Once upon a time in Jerusalem,
And this time, Saidoff buildings in a photo from 1971.
The Saidoff buildings were built by Yitzhak Saidoff at the beginning of the last century in 1911, on today’s Jaffa Street, near and to the west of Machane Yehuda Market.
Saidoff was a wealthy Jew from Bukhare, who built a residential and commercial building, built in the style of the courtyard neighborhoods that existed at the time.
In the yard, 2 cisterns were dug for the use of the tenants, and next to them are stairs that lead to the upper floor which is the living floor.
The residential floor was considered luxurious and advanced for those days, and even three- and four-room apartments were built in the complex – the height of luxury and grandeur of those days.
On the west side of the house was a synagogue, and the buyers of the apartments were bound by the contract to pray there.
Yitzhak Saidoff also wanted to build a mikveh in the compound and for that, he went to Bukhara to raise money for the mikveh. Unfortunately, Saidoff died during the journey to Bukhara.
Over the years the condition of the complex deteriorated,
The place of shops was taken by craftsmen who have built work workshops instead, some of the luxury apartments of the past have also become warehouses, and the place has become dirty and neglected.
In the meantime, the city developed, and the houses on the right in the picture were mostly destroyed for the purpose of widening the road and the construction of the light rail axis, instead, the facades of some of the magnificent buildings that were on the street in the past were left, and the balconies of the Saidoff buildings were shaved from the facade.
After decades of neglect, Saidoff’s heirs arose with the aim of rehabilitating the complex.
Initially, the existing commercial and residential row was renovated, the windows were replaced and a new roof was installed on the building.
The heirs teamed up with the Ashdar company and built one of the first skyscrapers in the city, on the Jaffa axis and near Machane Yehuda market.
This was the first time that the Bukhari Jews, who are known for their healthy real estate sense and are known as those who only buy and hold real estate and do not sell, sold part of their rights to a third party, but remained owners of some of the new apartments, so you can relax.
The building was one of the pioneers of the new urban planning of the new era, which approved building to a height due to the lack of land in the city and the expected population growth and broke the height line next to Machane Yehuda Market, in a 27-story tower, in a boring structure, without a flight, which did not add any excess grandeur to the area.
The interior of the building was built to a high standard, and the new tower is mainly inhabited by expatriate Jews from around the world.
The old courtyard was restored and renovated, a fountain was built in its center, and a new synagogue was built on the eastern side of the courtyard, named after our acquaintance Yitzchak Saidoff, the late founder of the complex, and is a kind of closing the circle and commemorating his memory.
This is our Jerusalem.
New next to old, a 120-year-old complex initiated by a wealthy Bukhari Jew, who died on a fund-raising campaign, which was neglected, renovated, rebuilt, and houses Jews from the four corners of the world, and a synagogue that closes the circle and gives due respect.
Shabbat Shalom to all, far and near, from Jerusalem.
