Before the hostilities from across the northern border, Sharrin Hasid, a Jerusalem school teacher, and mother of four children ages 8 to 13, had never worked in a hotel in her life, although her family owns a relatively new hotel in the capital.
The Theatron, which most people don’t know exactly how to pronounce, opened last June. A luxury boutique hotel, it is still in its running-in period. It usually takes more than a year for a hotel to become known and to establish a clientele of returning guests.
Well known in Jerusalem as builders of luxury apartment complexes, the Hasid Brothers had never built a hotel before, much less owned one. However, they felt that a hotel opposite the Jerusalem Theater, from which it derived its name, would be a good investment because the Jerusalem Theater hosts international and intercity events, and both patrons and performers at such events would find it convenient to have a hotel so close at hand.
They also built an apartment complex alongside the hotel – a practice that is becoming increasingly popular in Jerusalem.
They never anticipated that the hotel would be fully occupied by evacuees.
A hotel of hospitality for Israel's evacuees
Hasid in Hebrew means pious. Zion Hasid, the founder of the company, is a very pious man in the most positive sense, who raised his six children to follow his example and to care for the well-being of the less fortunate.
He didn’t think twice about filling his new venture with evacuees at a fraction of the regular cost per night and then providing them with more than the Tourism Ministry had requested. The money he received from the Ministry is supposed to cover a hot breakfast and a hot dinner, with sandwiches for lunch.
This was something to which Zion Hasid could not agree. He had come from Iran around 60 years earlier as a poor immigrant without a trade and, with his family, had moved into a three-room apartment of a relative because there were no spare apartments in Jerusalem.
Even if he had qualifications, jobs were scarce, and it’s doubtful that he would have found immediate employment. So he went to see the best-known building contractor in the city and asked to be apprenticed, telling the owner of the company not to pay him until he thought that he was worth a wage. Zion Hasid was a quick learner and, within a few months, had mastered most of the skills required. Within a very few years, he had acquired sufficient experience to establish his own company, which continued to grow.
Hessed, meaning grace or kindness in Hebrew, comes from the same root as Hasid. As Zion Hasid’s business grew, so did his generosity to the less fortunate.
Over the years, he and his children have supported many charitable causes. He is convinced that his good fortune results from the fact that he moved from Iran to Jerusalem and that he owes it to the city to give back.
After October 7, one of his daughters, Shirran, decided to dedicate herself to the evacuees, and occasionally, her children came to help in providing activities for the offspring of the hotel’s temporary residents.
Two of Shirran’s sisters-in-law also help with activities, but none is as dedicated and gives as much of her time.
A family that united to help evacuees following October 7
While owners and their relatives often work in two or three-star hotels to save on salary costs, it’s extremely rare for owners or their immediate relatives to work in luxury hotels.
But the first thoughts of Shirran Hasid and her father were for the comfort and well-being of some 200 people who had been displaced from their homes in Kiryat Shmona, one of the more vulnerable communities in the North that have experienced several terrorist attacks in the past. The best way to ensure this was for a member of the Hasid family to be constantly available.
The hotel has an exquisite, well-appointed synagogue where Zion Hasid comes every morning to pray, and as many of the people currently staying at the hotel are either traditional or religiously observant, they join in prayer, partially because they would go to morning prayers in their home neighborhoods, and partially in appreciation for the fact that he cares so much. He has befriended them and always asks if there is anything they need and what else he can do for them.
Shirran joins them at breakfast, asking how they feel, if there is anything they need, offering activities, arranging dental or doctor’s appointments, advising on where they can go for outings, and more.
The hotel has one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom suites, fully equipped with dairy kitchen and laundry facilities, which were given to larger families at no cost for the first month.
Occasionally, the hotel also hosts soldiers, and when some of the evacuees move back to their homes or move in with relatives, and a few rooms are temporarily vacant, these are rented out to people who come on solidarity trips.
Shirran tells of a woman who is not staying at the hotel but who has a son fighting in Gaza. The son occasionally gets a short respite to come to Jerusalem. The woman calls Shirran to tell her that the soldier is getting out for a day or two and asks her to accommodate him. A room is always found for him free of charge.
Staff in many hotels around the country have put themselves out on behalf of their evacuee guests, but not all – and even those who make sure that refreshments are on hand 24/7 do not necessarily provide activities. And, of course, some hotels have reluctantly accepted evacuees and, therefore, provide the bare minimum in service.
Shirran Hasid has the assistance and cooperation of the Jerusalem municipality, the Jerusalem Theater, the Chabad of Talbiyeh, and other organizations. Moreover, several of the female guests want to contribute to the war effort. Once a week, they congregate in the hotel’s dairy kitchen to cook and bake for the soldiers and deliver the delicacies to army bases.
AS A school teacher, Shirran Hasid realizes the importance of not disrupting education and has set up a school for older children in the Jerusalem Theater and a crèche-cum-kindergarten for younger children in the hotel.
There are also yoga classes, use of all the hotel facilities, including the swimming pool and the gym, special attractions during Jewish holidays, and free wine on Shabbat.
Shirran also found a cosmetician who is prepared to give free beauty treatments in the hotel’s spa and has welcomed inspirational speakers such as former professional basketball player Tamir Goodman who was nicknamed the Jewish Jordan by Sports Illustrated magazine.
Incidentally, the Theatron will be one of the few hotels in Jerusalem serving legumes on Passover. Ashkenazi Jews do not traditionally eat legumes during the week of Passover.
But North African and Sephardi Jews do, and as the people from Kiryat Shmona are mostly of North African background, they asked for legumes, known as kitniyot in Hebrew, and the Chief Rabbinate gave permission.
Although she is in the hotel at seven each morning, Sharrin Hasid has no set hour for the end of her working day. It can often be 9 or 10 at night, depending on activities or the needs of guests.
A French couple whose son fell in battle in Gaza came into the hotel late at night, and by the time she got them settled, attended to all their requirements, and comforted them in their grief, it was four o’clock in the morning.
Nothing is too much trouble.
Her calm and tranquil personality belies the energy she puts into her self-appointed job. Aside from that, her father asks her every day what she has done to make life easier for the guests.
He has also written a brochure advising guests not to be shy with complaints or asking for things they want. For instance, guests complained that the water heated in electric coffee makers in every room did not supply sufficiently hot water. So the hotel purchased ninety new electric kettles.
That’s just a small example of how the family lives up to its name.
In addition to the hotel and the many apartment complexes that the Hasid brothers have built, they also have four Jerusalem synagogues to their credit – one inside the hotel, replete with Torah scrolls, prayer books, and separate sections for men and women; and three others in different Jerusalem neighborhoods.
The family also owns a banquet hall which it gives out gratis to needy couples getting engaged or married or economically deprived families celebrating a bar mitzvah, and Sharrin Hasid also maintains a nearby wedding dress boutique from which she lends out bridal gowns without charge.