Dd jsut reminded me of another nice set of books about pre-state Jerusalem; the Heavenly City, which I believe was originally entitled Yerushalayim Shel Maaloh. It a wonderful collection of anecdotes and vignettes from the chareidi community of Jerusalem pre-1948. It captures all their poverty, dignity, piety and simplcity of life; the humor is touching. As opposed to current writings which all present such people as “ossified statues of petrified holiness” this book renders them as touchingly human. Although the English version was very poorly proofread, the typos actualy add to the work’s charm.
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