Jerusalemite of the Week

A series of weekly articles in the In Jerusalem supplement covering a different resident of Jerusalem and what they do that makes them interesting.

Nadav Schwartz: Fighting for LGBTQ+ acceptance among religious Jews

Jerusalemite of the week: A religious Jew who has been out as a gay man for 15 years now, Nadav Schwartz is a passionate activist who fights for the reconciliation of religious and queer identities. 

 Nadav Schwartz
 Adara Peskin Shalem

Adara Peskin Shalem: The foraging expert who fights for LGBTQ+ awareness in Orthodox circles

 Wedding planner Shmuel Zimmer of Teva Events.

Shmuel Zimmer: The Jerusalem wedding planner who does the impossible

 Jack Thorpe Baker is seen performing with the Jerusalem Ballet in 'Houdini: The Other Side of Magic.'

Jack Thorpe Baker: A British ballet sensation finds his second chance in Jerusalem


Ro Oranim: A transformative journey of ideals and values in Israel

Jerusalemite of the Week: Ro Oranim's journey has been an eventful one. In Jerusalem sat down with her to hear all about it.

 Ro Oranim

Nechama Goldman-Barash: A guiding light for women's voices in Halacha

Jerusalemite of the Week: Nechama Goldman-Barash has become a guiding light regarding the Jewish laws of gender, sexuality, marriage, and more.

 Nechama Goldman-Barash.

Rivka Bodenheim: Getting Jerusalem’s brides and grooms ready for their big day

Jerusalemite of the week: Brides and grooms alike want to look their best, and makeup artists like Rivka Bodenheim help them do just that.

 Rivka Bodenheim.

India Abraham: Healing physical and psychological scars through medical tattooing

Jerusalemite of the week: India Abraham is a practitioner of medical tattooing who had already helped scores of people before Oct. 7, but her work has taken on even greater significance since then.

 Medical tattoo artist India Abraham.

Amir Blum: Bringing video game development to Jerusalem

Jerusalemite of the Week: MakeGamesJLM is a community of indie video game developers operating out of Jerusalem, and Amir Blum is at the center of this community.

 Amir Blum

Rabbi Ido Pachter: Making a new tradition of Jewish law for modern Israel

Jerusalemite of the Week: Rabbi Ido Pachter of Beit Midrash LeMa'ase is attempting to reframe how we approach Jewish law to create something new: Halachat Yisraeli (Israeli Jewish law).

 Rabbi Ido Pachter is seen alongside colleagues at Beit Midrash LeMa'ase in Jerusalem.

Tuni Cohen: Living the dream of living, raising a family in Israel

Jerusalemite of the Week: For Tuni Cohen, moving to Israel was a dream come true. Raising a special and amazing family made it even better.

 Tuni Cohen

'The highest level of music can only exist in Israel': An interview with Sharona Deri

Jerusalemite of the Week: The Jewish people have an incredibly diverse tradition of music throughout the Diaspora. Immigrants brought them to Israel, and Sharona Deri preserves them.

 Sharona Deri

Andi Abboudi: Harnessing the internal struggle to make divine music

Jerusalemite of the Week: After interviewing singer-songwriter Shifra Jacobs of Sad City, we take a look at her musical partner in crime, guitarist Andi Abboudi.

 Andi Abboudi

Shifra Jacobs: The singer-songwriter behind Jerusalem’s Sad City project

Jerusalemite of the Week: Discussing music with Shifra Jacobs.

Shifra Jacobs.

Roni Mahadav-Levin: Getting ‘reel’ with the Jerusalem Cinematheque CEO

Jerusalemite of the week: Exploring Israel's cinematic traditions and history with Roni Mahadav-Levin, Jerusalem Cinematheque CEO.

JERUSALEM CINEMATHEQUE CEO Roni Mahadav-Levin.