Sha'arei Hesed (also Sha'arei Chessed) (, lit. ''Gates of Loving-kindness'') is a neighborhood in central

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, bordering

Rehavia Rehavia or Rechavia (, ) is an upscale neighbourhood in Jerusalem. It is bordered by Nachlaot and Sha'arei Hesed to the north, Talbiya and Kiryat Shmuel, Jerusalem, Kiryat Shmuel to the south, and the Valley of the Cross to the west. Rehavia was ...

, Nahlaot and Kiryat Wolfson.

History

One of the founders of the neighborhood was Yoel Moshe Salomon, who also founded Nahalat Shiv'a. The cornerstone was laid by the

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

chief rabbi of Jerusalem,

Rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

Shmuel Salant, in 1909. Rabbi Salant and Rabbi Naftali Porush established a building fund with donations from abroad to build small apartments for religious Jews in Jerusalem. The first 114 houses were built on long, narrow plots of land with a small yard in front or back.

Today

In recent years, Sha'arei Hesed has become a modern

Haredi Haredi Judaism (, ) is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that is characterized by its strict interpretation of religious sources and its accepted (Jewish law) and traditions, in opposition to more accommodating values and practices. Its members are ...

neighborhood, as old-time Jerusalemites move out. The area is undergoing

gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...

, and many homes have been purchased by affluent

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...

families from abroad, especially from English-speaking and French-speaking countries. The neighborhood has several

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

s, among them Maalos Hatorah, Midrash Shmuel and Noam HaTalmud, along with a large number of

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

Notable residents

PikiWiki Israel 87672 shaarei chesed neighborhood in jerusalem

A sign for the establishment of the Shaare Chesed neighborhood in Jerusalem

* Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Charlap, rabbi of Sha'arei Hesed and

Rosh Yeshiva Rosh yeshiva or Rosh Hayeshiva (, plural, pl. , '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and th ...

of the Mercaz HaRav

Yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

* Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach * Shmuel Auerbach * Rav Sholom Schwadron * Rav Dov Berish Weidenfeld (Tchebiner Rav) * Avraham David Rosenthal * Mordechai Leib Kaminetzky

References

{{Coord, 31, 46, 46.63, N, 35, 12, 40.49, E, display=title Neighbourhoods of Jerusalem 1909 establishments in the Ottoman Empire Populated places established in 1909