Cities And Places In Israel
Haifa
Haifa established in the third
century. Haifa is the third biggest city (by population) in Israel.
There are 273,177 citizens in Haifa, mostly Jews but also Muslims, Christens
and Buddhists. It is a combined city, all religions live there in peace. On
December there is a big Festival called "the Holiday of Holidays".
The Holiday of Holidays Festival started in 1993 and happens every year. The
Festival celebrates the Holidays of the 3 biggest religions in the world:
Chanukah for the Jews, Chrisms for the Christens and Ramadan for the Muslims.
In Haifa there are the Baha'i Gardens,
it is the second most religious place for the Baha'is in the world. It has 19 symmetrical gardens that took years
and experts to plane.
Haifa has a port and the Carmel
Mountain, Carmel forests, hospitals, malls, clubs, pubs, and education centers for every
age, street parties, an underground train, Festivals and youth movements. It is
a very involved and diverted place, a lot of tourists come to visit every single
year.
The mayor of Haifa is Yona Yahav, serving
his second term in a row.
In 1912 the Technion has started
being built and in 1924 it officially became a university. The Technion is the
Israeli Institute of Technology, it is a public research university that
focuses mostly on engineering and specific science but also on medicine and
architecture. Currently there are 12,832 students and 1,350 staff.
The Technion established originally
in Hadar neighborhood, but in 1953 it moved to Neve Shaanan and was called
Qiryat HaTechnion.
When the Technion started teaching
there was an argument about what language should the studies be taught in,
German- because most of the material was in German and also it is an
international language, but as a university in Israel especially when Hebrew
was a new speaking language some said that they should teach in Hebrew.
Eventually the Technion is teaching in Hebrew.
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.
It is holly for the Jews, Muslims and Christens as one.
For the Jews it was the capital of
their kingdom since King Davids' days, there was the holiest temple for the
Jews in the tenth hundred BC that was destroyed by Babel. The temple was
rebuilt in 19 BC and destroyed again in 70 AD.
Today, all that's left is just a wall from the surrounding wall of the temple- the Western Wall. The Western Wall is the holiest place for the Jews all over the world.
The belief is that if you write down
a wish and put the note between the rocks of the Western Wall then god would
hear your wish and it will come true.
In 33 AD Jesus was crucified in
Calvary, outside of Jerusalems' walls.
Many tourists come to see Jesus' last road, his crusade, through
Jerusalem.
People believe that in 610 AD Muhammad
did his trip from Mecca to the Temple Mountain where he went up to the sky and
disappeared.
Jerusalem is very important for those
religions, which makes it a very sensitive place, there are many fights in
Jerusalem over the holy places and between extreme believers.
In 1947 the UN offered to divide
Palestine to an Arabic country and a Jewish country, and offered that Jerusalem
will be international, but both sides disagreed to that offer. In 1948, when
Israel was officially declared, David Ben- Gurion said that Jerusalem is the
Capital of Israel so it can't be international like the UN wanted it to be.
Jerusalem did was diverted to Israeli
territory and Jordan territory until 1967.
In 1967 the Arab armies that
surrounded Israel decided to attack Israel, in six days Israel conquered Ramat
Hagolan, Sinay and united Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is the biggest city in
Israel with 829,863 citizens.
The mayor of Jerusalem is Nir Barkat.
The
Dead Sea
The Dead Sea is the lowest place on
earth. It is 427 meters under ocean-line. It is called the Dead Sea because the
water is too salty for anything to live there.
We produce many medical and cosmetic
products from the dead seas' salt and healing mud. Those products are being
sold all over the world, making the Dead Sea one of the most known and
touristic places in Israel (after Jerusalem).
But as much as the Dead Sea is
precious and special it is even more special to me.
Every year my whole family comes from
all over the world: from the Negev up to Haifa, from Canada and the United
States to South Africa, and we all go to the Dead Sea to celebrate the Seder
together. It is always a fun weekend and
we wait all year to meet up. We play games or go to the pool or the beach, and
on the last couple of years we started doing a trip of climbing to Masada at
sun-rise, it is a very beautiful view.
Tel
Aviv
Tel Aviv established in 1909 and
first was a neighborhood called Ahuzat Bait. The neighborhood grew and became
the first Hebrew city.
Today Tel Aviv is the second biggest
city in Israel with 418,590 citizens.
Tel Avivs' mayor is Ron Huldaee.
Today Tel Aviv is the main entertainment
center. It has all the highest buildings, concerts, parties, beaches,
restaurants, malls, the biggest airport, a port and most of the international embassies.
There are a lot of arguments about
who should be Israels' capital? Tel Aviv or Jerusalem? I think it should stay
Jerusalem because if we will choose Tel Aviv it will show that Jerusalem is not
as important to us as it really is, although Tel Aviv is our most international
and open city. Tel Aviv is the most excepting city for the gay community.
Tel Aviv for Israel is basically like
New York City for the United States, it is one of the most important, fun,
international and excepting city, yet it is not the capital.
The
Negev
The Negev covers 60% of Israel’s
territory. It is the biggest yet least populated area in Israel. It is so
because the Negev is a desert.
Even though the Negev is a desert, we
were able to make the desert bloom. Today there are many crops growing in the
Negev.
David Ben-Gurion, Israels first prime
minister, truly believed in settling the negev. That is why he helped building Kibbutz
Sde Boker and lived there and insisted to be buried there after his death.
Beer Sheva is the biggest city in the
Negev. It is the seventh biggest city in Israel with 199,334 citizens.
Tzfat
Tzfat is one of the four holly cities
in Israel (along with Jerusalem, Tiberias and Jericho). Tzfat has always been a
main place for the tora studies and great rabies.
There are profs that there were Jews
in Tzfat since the Iron Age. Since then there have always been Jews in Tzfat.
My great grandmother lived there with her family when she was a child and her
father was a great Rabi in Tzfat.
Tzfat is known as the capital of the
Upper Galilee.
The mayor of Tzfat is IlanShohet.
Tzfat has 32,901 citizens only. It is one of the smallest cities in Israel.
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