Mea Shearim מאה שערים

Mea Shearim was founded in 1874 by a building society of 100 shareholders who pooled their money to buy land outside the crowded Old City. Among its founders was Rabbi Meir Auerbach, the chief Ashkenazi rabbi of Jerusalem.

The name comes from the verse in that week's Torah portion: "Isaac sowed in that land, and in that year he reaped a hundredfold (mea shearim); God had blessed him" (Genesis 26:12). By tradition the neighborhood originally had 100 gates. Today it is home to Ashkenazi Haredi Jews, and its alleys, shuls, yeshivos and small shops keep the old Jerusalem flavor.