Even Yisrael (neighborhood)

In 2004 the neighborhood underwent preservation and renovation by the Jerusalem Municipality, which re-paved and re-landscaped the central courtyard and added a small stone amphitheater for tour groups and daytime passersby.

[10] The neighborhood had a typical open court construction, with row houses surrounding the central courtyard on all four sides of a rectangle.

[15] A three-story house on the north side of the courtyard was the home of the widow Rebecca Levy, an American millionairess.

[17] Opposite the neighborhood, on the northern side of Jaffa Road, stood large gardens filled with plants and flowers.

[22] The two-room dwelling was eventually remodeled into one long hall and the entrance to the synagogue, originally located off the central courtyard, was moved to the opposite side, facing Agrippas Street.

[24] In 1903 a tract of land between the Alliance school and Even Yisrael was earmarked for the construction of the Sephardi Orphanage under the guidance of Rabbi Yaakov Meir.

[4] In the interim, the city imposed a moratorium on renovations, aside from sanitary improvements, in this and other historical neighborhoods; this created a situation in which building deterioration combined with illegal extensions and other structural changes on the part of residents.

Completed in 2004, the plan, designed by architect Yaakov Molcho, re-paved and re-landscaped the central courtyard of Even Yisrael, and added a small stone amphitheater for group tours and daytime passersby.

[31] The plaques were supposed to be affixed to the houses themselves, as in the Ohel Moshe neighborhood, but residents protested that this placement would affect the resale value of their homes.

[16] The outside of the row houses facing Jaffa Road and Agrippas Street are occupied by commercial shops and eateries.