SECRETS AND THE CITY
By Calev Ben-David

Jerusalem Post, Israel
Sep 11, 2007 9:21 | Updated Sep 11, 2007 9:21

Secrets of Jerusalem

Gate on Hananya Hill

Around the corner from my home in Talpiot stands an old war memorial
in the midst of a small, immaculately maintained lawn. A sign on the
surrounding fence identifies it as "Commonwealth War Graves." Even
though I’ve walked by the spot countless times, I too, as Tzvia
Dobrish-Fried has noted of other neighborhood residents, have gazed in
"wonderment about how well the spot is kept and the way the locked
site is maintained," without ever bothering to find out who exactly
is interred in this unlikely location and why.

Now, thanks to her coffee-table book Secrets of Jerusalem, I finally
know the answer. This is the burial spot for the Indian soldiers who
fought and died with the British forces in their conquest of Palestine
during World War I. Because of religious issues involving the largely
Muslim and Hindu soldiers buried there, they were left in Talpiot
when the British Mandatory government later decided to reinter most
of the other Commonwealth war dead in the large memorial cemetery on
Mount Scopus.

Entertainingly informative and handsomely illustrated with photographs
by Uriel Messa, all the entries in this present-worthy tome are worth
reading. Not all of them though, really qualify as "secrets." Included
here are places that even casual visitors to Jerusalem are likely
to already know about, such as the transplanted Italian Synagogue
on Rehov Hillel; the illustrated stretch of the security barrier
between Gilo and Bethlehem; and the "Noah’s Ark" sculpture garden
by Nicki de St. Paul in the Biblical Zoo (even though Dobrish-Fried
improbably asserts of the latter that "despite its size and color,
not many people visit the work or even know of its existence").

Other spots covered in the book may be familiar to the city’s long-term
residents, but will indeed prove revelations for most tourists. This
category includes the charming strudel cafe atop the Austrian Hospice
in the Old City; the Hellenist-era Jason’s Tomb tucked away on a
Rehavia back street; and the charming pool in the central courtyard
of the Rockefeller Museum.

Fortunately, there were still plenty of revelations in these pages
for even this veteran Jerusalemite – who should probably do more
walking tours. Nope, I didn’t know that the large sundial that sits
atop a building on Jaffa Road opposite the Mahaneh Yehuda market,
has a "twin" built by the same man (Rabbi Moshe Shapira) on the Gra
Synagogue in the Sha’arei Hessed neighborhood. Or that the space
between two old olive trees on the lot behind the former Edison
Cinema on Mea She’arim’s edge has long been considered by Jerusalem
kabbalists as the location where the messianic prophet called the
Son of Joseph will one day make his appearance.

And now, having finally seen in these pages the impressive
sixth-century CE Armenian mosaic floor found at 18 Rehov Hanevi’im;
the luxurious Suite No. 6 (the "Fourth’s Wife Room") at the American
Colony Hotel, where Richard Gere and several other celebrities have
slept; and the dazzling array of fabrics on display in the second floor
of Ibrahim Abu Khallaf’s store at 18 Rehov Hanotzrim in the Old City,
I’m determined to make more of an effort to see these hidden treasures
of Jerusalem with my own eyes.

Indeed, my only real complaint with Secrets of Jerusalem is
that it’s too short, given the wealth of hidden treasures in this
city. Hopefully, a sequel is in the works – and if so I’d be glad to
offer Dobrish-Fried my help.

For example, in its entry on the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, she
highlights the Ethiopian monks’ "village" on its rooftop, which is
not all that much of a secret. Instead, why not alert readers to the
fact that in a nearby monastery you can see the only visible remains
of the ancient Roman temple upon which the church was built? That’s
a secret of Jerusalem I’m gladly willing to share.