TEL AVIV

1. TEL AVIV FROM OLD JAFFA TO THE AZRIELLI TOWERS

2. At the beginning there was Jaffa. During most of its 4,000 years, it served as the main gate to the Land of Israel.

3. Anybody arriving at the shores of Eretz Yisrael was thrown from the ship into a boat and carried in the arms of strong Jaffa porters to shore and the colorful, “not very clean” port. They would then have to reach their destination climbing through Jaffa’s picturesque alleys, quenching their thirst with the water of the “Sabil”, and continue through the steaming, sweating Levant town. This is what the pilgrims did hundreds of years ago, and this was what the various “Alliyot” people did.

4. On their way to “Han Manouli” to catch a Dillijance, or a bed for the night, the newcomers would pass near the impressive clock tower (built during the Ottoman rule), and could also purchase something in the vibrant flee market.

5. The lively Jaffa Jewish community lead an active life throughout the generations. The building which housed the Anglo-Palestine Bank still stands in Yeffet Street (the dark plaque below), and in Jaffa-Tel Aviv Street we can still see the plaque on the building where the Gymnassia Hertzelia made its first steps.

6. However, Jaffa was a “hard city” for those who emigrated from Europe or America. Various communities gradually tried to settle outside the city’s limits. The first ones were the members of an American religious sect from Main, “The Messiah Church”, who, in 1866, built the impressive buildings shown here. But after three years only, poverty and disease forced them to sell the houses to the German Templars, who also built Sharona (today’s Kirya), and who enjoyed tremendous financial and agricultural success. The impressive church and buildings (some of them restored) still stand in Hoffman Street.

7. though the house it self was not refined on the outside, the inside rooms were, and the house is used as an art galery In the year 1883 Mr. Aharon Shlush built this house on the outskirts of Jaffe. As the place was in the middle of nowhere, his family dared to move in only around 1887, after the foundation of “Neve Tzedek” near by.

8. Abird’s eye-view of Neve-Tzedek today. The neighborhood, which was started in 1887, gradually deteriorated over the years, and the broken shutters below speak for themselves. In recent years the need to preserve and restore the neighborhood to its former beauty finally convinced the authorities to take the necessary measures, and the area is changing its appearance…

9. This is how some restored sections of Neve-Tzedek look today (at the left). At the heart of the neighborhood stands the Suzanne Dellal Center for dance and theatre (below).

10. During a period of ten years, more quarters were established adjacent toNeve-Tzedek. In 1890 Neve-Shalom, in 1896 Mahane Yehuda, better known as the Yemenite-Vineyard, in 1899 Achva quarter, built by wealthy Ashkenazi Jews. In 1902, as a result of a Cholera outbreak, the mayor forbade the burial of the dead within the town’s boundary. The head of the Jewish community in Jaffa, Mr. Shimon Rokach purchased 12 dunams of land and established a Cemetery, known today as the Trumpeldor Cemetery in the south of Tel-Aviv.

11. The first person to be buried in the new cemetery was a “Galmood”- an anonymous new immigrant without any relations, whose headstone supports the southern section of the cemetery wall. The second was Nishka Bromberg buried exactly opposite in the northern boundary of the cemetery. Their graves marked the borders of the cemetery when a surrounding wall was built ten years later.

12. Like many old cemeteries, this one too tells the history of the town and its people. On the right is a mass grave (of which there are quite a few) of the victims of the 1921 pogrom. Above on the right is the grave of Yehuda & Fanya Matmon- the founders & teachers of the Hertzelia High School. In an area of their own some of the more famous national figures like the national poet Haim Nachman Biyalik, Nordau, and others (and their little wives…) On the left – the grave pf the legendary 1st Mayor of Tel-Aviv -Meir Dizingoff, & his wife Zina.

13. This simple, humble grave-stone deserves much greater honor than it actually gets. Akiva Arie Weiss emigrated to Palestine in 1906 and became the first advocate for getting out of stuffy old Jaffa. He was head of the committee of “Ahuzat-Bayit” and was the chief instigator of the city of Tel-Aviv three years later. Below, is the grave of his daughter called, …”Ahuzabit “ born in 1910 and named after the city just established by her father.

14. In April 1909, after overcoming administrative and financial difficulties, the building of “Ahusat Bayit” finally started in an event called “The Sea Shell Lottery” (The names of people and plots of land were written on sea shells collected from the sea). Jewish strongmen straightened the sand dunes, and Arab contractors were hired to build the houses. Hertzel Street emerged from the dunes…

15. The first house to be built in Ahuzat-Bayit was the house of Reuven Segal at 25 Yehuda Halevi Str. It was demolished years ago. But the second house, built for Akiva Weiss at no. 2 Hertzel Str. was beautifully renovated and a second floor was added. Here it can be seen in all its glory.

16. In 1909 the Hertzelia High School was built in the middle of Herzel Street, a fact which turned it into an obstruction as the city grew and spread out. However, at the beginning it attracted many visitors, as can be seen in the pictures of the painter Nahum Guttman.

17. The same view of Hertzel str. today, with the Shalom –Tower, 140 meters tall, taking the place of the Hertzelia High School demolished in 1958.

18. In 1910 the name of Ahuzat-Buyit was changed to Tel-Aviv. The name was suggested by Mr. Shenkin who had gotten the idea from Theodor Hertzel’s book “Alt Neuland”. In 1911 Akiva Weiss resigned from his post as head of the committee of Ahuzat Bayit, and was replaced by the mythological Meir Dizengoff who became the first Mayor of Tel-Aviv. Dizengoff was determined to erase the name of Akiva Weiss from the history of the city, and only many years later the municipality named a small street after him. Meir Dizengoff built his house in 1910 on Rothchild Blv. He left the house to the city, which renovated it and added another floor, and it was from there that David Ben-Gurion read the Declaration of the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. Today the house is a museum.

19. In Rothchild Boulevard trees were planted and Kiosks were put up.A few of them – how unbelievable - are still functioning today.

20. Litvinsky house-Hehad-Aham 22 Many of Tel Aviv’s first houses were built in an “Eclectic”, personal style which reflected the fulfillment of the owners’ various dreams. The house of Ben Zakay str. no.2 The "Pagoda House” on the corner off nachmany / montifyory str.

21. On Hertzel str no. 16 an impressive commercial building was built by a business man called Zvi Arie Pansk. In its courtyard was installed the first elevator in town. Push to operate it This is how the elevator looks today, neglected.

22. The end of Allenby str. circa 1920, with camels walking along, and Jaffa seen in the far distance. 1 2 Herbert Samuel Square in the 1960’s with a double-decker bus. Below is the same square today, with Jaffa still in the background. 3

23. Below is a 1914 announcement about the opening of the first cinema theatre in town, named “Eden”, together with a “first class” refreshment shop.

24. The “Eden” cinema theatre was purchased and restored by Bank Le’Umi, which uses it as its’ archive. The kiosk still stands, too, selling sandwiches and drinks.

25. In the 1930’s a sizable group of architects, who were graduates of the Bauhaus – school, arrivedfrom Germany. They built hundreds of buildings in Tel-Aviv, and a large number of them survived (unlike Europe, where they were destroyed during the 2nd WW). Because of them Tel Aviv was declared an Unesco World Heritage Site. Rotchild Blv. The Boat-House on Levanda str. Zina Dizingoff square

26. During the Arab revolt in 1936, the British-Mandate in Palestine allowed the Jews to build a new port in Tel-Aviv. It was active for 30 years until the Ashdod Port was opened in 1965, replacing the ports of Jaffa and T.A. Today it is an entertainment center.

27. On the left is the famous Shapira House in what is called “The –Nameless Alley”. In 1922 a wealthy business man called Shapira built a new neighborhood for the better-off, which he named “Shapira Alley” after himself. Meir Dizengoff the Mayor did not like the idea and expressed his objection. When he arrived for a visit riding his horse, an argument broke out between the two, and, according to some, they even came to blows. Eventually the angry Mayor declared: “This alley will never be named”. And so, indeed, this alley is known as the”Nameless –Alley” to this very day !!! And this is the lion which stands guard at Mr. Shapira’s front door. .

28. Meir Dizengoff, Tel Aviv first Mayor, died on October 4, 1936. The picture on the right depicts themunicipalitybuildingand thethousands of mourners who came to the funeral. The same building today serves as a museum. The New Municipality building of Tel-Aviv opened in 1968, on Ibn-Gevirolstr.

29. In recent decades, the Tel Aviv sky line has been filling up with hundreds of high rises, changing its “innocent” appearance. To the right - the sea shore as seen from Jaffa. Below - is the same view from the Shalom –Tower.

30. Your Towers, Tel-Aviv… Above: the Diamond Exchange buildings on the border of T.A. & Ramat-Gan. On the left is the tallest one - the “ Aviv-Tower “. Levinstein Tower

31. And last but not least: the glorious Azrielli Towers. Beautiful to look at, and wonderful to look from.

32. The view from the Azrielli –Towers towards the Diamond-Exchange area in the city of Ramat-Gan.

33. The story of Tel-Aviv, the city which never takes a break, is completed – but not finished… Morag igal -morag-i@013.net.il English version – Gila kaye I invite you to visit my site, please klik on the link below: http://morag.artvision.co.il