. Lasting from 5–20 April 1948, its objective was to break the Siege of Jerusalem by opening the Tel-Aviv - Jerusalem road blockaded by Palestinian Arabs and to supply food and weapons to the isolated Jewish community of...
to capture the high ground on both sides of the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway. On 9 April it fought to regain Castel (at Latrun
Latrun
Latrun is a strategic hilltop in the Ayalon Valley in Israel overlooking the road to Jerusalem. It is located 25 kilometers west of Jerusalem and 14 kilometers southeast of Ramla.-Etymology:...
); simultaneously, the Irgun
Irgun
The Irgun , or Irgun Zevai Leumi to give it its full title , was a Zionist paramilitary group that operated in Mandate Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of the earlier and larger Jewish paramilitary organization haHaganah...
and Lehi
Lehi (group)
Lehi , commonly referred to in English as the Stern Group or Stern Gang, was a militant Zionist group founded by Avraham Stern in the British Mandate of Palestine...
forces attacked the Deir Yassin
Deir Yassin
Deir Yassin was a Palestinian Arab village of around 600 people near Jerusalem. It had declared its neutrality during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine between Arabs and Jews...
village at the western end of Kanfei Nesharim Street. Many of the inhabitants were killed in the attack, now known as the Deir Yassin massacre
Deir Yassin massacre
The Deir Yassin massacre took place on April 9, 1948, when around 120 fighters from the Irgun Zevai Leumi and Lohamei Herut Israel Zionist paramilitary groups attacked Deir Yassin near Jerusalem, a Palestinian-Arab village of roughly 600 people...
. The Israelis expelled the surviving residents and repopulated the area with 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...
immigrants from Poland, Romania, and Slovakia; the center of the village was renamed Givat Shaul Bet. Today, the remaining buildings of Deir Yassin are part of the Kfar Shaul Mental Health Center
Kfar Shaul Mental Health Center
Kfar Shaul Mental Health Center , established in 1951, is an Israeli public psychiatric hospital located between Givat Shaul and Har Nof, Jerusalem. It is affiliated with the Hadassah Medical Center and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem...
at the border between Givat Shaul Bet and Har Nof.
Commercial development
A spate of building in the 1980s and 1990s brought stylish office buildings, chain stores and restaurants to what until then had been a sparsely populated street. In contrast, Beit Hadfus StreetBeit Hadfus Street
Beit Hadfus Street , also spelled Beit Hadefus, is an east-west street in the Givat Shaul industrial zone in western Jerusalem.-Name:Beit Hadfus Street was constructed in the 1960s and named for the printing houses that established themselves there....
, running roughly parallel and to the south, remained largely industrial with discount supermarkets and outlet stores that attract bargain shoppers.
The development of Kanfei Nesharim Street also aided the Haredi
Haredi Judaism
Haredi or Charedi/Chareidi Judaism is the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, often referred to as ultra-Orthodox. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
Jewish residents of Har Nof from a halakhic
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
standpoint: With a contiguous stretch of buildings leading from Har Nof to the Old City, Har Nof could now be halakhically considered "part" of Jerusalem and could observe Shushan Purim on 15 Adar
Adar
Adar is the sixth month of the civil year and the twelfth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a winter month of 29 days...
as opposed to Purim
Purim
Purim is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire from destruction in the wake of a plot by Haman, a story recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther .Purim is celebrated annually according to the Hebrew calendar on the 14th...
on 14 Adar
Adar
Adar is the sixth month of the civil year and the twelfth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a winter month of 29 days...
.
Government offices
- Directorate of Judicial Courts
- Income Tax Commission
- Israel Anti-Drug Authority
- Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection
- Israel Securities AuthorityIsrael Securities AuthorityThe Israel Securities Authority is the national securities regulator of Israel.-Mandate:Its mandate is to protect the interests of the public investing in securities, as stipulated in the Law...
- Israel Central Bureau of StatisticsIsrael Central Bureau of StatisticsThe Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , abbreviated CBS, is an Israeli government office established in 1949 to carry out research and publish statistical data on all aspects of Israeli life, including population, society, economy, industry, education and physical infrastructure.It is headed by a...
- National Authority of Religious Services
The New York State Department of Economic Development also maintains an office here.