Baruch Mizrachi ( he, בית ברוך מזרחי, ''Beit Baruch Mizrachi'', "House of Baruch Mizrachi") is an old

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, whose ancestor came to

in 1621 and bought five houses in what is now called the

Old City Old City often refers to old town, the historic or original core of a city or town. Old City may refer to several places: Historical cities or regions of cities ''(by country)'' *Old City (Baku), Azerbaijan * Old City (Dhaka), Bangladesh, also ca ...

. In 1643, Mizrachi wrote a

will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

bequeathing the houses to his sons, yet preventing them from selling the houses, and obliging them to bequeath the houses to their sons, so that when the

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...

comes, Mizrahi will be able to return and live in his houses. The houses passed from generation to generation, and were the main reason that the family didn't leave Jerusalem (many other Jewish families left the city because of the economic conditions at the time). The houses were leased by the family members since the turn of the 20th century to an Arab family, while the family members built their houses outside the walls surrounding the Old City.

Post-independence

In 1948, the Old City was conquered by the Jordanian army, and the same

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

family continued living in the houses. When Israel conquered

East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the sector of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to the western sector of the city, West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Jerusalem was envisaged as a separat ...

in 1967, the family members returned to the houses and claimed ownership to the property. At the time, the Israeli authorities expropriated and demolished all the houses in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem in order to build a new neighborhood, and hence the family members were able to collect only compensation, which they felt they were not allowed to collect because of Baruch Mizrachi's will. Instead it was agreed that on the new building, a plaque would be mounted with the family's story. Jerusalem mayors

Teddy Kollek Theodor "Teddy" Kollek ( he, טדי קולק; 27 May 1911 – 2 January 2007) was an Israeli politician who served as the mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation. Kollek was re-elected five times, in 1969, 197 ...

Uri Lupolianski Uri Lupolianski ( he, אורי לופוליאנסקי; born 1951) was mayor of Jerusalem from 2003 to 2008 and founder of Yad Sarah. Biography Born August 29, 1951 in Haifa, Israel, Lupolianski studied at the Yavne School in Haifa and then attende ...

and

Nir Barkat Nir Barkat ( he, נִיר בַּרְקָת; born 19 October 1959) is an Israeli businessman and politician. He served as mayor of Jerusalem between the years 2008–2018. Biography Nir Barkat was raised in Jerusalem. His father, Zalman, was a ...

promised that upon the arrival of the Messiah, Baruch Mizrachi will be able to receive from the municipality five new houses in Jerusalem.

Descendants

Several descendants of the family are known today, including former

Israeli president The president of the State of Israel ( he, נְשִׂיא מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, Nesi Medinat Yisra'el, or he, נְשִׂיא הַמְדִינָה, Nesi HaMedina, President of the State) is the head of state of Israel. The posi ...

Yitzhak Navon Yitzhak Rachamim Navon ( he, יצחק נבון; 9 April 1921 – 6 November 2015) was an Israeli politician, diplomat, playwright, and author. He served as the fifth President of Israel between 1978 and 1983 as a member of the centre-left ...

and Gilead Sher, an Israeli peace negotiator.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baruch Mizrachi Family Families from Jerusalem 17th century in Jerusalem Israeli families Israeli Mizrahi Jews Jews in Ottoman Palestine Jews in Mandatory Palestine Jews and Judaism in Jerusalem