For the week ending 10 July 2010 / 27 Tammuz 5770
The "Seven Towns" Transplanted
In the Romema area of Jerusalem, near the entrance to the capital, is a community called Kiryat Mattersdorf. Established in the early sixties it was named for one of the "Seven Towns", a loose federation of seven Jewish communities in pre-war Hungary.
The low prices of apartments due to its location so near the Jordanian border attracted many Jews to purchase homes there despite the apparent danger. Jordanian shells did indeed strike the community during the Six Day War but there were no casualties.
Among the original residents of Mattersdorf were many American olim, including Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg who established his Yeshiva Torah Ore there.
The special Torah-observant character of Mattersforf attracted many young couples to purchase older apartments in the periphery, thus transforming much of Romema into a vibrant Torah community.
