Kerem Avraham is a neighbourhood near Geula

Geula

Geula is a neighborhood in the center of Jerusalem, Israel populated mainly by Haredi Jews. Geula is bordered by Zikhron Moshe and Mekor Baruch on the west, the Bukharim neighborhood on the north, Meah Shearim on the east and the Jerusalem city center on the south.-History:Geula was established in...

 in central Jerusalem, Israel

Israel

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

, founded in 1855. It is bounded by Malchei Yisrael St, Yechezkel St, Tsefanya St and the Schneller Compound.

History

Kerem Avraham was established by James Finn

James Finn

James Finn was a British Consul in Jerusalem, in the then Ottoman Empire . He arrived in 1845 with his wife Elizabeth Anne Finn. Finn was a devout Christian, who belonged to the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews, but who did not engage in missionary work during his years in...

, British

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

 Consul

Consul (representative)

The political title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the peoples of the two countries...

 in Ottoman

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 Jerusalem, and his wife Elizabeth Anne Finn

Elizabeth Anne Finn

Elizabeth Finn was a writer and "the strong-willed and intelligent" wife of James Finn, British Consul in Jerusalem, in Ottoman Palestine between 1846 and 1863....

. Finn was a devout Christian, who belonged to the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews, but who did not engage in missionary work during his years in Jerusalem.

In 1853, Finn purchased for £250 Karm al-Khalil (Arabic for "Abraham's Vineyard", vineyard of the loved one, which in Hebrew became Kerem Avraham) a barren piece of land outside the walls of the Old City. Kerem Avraham was established as a training farm for Jews in agriculture and to become productive citizens, rather than relying on the halukka

Halukka

The halukka was an organized distribution and collection of funds for the residents of the Yishuv haYashan in the Holy Land; which were organized into Kolelim...

, i.e., the distribution of charity from abroad, which was the norm in Jerusalem in those days.

Finn employed Jewish laborers to build the first house there in 1855. Cisterns for water storage were built and a soap factory was established which produced high quality soap sold to tourists. The manager was a Christian named Dunn who believed he was a descendant of the tribe of Dan

Tribe of Dan

The Tribe of Dan, also sometimes spelled as "Dann", was one of the Tribes of Israel. Though known mostly from biblical sources, they were possibly descendants of the Denyen Sea Peoples who joined with Hebrews...

.
Israeli novelist Amos Oz

Amos Oz

Amos Oz is an Israeli writer, novelist, and journalist. He is also a professor of literature at Ben-Gurion University in Be'er Sheva....

 grew up in Kerem Avraham in the 1940s. Most of the residents of Kerem Avraham today are Orthodox.