Shimon Hatzadik ("Shimon the Just")

Submitted by Sol Shalit (United States), Jul 21, 2009 at 15:44

To give you an idea about the area that's at the heart of this Jerusalem controversy, I can definitely say that the neighborhood of Shimon Hatzadik is not an Arab area far away from Jewish West Jerusalem; it is closely adjacent to it.

I grew up in Beit Israel, the adjoining neighborhood, and can well remember the hundreds of Sephardic Jews who visited and prayed at the tomb of Shimon Hatzadik ("Shimon the Just") on each and every Saturday. It was just a short walk from our home. I myself used to visit the place out of childhood curiosity.

Of course, all this came to an end in the 1948 war with the Jordanian invasion and conquest. In 1967 Israel took it back under a unified Jerusalem.

Stamford, CT

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