The Mashiach Borochoff House and Jerusalem’s Lions
Another “Once Upon a Time in Jerusalem”
This time – the Mashiach Borochoff House and its Lions.
Mashiach Borochoff House, located at 64 Jaffa Street, was built by a German merchant named Wilhelm Duisberg and purchased by Meshiach Borochoff, the Jewish-Bukharan community leader who also contributed to the establishment of the Sephardic Orphanage together with the Yissakharov family.
Borochoff immigrated to the Land of Israel from Bukhara in 1882, settled in Jerusalem, and engaged in commerce.
Later, he traveled with several of his brothers to Moscow and Tashkent, where he built an impressive synagogue and a mikveh.
The magnificent Borochoff House was built in an eclectic style, with an arcade and three arches adorning the elegant façade, and two lions at the building’s gate.
In 1947, the building was purchased by Mercantile Bank, which later merged with Discount Bank, and it has served the bank for 75 years.
In 2016, one of the lions at the gate’s pillars was stolen, and in 2021 a new lion was placed at the building’s entrance, more closely resembling the roaring lion statue at Tel Hai.
So, what is the connection between Jerusalem and lions?
The lion became the official emblem of Jerusalem in February 1949, but it had been mentioned and associated with the city many years earlier.
In the Bible, the lion is presented as the symbol of the Tribe of Judah, and later as the emblem of the Kingdom of Judah, whose capital was Jerusalem.
Tradition says that the Temple was built in the shape of a lion when viewed from above, which is why it is also called Ariel – one of the names of Jerusalem. Of all the wild animals, only the lion was used as decoration in the Temple, and it appears in the Bible 166 times.
The zodiac sign of the month of Av, in which we now find ourselves, is Leo –
“Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion” – which also refers to both the future destruction of Jerusalem and its revival, the path to redemption.
A stone engraving of two lions is located on the walls of the Old City above the Lions’ Gate, in addition to the lion statue on the roof of the Generali Building, at the entrance to the police station in Machane Yehuda, and dozens of other friendly (non-predatory) lions scattered across the city.
Between 2002 and 2004, an art project was held in the city in which artists from various fields created diverse lion sculptures that were placed throughout Jerusalem. Most were eventually sold, but some still remain scattered across the city and are maintained by a Jerusalem volunteer group.
And today –
Behind Borochoff House, as part of the city’s renewal, a 27-story residential tower is being built, including commercial areas and offices, and once it is occupied, the lions will have to roar more quietly so as not to disturb the neighbors’ rest.
The lions above the Lions’ Gate – the gate leading toward the Mount of Olives, through which IDF soldiers broke into the Old City – still guard the city,
for “If a lion roars – who will not fear?”
May we merit to be the head among lions, and may we see Jerusalem’s rebuilding and flourishing forever.
Shabbat Shalom to those far and near from Jerusalem ❤
May all IDF soldiers return home safely, along with our kidnapped brothers, and may peace come upon Israel.
Photography: Ohad Zwigenberg
