Blue Window, Nachla'ot

Blue Window, Nachla’ot – oil on canvas – © D. Yael Bernhard 2024

On my first trip to Israel, Nachla’ot was the first neighborhood I visited in Jerusalem. Like many tourists, I was immediately charmed by its narrow cobblestone streets of aged white limestone; its lack of motor vehicles; its colorful flowers, picturesque windows, and arched passageways – all punctuated with echoing footsteps, passing Hebrew chatter, and exotic birdsongs. I didn’t know the history of the place at the time, but I felt it.

The word nachla means “homestead” in Hebrew; “ot” makes it plural – and this charming neighborhood began as just that – a patchwork of living quarters built in the late 1800s as the first residential enclave outside the walled Old City. During the reign of the Ottoman Empire, Israel was an underdeveloped place. Outside the safety of the walls, wild animals and thieves roamed unchecked; people were afraid to live there. Yet inside the thick walls, crowded and unsanitary conditions made life just as difficult. So beginning in 1860, the British philanthropist Moses Montefiore built several new neighborhoods in an effort to encourage expansion outside the Old City.

From the beginning, Nachla’ot was a place of diversity. This little neighborhood has approximately one hundred synagogues, each representing a different ethnic community, including Ashkenazi, Yemenite, Kurdish, Sephardi, Greek, and Galician. Many have been lovingly preserved, while others are little more than a few plain rooms. Just as diverse are the hundreds of stray cats that roam the alleyways, perched on windowsills and stalking among clusters of outdoor houseplants. They keep the rodent population down, and everyone feeds them. I took my ten-year-old daughter on a walking historical tour of Nachla’ot, and in just 90 minutes she photographed 23 different cats. These photos, together with my own shots of windows and doorways – always my favorite subject in places of human habitation – and people on the streets, formed the basis of this painting. The Haredi (Orthodox) man with the red hair was actually reading scripture outside on a park bench, and the two cats were together on a staircase. I changed the composition, arranging the elements around the central image of the blue window with red-stemmed vines strewn across its top. All the plants were foreign to me, like something out of my imagination. I departed from my usual habit of filling a canvas with the main subject; instead of making the window as large as possible, I turned the canvas horizontally and let the vertical window divide it in half. This left more room to show the Jerusalem stone that is so characteristic of the city, in both old and new neighborhoods.

I’ve dreamed of living for a year in Nachla’ot, a neighborhood brimming with spiritual devotion, lush green foliage, and the peaceful cooing of doves. It’s a painter’s paradise, rich with artistic inspiration, from the synagogue doors carved with symbols of the twelve tribes of Jacob to the ivy-clad entrance of a tiny underground jewelry shop. Less than two centuries old, it’s one of the newer neighborhoods in this ancient city, yet it’s teeming with history – and mystery – woven into the tapestry of humanity that lives there. Maybe I’ll live my dream someday, and get to know this fascinating, multilayered place.

Blue Window, Nachla’ot is the first painting in The Jewish Eye 5785/2025 Calendar of Art, just published and available in my webstore, on Amazon, or if you’re local, directly from me. I pour my heart and soul into creating this collection of art and writing each year. I hope you’ll check it out, and consider purchasing one for yourself or as a gift for someone else.

The original painting is for sale. Please inquire for more information if you’re interested.

A good week to all!

D. Yael Bernhard

https://dyaelbernhard.com

Have you seen my other Substack, The Art of Health? In addition to being a visual artist, I’m also a certified integrative health & nutrition coach with a lifelong passion for natural food cooking and herbal medicine. Now in its second year, this illustrated newsletter explores cutting-edge concepts of nutrition. I strive to make relevant information clear and accessible, and to anchor essential health concepts in unique images. Check it out, and if you like it, please subscribe and help spread the word. Your support keeps my work going!