Beit HaKerem Hebrew:בית הכרם | |
|---|---|
Neighborhood ofJerusalem | |
 Beit HaKerem, view from east | |
 Interactive map of Beit HaKerem | |
| Country |  Israel |
| District | Jerusalem District |
| City | Jerusalem |
Beit HaKerem (Hebrew:בית הכרם;lit. "house of the vineyard") is a largely secular upscale neighborhood in southwestJerusalem.[1] It is located betweenKiryat Moshe to the northwest andBayit VeGan to the south. Beit HaKerem has a population of 15,000.[2]
Remnants from theFirst Temple,Second Temple,Byzantine andMamluk periods were discovered in a dig on HaSatat Street in 2006.[3] It is named for the biblical city of Beit Hakerem near Jerusalem[4] mentioned in Jeremiah 6:1 and Nehemiah 3:14.
The neighborhood was founded in 1922 as one of sixgarden cities developed in Jerusalem during the days of theBritish Mandate for Palestine.[5] Beit HaKerem was planned byRicard Kaufmann, an architect notable for hisBauhaus style, and was at the time separated from the rest of the city by large swaths of undeveloped land.[6] Beit Hakerem has continued to maintain its 'green' character.
According to acensus conducted in 1931 by theBritish Mandate authorities, Beit HaKerem had a population of 550 inhabitants, in 148 inhabited houses.[7]
In the 1960s and 1970s, many university professors and students sought housing in Beit Hakerem due to its proximity to theGivat Ram campus of the Hebrew University, built when theMount Scopus campus wascut off from Jerusalem in 1948.[8]Beit HaKerem tends to vote left in elections.[9][10] In the2021 Israeli legislative election, the highest number of votes from Beit HaKerem went toMeretz (23%),Labor (16%), andYesh Atid (15%).[11]
The neighborhood has 25 kindergartens, four elementary schools and three high schools considered among the most prestigious in Jerusalem.[12] TheDavid Yellin College of Education, established in 1913, is located in Beit HaKerem,[13] as is the David Shapell College of Jewish Studies.[14] A footbridge from Beit HaKerem over the Begin Highway connects to theHebrew University Secondary School and to the Givat Ram campus of theHebrew University of Jerusalem.
Gan Ha'esrim park in Beit Hakerem (Park of the Twenty) commemorates 20 residents who died in the1948 Arab–Israeli War. Denmark Square (Kikar Denya) honors the Danish people for rescuing approximately 93% percent of its Jewish population during theHolocaust. The monument in the square is shaped like a boat, recalling the boats on which Jews were smuggled to Sweden.[15] Two connecting parks for kids, Gan HaShachar and Gan HaGai, are also located in the neighborhood.
TheJerusalem Light Rail, which began service in late 2011, passes through Beit HaKerem and has three stops there—Ha-'Haluts, Denia Square and Yefe Nof—providing convenient, rapid transportation to the Jerusalem Central Bus Station, theBinyanei Hauma international convention center, the new terminus of the high-speed rail to Tel Aviv (28 minutes), Cinema City, theMachaneh Yehudah market, as well as to downtown Jerusalem, Zion Square, the Ben Yehudah pedestrian mall, Jerusalem City Hall, the Mamilla shopping mall and the Old City near Jaffa Gate and Damascus Gate.
Denmark Square in the center of Beit Hakerem adjoins a shopping center.[16]
Yad Sarah, the largest voluntary organization in Israel, which lends medical equipment and provides other services for free or at nominal costs is located in Beit HaKarem, along withShaare Zedek Medical Center, one of Jerusalem's main hospitals.
Media related toBeit Hakerem at Wikimedia Commons
31°46′44″N35°11′24″E / 31.77889°N 35.19000°E /31.77889; 35.19000