Beit Moshiach Borochoff, located on 64 Jaffa Street, was built by a German merchant named Wilhelm Duisberg, and bought by Moshiach Borochoff, a Bukhari-Jewish businessman who also contributed to the establishment of the Sephardic orphanage, together with the Issacharoff family.
Borochoff immigrated to Eretz Bukhare in 1882, settled in Jerusalem, and began working as a trader.
Later, he traveled with his brothers to Moscow and Tashkent, where he built a magnificent synagogue.
The stunning Borokhov House was built in an eclectic style with an arcade and three arches on the elegant facade, and two lions at the house’s gate.
In 1947, the building was purchased by Mercantile Bank which later merged with Bank Discount. The bank has used the building for 75 years.
In 2016, one of the lions was stolen, and in 2021, a new lion that resembles the one in Tel Hai was placed at the entrance to the building.
The lion became the official symbol of Jerusalem in February 1949.
But it was linked to the city’s identity many years before that.
In the Bible, the lion is portrayed as the symbol of the tribe of Judah, and later as the symbol of the Kingdom of Judah, whose capital is Jerusalem.
Tradition says that the Temple was built in the shape of a lion seen from above, so it is also called Ariel, which is one of the names of Jerusalem. Of all the wild animals, only the lion was used to decorate the Temple, and its name appears in the Bible 166 times.
The sign of the month of Av is also the sign of Leo.
“They are the people of God that will arise and a warrior will be exalted” also refers to the future destruction of Jerusalem, its resurrection, and the way to redemption.
A stone engraving representing two lions is located on the walls of the old city above the Lions’ Gate. In addition to the lion on the roof of the General Building, at the entrance to the police building in Mahane Yehuda, there is also a lion. Dozens of other friendly, non-predatory lions are located throughout the city.
In the period 2002-2004, an art project was carried out in the city. It involved artisans from various fields who created lion statues that were scattered throughout the city. Most of them were finally sold, but some are still present and maintained by a Jerusalem volunteer group.
Back to the present …
Behind Beit Borochov, as part of the city’s renewal plan, a 27-story residential tower is being built. The construction is almost completed. The area will include commercial and office spaces, and the lions will have to roar more quietly when it is inhabited, so they don’t disturb the neighbors.
The lions above the Lions’ Gate, next to the exit to the Mount of Olives, through which soldiers broke into the old city, still guard the city today.
“If a lion roars, who will not be afraid?”
May we get to rule over the lions and see the settlement of Jerusalem forever.
Shabbat shalom from Jerusalem
Photo by – Ranbar
