- Abu Tor
Abu Tor (
Hebrew : אבו תור) (lit. "Father of the Bull") is a neighborhood in centralJerusalem , located along the pre-1967 border between East and West Jerusalem, just south of the Old City. Abu Tor is bounded by theValley of Hinnom on the north, Hebron Road and the old Jerusalem railway station to the west, and the Sherover Promenade,Armon Hanatziv and Peace Forest to the south. [ [http://www.harrefaim.com/abutor.html About Abu Tor - Har Refaim Synagogue, Abu Tor, Jerusalem ] ]Abu Tor is one of the few Jerusalem neighborhoods with a mixed Arab and Jewish population, though there has been tension between them. [ [http://www.nj.com/specialprojects/index.ssf?/specialprojects/jerusalem/jeru3.html NJ.com: Special Projects ] ]
Etymology
The Arabic name "Abu Tor" may be related to the worship of
Ba'al , a god who assumed the form of a bull. [http://books.google.com/books?id=Q8U9Gv7ibJ8C&pg=PA160&lpg=PA160&dq=givat+hananya&source=web&ots=J8RTTml4ad&sig=IL_yBUTbaDiWOyc1Tc3fZz3teT0&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result] The official Hebrew name of the neighborhood is "Givat Hananya" ("Hananya's Hill"). [http://books.google.com/books?id=Q8U9Gv7ibJ8C&pg=PA160&lpg=PA160&dq=givat+hananya&source=web&ots=J8RTTml4ad&sig=IL_yBUTbaDiWOyc1Tc3fZz3teT0&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result]History
From the establishment of the
State of Israel in 1948 until 1967, the border betweenIsrael andJordan ran through Abu Tor. [ [http://www.harrefaim.com/abutor.html About Abu Tor - Har Refaim Synagogue, Abu Tor, Jerusalem ] ]Religious Life
While the Jewish section of Abu Tor is predominantly secular, the neighborhood has two synagogues - Har Refaim Synagogue for
Ashkenazi Jews on Nachshon Street [http://www.harrefaim.com Har Refaim Synagogue - Abu Tor, Jerusalem] , and Shalom V'Achva Synagogue forSephardi Jews.References
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