In an age when our kids are all consumed by Bieber Fever, one has to ask – what really makes a hero? The streets of French Hill offer a fine answer! If you walk or drive a circular route around the neighborhood (45 mins walk), you can watch history come alive on the street signs, and you can chuckle at some of the historical irony!
French Hill is named after the British officer Colonel French, who is buried in the nearby British Military cemetery on Mount Scopus (this renders the Hebrew translation of the name Givat Tzarfatit a misnomer). In official Israeli records, the neighborhood is actually called Givat Shapira after Chaim Moshe Shapira one of the leaders of the religious Zionist movement, and a former Israeli interior minister. Built on the grounds of the bloody battles of the Six Day war, the neighborhood was established in 1971, ensuring that the nearby Hadassah Hospital and Hebrew University will not be cut off from Israel again. Most of the streets of French Hill are named for individuals and groups who fought for our right to live as Jews – in Israel and beyond!
In the pre-state days, the three main fighting forces: Haganah, Irgun (Etzel) and Lechi had fundamental differences of opinion, which lead to friction and bloodshed. But this is all behind us on the streets of French Hill where they intersect. Each of these groups envisioned itself as Jewish warriors, descendants of independent Jewish fighters that hadn't been seen in Israel since the time of the Bar Kochba Revolt (132-135 C.E.). How apt it is that Bar Kochba is one of the main roads around which French Hill is built.
There are a smaller roads and lanes that eternalize the memory of other fighting units:
Rechov HaHayil – named for the Jewish Brigade that fought under the Zionist flag as part of the British army in Europe during WWII. At the same time Mavo Hama'avak – is named for the Jewish struggle against the British mandate. As Ben Gurion said "We will fight the White Paper as if there is no war, and fight the war as if there is no White Paper." ("White Paper" refers to British Aliyah restrictions).
HaPartizanim and Lochamei HaGetaot Lanes refer to those Jewish fighters behind Nazi lines, who fought hopeless but proud battles! And Dakar Street refers to the submarine that went missing in 1968 with all 69 crew members. Her remains were finally discovered over 30 years later in 1999.
Explore the other streets, and on the eastern side of Bar Kochba Street you can take in the breathtaking view of the Judean Desert – you may even be able to see all the way to the Dead Sea. Afterwards you can visit the fabulous look out point and the Botanical Gardens in Hebrew U, or can go play "soldiers" in the trenches of Ammunition Hill. Use these places as triggers to discuss what Jewish Heroism is about, and what is Jewish Heroism today.
View French Hill, Jerusalem in a larger map
Tali Tarlow is a speech writer, who for fun likes to develop and run Scavenger Hunts and other educational programs in Jerusalem. She also loves to share her passion of Jewish History with her own children, who can tell you all about the tension between the Haganah, Irgun and Lechi, the partisans and the Dakar! You can check out her speech writing website at http://www.yourjewishspeech.com . If you want to speak to her about a speech or about a scavenger hunt you can email her at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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