| A photo from 1925 of the Bezalel National Rehabilitation House, located on Shmuel Ha-Nagid Street, at the corner of what is now Shatz Street.
The building at 12 Shmuel Ha-Nagid Street was a museum established next to the Bezalel School of Art. Initially, it served as a museum for the history of flora and fauna in the Land of Israel.
2.. The Bezalel School of Art, built nearby, was named after Bezalel ben Uri, who, in the Book of Exodus, was appointed by G-D through Moses, along with Aholiav ben Ahisamach, to build the Mishkan, the Tent of Meeting, the Ark, the Menorah, the Altar, and the sacred items of the Temple.
3... Boris Schatz, the founder of the Bezalel School, envisioned the possibility of helping Israeli artists combine the natural life of the Land of Israel with their art, creating a blend of contemporary Israeli art with the living world of the Holy Land.
4... The first public exhibition at the Bezalel Rehabilitation House took place during Pesach of 1912 and quickly became a focal point for visits by leaders of the Jewish community in the Land of Israel, which was still under Ottoman rule.
5... In 1916, - during WW1 - Djemal Pasha, a senior Ottoman minister, visited the place with a retinue that included the Pasha of Jerusalem and other prominent figures. In 1925, after WW1, the museum opened regularly to the public in the afternoons. Classes of school children would visit it as part of their education.
6... With the opening of the Israel Museum in G'ivat Ram in 1965, the art collection from the building was transferred to the museum and became the foundation of the Israeli Art Department. With the museum's closure, the Bezalel Rehabilitation House became an artist's house, where exhibitions of Israeli artists were held in rotating shows. Since 2001, the Israeli Biennale for Drawing has been held at the site.
7... Today, the Bezalel National Rehabilitation House serves as an artist's house with rotating exhibitions, and the high-quality Mona restaurant has become a popular destination for diners from across the country and the world.
8... Today, the dirt alley before the wall has become the present-day Shmuel Ha-Nagid Street, and the stone terraces are long gone. Shmuel Ha-Nagid Street is named after Rabbi Shmuel Ha-Nagid, a Renaissance man who was a rabbi, a halachic authority, a poet, and one of the leaders of Spanish Jewry during the Golden Age in Iberia. He also served as the deputy to the King of Granada and was the first great Hebrew poet, followed by Rabbi Shlomo Ibn Gabirol, Rabbi Moshe Ibn Ezra, and Rabbi Yehuda Halevi. Later, Rabbi Shmuel Ha-Nagid was appointed head of the rabbis of Spain.
9... Jerusalem is undergoing a major re-building of massive and high residential complexes. Over the next four years this particular area of Jerusalem will be re-built around the old and classic buildings of the Ottoman/ Mandate period. Modern architects are doing their best to integrate the modernity of a vibrant and growing city with the 'real' atmosphere of Old-Jerusalem. Jerusalem, today is re-inventing herself on the spectrum of the last 3,000 years.
Steve Sattler Jerusalem.
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