Only in Beer-Sheva

Be’er-Sheva has many unique things, not found anywhere else in the world.

Only in Be’er-Sheva can you find the “Peace Gate” at the second entrance to the BGU Marcus Family Campus, commemorating the historic meeting between Israel’s Prime Minister Menahem Begin and Egypt’s President Anwar al-Sadat on May 27th, 1979 to sign a lasting peace treaty. Amen!

Only in Be’er-Sheva, the city of Abraham, the Patriach, can you drive past a traffic circle named “the Patriarch’s Circle,” where the roads of the three biblical patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, meet in the Daled neighborhood.

Only in Be’er-Sheva there are the Ilan Ramon Youth Physics Center at BGU; Ilan Ramon Way; the Ilan Ramon traffic circle; and the Ramon rocket park–all dedicated to the memory of Israel’s first astronaut, Colonel Ilan Ramon (1954-2003), who grew up in Be’er-Sheva. He was one of the pilots who flew the mission that successfully bombed the Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981. He perished in the Columbia space shuttle disaster that occurred during the attempted re-entry to the Earth‘s atmosphere on February 1st, 2003. In addition, his namesakes include: the Ramon crater on the Moon; Ramon Hill on Mars; and the Ilanramon asteroid #51828. NASA regularly invites gifted students to visit the Kennedy Space Center and do special projects at NASA during summer vacations or intersessions.

Only in Be’er-Sheva you can see “Synagogue Row” on Shalom Shabazi Street (in the Aleph neighborhood), that consists of a row of 5 synagogues, surrounded by another 4 synagogues within a 1-block radius: the 1st is “Ha-Avot” and belongs to the Egyptian-Jewish community; the 2nd is “Abba Shalom Shabazi” belonging to one Yemenite-Jewish family; the 3rd is “Ha-Nasi” of the Libyan/Tripolitan-Jewish community; the 4th is “Sha’are Tsedek” of another Yemenite-Jewish family (Hajbi); and the 5th is “Ole Paras” which belongs to the Persian/Iranian-Jewish community. The other 4 nearby synagogues are: “Yad Ramah” for the Tunisian-Jewish community; the Ashkenazi/European-style synagogue and yeshiva “Netiv ha-Shavim;” the Iraqi-Jewish “Halachi” (“Star” or “Pyramid” Synagogue); and another Ashkenazi-style Romanian synagogue – “Struma.” On Sabbath and holidays, the Jews from 3 continents pray in accordance with their own special liturgies, melodies & customs. 

Only in Be’er-Sheva The only chain hotel in Be’er-Sheva changed its owners and its name 4 times within a span of ca.12 years! First it was the “Be’er-Sheva Hilton”; then the“Paradise Be’er-Sheva”; then the “Be’er-Sheva Golden Tulip;” and lastly (and still) the “Leonardo Negev Be’er-Sheva Hotel.” For over a decade, the Be’er-Sheva maps, phone listings and municipal street signs were constantly outdated…

Only in Be’er-Sheva Ben-Gurion University of the Negev offers an accredited workshop in drumming given by the “Desert Drummers“ (founded 2000) – 055-9703747.

Since “Our future is inspired by our past” – join the Society for the Preservation of Israel Heritage Sites – http://www.shimur.org.il. You are welcome to come to the Be’er-Sheva Office of the Society, now located in the Old City at Mordey ha-Geta’ot 74 and/or call Michal Montal – 054-4606496.