In my most recent trip to Israel, we had a delightful suprise when we visted Har Hazesim to visit my wife's grandparent's kever (her grandparents are buried near the Holtzbergs and we always marvel at the foresight that her grandparents had to be buried at Har Hazasim, giving her children, grandchildren,etc an added reason to visit Israel). The last time we were there, there was no Jewish prescense by Har Hazesim. This time, however, there was a thriving Jewish prescense in the middle of the mountain (tons of Israeli flags popping out of everywhere). It seems a small settlement with a few building started there. This community is called Maaleh HaZeitim. There are currently 51 families living there and they are in the process of building another 60 housing units.
I was delighted to see that there are plans to expand that community nearby. There was a request (that is expected to be granted) to build a Jewish housing project of 104 units at the foot of Jerusalem’s Mt. of Olives, down the block from the Maaleh HaZeitim. Jerusalem reclamation activist Aryeh King says that Jewish construction there, within walking distance of the Western Wall, is “of tremendous importance… This is the only way to prevent the division of Jerusalem.” The new neighborhood is to have a library, mikveh (ritual bath), and a synagogue, and will be connected to Maaleh Zeitim by a walkway.
(Source: Arutz Sheva)
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