Givat Shaul

Givat Shaul is named after the Rishon Lezion, Rabbi Yaakov Shaul Elyashar, the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel,[1] and not, as commonly believed, for the biblical King Saul, whose capital was probably located on the hill Gibeah of Saul near Pisgat Ze'ev, on the way to Ramallah.[2]

Givat Shaul was established in 1906 on land purchased from the Arab villages of Deir Yassin and Lifta by a society headed by Rabbi Nissim Elyashar, Arieh Leib and Moshe Kopel Kantrovitz. Difficulties in registering the land delayed construction until 1919. The first residents were needy families who were given small plots to grow fresh produce that was marketed in Jerusalem.[3] These families, mainly Yemenite Jews, were joined by others from Meah Shearim and the Old City.[1] The Ashkenazim built the first public building, Beit Knesset HaPerushim. In 1912, an embroidery and sewing workshop was opened with the help of a Jewish philanthropist, Rabbi Slutzkin. Other industries established in Givat Shaul were the Froumine biscuit factory, a factory for kerosene heaters that manufactured arms for the British army during the British Mandate of Palestine, and a matza factory.[2] In 1927, the Diskin Orphanage moved to Givat Shaul from the Old City. This building, designed by a local architect named Tabachnik, was home to 500 orphan boys.[2]

According to a census conducted in 1931 by the British Mandate authorities, Givat Shaul had a population of 966 inhabitants, in 152 inhabited houses.[4]

Kfar Shaul Mental Health Center

A long, dirt track separated Givat Shaul from a cluster of Arab villages, including Deir Yassin, with whom the Jews maintained good relations. In late 1946, the Haganah straightened and paved the dirt track in order to use it as a landing strip. During the Battle for Jerusalem in 1948, the Haganah flew in supplies, armaments, food, and troops on this runway. After the war, this road became known as Kanfei Nesharim Street.[5][6]

In January 1948, the leaders of Givat Shaul met with the mukhtar of Deir Yassin to work out a non-aggression pact: if armed militia entered Deir Yassin, the villagers would hang out laundry in a certain sequence or place lanterns in a particular location. In return, patrols from Givat Shaul guaranteed safe passage to Deir Yassin residents, in vehicles or on foot, passing through their neighborhood on the way to Jerusalem.[7] Over time, Deir Yassin became a halfway site for Arab forces moving from Ein Karem and Malha to al-Qastal and Kolonia, which overlooked the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway.

On 9 April 1948, Deir Yassin was attacked by Irgun and Lehi forces[8] and between 100 and 110 villagers were killed during the fights or massacred afterward. The population that had not fled was expelled. The rumours about this massacre also contributed to the trigger of the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight.[9]

In 1951, the abandoned buildings were used to house a therapeutic community of 300 patients called the Kfar Shaul Government Work Village for Mental Patients.[10] The majority of patients were Holocaust survivors.[11]

Partial view of Angel Bakeries' flour pipeline, which conveys flour directly from the flour mill to the silos (left) to the bakery (right), spanning Beit Hadfus Street in Givat Shaul.

After 1948, the Givat Shaul industrial zone expanded with factories and warehouses. Angel's Bakery moved to its present location here in 1958. The Angel brothers and co-CEOs Avraham, Ovadia, and Danny, commissioned a Texas company to construct a 750-foot pipeline to convey flour directly from the mill to the silo to the bakery. Today this pipeline brings 120 tons of flour to the bakery daily. The invention, initially opposed by the Jerusalem municipality for being above-ground, won the Kaplan Prize for distinction in productivity and efficiency.[12] The bakery's landmark factory store opened in 1984.[13]

Berman's Bakery, founded in 1875 by Mrs. Kreshe Berman as a cottage industry in the Old City, moved to its present location down the road from Angel's in 1965. A new street, Beit Hadfus Street, was constructed to reach the new bakery.[14] This new street was named "Street of the Printing Press" for the many printing establishments also located here.[15] These include two large book publishing houses, Keter Publishing House (established in 1958)[16] and Feldheim Publishers, which established its Israel branch in the 1960s.[17] Old City Press has operated here since 1969.[18]

Since the late 1980s, aging industrial plants have been replaced by housing projects in Givat Shaul Bet.[19]

The population consists of a mix of Haredi and Religious Zionist Jews. The northernmost part of the neighborhood, directly above Highway 1, is mostly Haredi, while residents of the southern part, bordering Kiryat Moshe, are mostly Modern Orthodox Religious Zionists.

Har HaMenuchot cemetery

On the northwestern ridge of the neighborhood lies Har HaMenuchot, Jerusalem's largest cemetery. Between the northern section of Givat Shaul and the cemetery is another commercial zone consisting of several large stores and office buildings. The Herzog psychiatric hospital,[33] Egged's bus maintenance facility, and the main depot for the Jerusalem municipality's sanitation services are also located here.

• Mordechai Eliyahu
• Aharon Tausig[20]
• Avrohom Yitzchok Ulman
• Shlomo Wolbe[34]
• Mordechai Zuckerman[35]

• Angel Bakeries
• Berman's Bakery
• Kramer Electronics, Ltd.
• Feldheim Publishers
• Keter Publishing House
• Yehuda Matzos

• Media related to Givat Shaul at Wikimedia Commons

31°47′21.57″N 35°11′30.73″E