A Very Old Neighborhood

I spent two days in Tel Aviv this past week. I did and saw a lot less than I thought I would.  I took my time and just enjoyed what I was seeing rather than rushing through to check sites off my list.  What a pleasure.

 

Neve Tzedek, located in south Tel Aviv, was the first Jewish neighborhood to be founded outside of ancient walls of the Jaffa port.  The neighborhood is quite lovely, with colorful flowers throughout.  Its narrow streets and beautiful historic buildings give us hints as to what the area was like in earlier times.

Agnon House

 More commonly known as the Agnon House, the house is also worth recognizing as the Abulafia House.   The house was built in 1907 when Shlomo and Rebecca Abulofia were married.  Shlomo’s great-grandfather was one of the first to arrive in Israel in the 16^th century following the Alhambra decree in Spain. In building the house in Neve Tzedek the Abulafia family became one of the first landowners that founded Tel Aviv.  Abulafia is a well known name in the Seattle Sephardic Community (and the name of my hairdresser - Joseph Abulafia of Salon Joseph).  In 1908 Shlomo and Rebecca rented the attic to Shmuel Yosef Czaczkes who later became a well known Nobel author, better known as S.Y. Agnon.  The house is actually mentioned in Agnon’s book “Only Yesterday”.

The Agnon / Abulafia house is now occupied by glass artists Hava and Dani Ronat. I was very impressed with Hava’s jewelry that she creates out of beads she makes herself.   Dani’s work in stained glass was also seen throughout the house. 

Built in 1914 the Eden Cinema was the first of its kind in Tel Aviv.  It was quite a a sophisticated facility at the time, also holding opera, theater performances and elegant balls.   In 1927 a second theater was built right next to the first.  Each holding 800 seats, the two featured silent films shown with a live orchestra providing the music.

Eden Theater

My favorite story about the cinemas describes an officer of the Tel Aviv police who was attending a screening where a mail train was being robbed.  The officer jumped right up to the train’s rescue, pulled out his gun and fired directly into the screen.

The cinema was finally closed in 1974 and has stood neglected for many years.  It was recently purchased by a private investor and the front of it will be preserved.

The Suzanne Dellal Center is the home of two modern dance groups – the Batsheva Dance Company and the Inbal Dance Group.  Also a home for the children’s theater group Orja Porat, the Center also holds many outdoor activities and festivals throughout the year.

Once an educational compound, it was the home of two schools – one for boys and one for girls.  The schools were managed by three Zionist organizations and not surprisingly, there was a lot of tension among them, primarily about the languages spoken in the schools.  The organizations that supported speaking Hebrew took over the girls’ school and the other that supported learning to speak French took over the boys’ school.   Parents who were strong Zionists and wanted their sons to learn Hebrew sent them to the girls’ school.   Several well known male Israeli’s, including the painter Nahum Gutman and the former prime minister Moshe Sharet, both attended the girls’ school.


The schools ultimately closed due to low attendance, and in 1989 the buildings were purchased by the Dellai family of London, who named it in memory of their daughter Suzanne.  The campus is open and quite lovely, with citrus trees planted throughout. 

The Rokach House was the first house built in Neve Tzedek, in 1887 by Shimon Rokach. The house has been preserved as it was originally built and now serves as the home of a collection of photographs of the early neighborhood.  What I like best about the house, however, is its other function.  It serves as the private muse to display the sculptures of Lea Majaro Mintz, Shimon Rokach's granddaughter.  Majaro Mintz saved and restored the house when it was scheduled for demolition. 

Restaurant Rice: xxx, Moroccan and Yeminite

Nearby Neve Tzedek is the Yeminite quarter, Kerem Ha-Teimanim.  The neighborhood architecture was based on the designs of the former Jewish ghettos in Yemen with colonial British and ancient Hebrew features.  I was curious to go there because my son-in-law Ilya's family has a long Yeminite history. 



In Neve Tzedek I actually found Rahov Shar'abi (Sharaby Street) - Sharaby is the last name of Ilya's Aunt Lena and Uncle Dave z"l.

Before returning to Petach Tikvah where I was staying with my cousins, the Goldreich's, I did want to find the Levinski Market, a five block area set in the Florentin neighborhood in south Tel Aviv. The neighborhood, and subsequently the shuk, was founded in the 1920's first by Greeks, followed by Turks and Bulgarians in the '30's.  The Florentin neighborhood was named after Solomon Florentin, the first vendor in the area.  His uncle, David Florentin, was part of a small group from Saloniki Greece that were leaders in developing the city of Tel Aviv. 

This shuk (market) is quite different than the Carmel Market in Tel Aviv and Machane Yehuda in Jerusalem in that each vendor has a separate shop along the streets rather than being inside a defined and covered building.  This area is quite unique because many of the shops have been there for 60-80 years, and managed by multiple generations of the same families.  

The shuk (market) contain bakeries, spice shops, delicatessens, fish stores and other shops selling olives, grains, sweets and a myriad of other wonderful items. The magazine, Food and Wine, named Levinski Market one of the top spice shops in the world.  

Mosaic panels showing the history of Neve Tzedek

Following is a recipe for Gundi,  a popular soup from one of the Persian restaurants in Levinski Market.  The recipe is from an article about Levinski Market in the February, 2013 issue of Saveur magazine

Gundi - Persian Chicken Meatball Soup

Ingredients

¼ cup canola oil
1 lb. chicken wings
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 medium onions (2 roughly chopped, 1 minced)
3 medium carrots, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
8 cups chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1½ lb. ground chicken
1½ cups chickpea flour
2½ tsp. ground turmeric
2 tsp. ground coriander
1½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. ground cardamom

Instructions
1. Heat 3 tbsp. oil in an 8-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Season wings with salt and pepper; cook, turning once, until browned, about 13 minutes. Add roughly chopped onions, carrots, and garlic, and cook, stirring, until soft, about 8 minutes. Add stock, bay leaf, and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; cook until slightly reduced, about 25 minutes. Strain broth, discard solids, and return broth to pan.

2. Meanwhile, heat remaining oil in a 12" skillet over medium-high heat. Add minced onion; cook until soft, 3–4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and mix with remaining ingredients. Using wet hands, divide mixture into six 3" balls. Bring broth to a simmer; add meatballs. Cook, partially covered, until cooked through, about 17 minutes. To serve, divide broth and meatballs among 6 bowls.