It was one man's vision…
The Finn House 1855
Consul James Finn saw the Old City’s Jewish residents as the Chosen People. With his fine character and good heart, he cared deeply about the Jews and their economic welfare.
As a result, he purchased land and established a farm to employ Jewish workers. His initiative aroused much suspicion among the Jews. They feared that, like many of the missionaries active at this time, he was trying to convert them to Christianity.
Yet Finn succeeded in convincing them of his pure intentions. He even built a synagogue for them on the site, which was actually the first synagogue outside the Old City Walls. Over the entranceway of this building that he built on his own initiative, were engraved the words, "The fear of God is the source of life."
Jewish workers constructed the building. The farm operated for many years, employing Jews who came from the Old City, thereby providing them with food and income. Their main occupation was growing fruit and planting trees.
At the end of the 19th century, Finn sold the land to his workers. There they established yet another Jewish neighborhood outside the Old City walls, still referred to as "Kerem Avraham."
To this day, there is a columbarium at the site dating back to the Romans, with a number of ancient winepresses dug out of the rock.
The Jewish workers, all from the Old Yishuv, developed the site, digging water cisterns and breathing new life into it.
All this was accomplished by the residents of the Old City…
The vision and its fulfillment…
Good beginnings start here.
Beit Bracha College Continuing Education
In 2018, the first class opened in Computer Science.
In 2019, two more classes were added.
And four more classed were added in 2020.
Beit Bracha College Continuing Education
Today, we have about 200 students from the Open University studying with us,
earning degrees in computer science, bookkeeping, and the social sciences.
The students enjoy social activities and educational tours that enhance the course of their studies.
Thank you! [The Jerusalem Development Authority] To the JDA, for providing the funds for two new classrooms, and for pedagogical assistance, social activities, and educational tours.
Thank you! [Telem Strategic Integration] To Telem, which takes us on its wings and carries us far…
Thank you! [Kivun: Guidance, Employment, Success] To Kivun, for its English and Mathematics courses, its placement assistance, and its tutoring.
And a great thanks! To the Open University, for its skilled, caring and devoted lecturers; for its high-level, universally recognized studies; for enabling distance learning; for its scholarships, and more and more!
And thanks to you, Dear Guests, who have joined us today to share in our success with us.
[Beit Bracha College Continuing Education]