Tiberias (Tveria) 1947 - 1983
As we continue the journey along the path of our family in Palestine (Israel), we head north from Tel-Aviv to Tiberias (Tveria).
After living in Tel-Aviv for ten years, in 1947 Chaim Kobrin got a job as a family physician in Tiberias (Tveria). The family moved into a small apartment at Hamaginim Street, also known as “The Abulafia House” named after the owners of the building. Chaim Kobrin placed the Doctor sign at the entrance of the building as he accepted patient visits at home after the clinic hours. His doctor sign was one of the objects that was left behind, found in a box. The Kobrin family lived in this apartment building from 1947 to 1954.
In December 1947, Isaac (Itzhak) was born in Schweitzer Memorial Hospital in Tveria. The hospital was opened in 1930 by Rebecca Schweitzer who named it after her late husband Peter J. Schweitzer, a Jewish American philanthropists. The hospital was located in Kiryat Shmuel until 1955.
We journey up the hill overlooking the Kinneret lake, towards Bialik Street number 3 in Kiryat Shmuel. This neighbourhood was established during the British mandate in the late 1920’s on the slopes of the mountain. In 1954, the Kobrin family bought their family home there. The house was a one story building, surrounded by a fence covered with bushes and climbing plants. The front garden was full of flowers, that lead to the entrance of the house. At the back of the house there was a small vegetable garden surrounded by olive trees, and different fruit trees like oranges, lemons and pomegranate. The house had 4.5 large rooms with a large terrace in the front. From the entrance, a long corridor lead to two large rooms on the right side. One of them was the living room and the other was Gila’s bedroom, both rooms had a door to the front terrace. At the end of the corridor was Isaac’s bedroom. The kitchen was on the left side of the corridor. The parents’ bedroom could be entered through Isaac’s room and from the service room of the kitchen. Unfortunately we do not have any photos of the house, just memories and photos mainly taken in the surrounding garden and terrace.
Just across the street from the family house were Aviv Cinema and two establishments of the city: the Elizabeth Hotel, Theater and Elisheva Cinema. The Hotel was built in 1929 by Shlomo Feingold, and was considered to be the most luxurious hotel located in the north of Israel. Feingold named the hotel “Elizabeth” after his wife. Inside the hotel used to be a magnificent hall with red velvet upholstered chairs, a fancy dining hall, bridge and billiards room. The hotel was very popular during the British Mandate, but after 1948 it was abandoned. In 1949 it was renovated and inaugurated as the “Genossar” Hotel until the late 1960s while the Elisheva cinema continued operating there until the 1980s.
Both cinemas, Elisheva and Aviv were the center life of Tveria, especially on Saturday evenings, but also during the week. This was the place to go see movies, meet up with friends, eat at the kiosks and spend time in the Genossar hotel lobby. People of all ages used to meet in the area, which became the entertainment centre of the city.
Another famous establishment during the 1950s was “Cafe Arbel”. It used to host live music events, afternoon tea, ball dancing, and drinks. The Kobrin family loved to go there for afternoon tea, listen to music and dance.
Bialik Street today. The building that replaced the Kobrin family house.
In 1987 the Kobrin family house was sold to a contractor who demolished it, and a six story building replaced it. In 2001 the Genossar hotel burned down. The complex was never renovated and remained abandoned. Currently the whole area looks neglected.
As we entered what was left of the Elisheva cinema and the Genossar hotel we discovered neglected buildings covered with graffiti, dirt and garbage. The Elisheva cinema used to be a two story building with a large screen and very high ceilings. Going to the movies during those days was an exciting event, exposing the citizens of Tveria to the world outside Israel. Although this site is included in Tveria’s preservation list, nothing has been done with this historical building since the end of the 1960s.
As we left the neighbourhood, my father kept saying how sad it was for him to see his childhood neighbourhood so neglected, and historical places not taken care of. This is part of the history of the city. Not only are the people who lived here no longer with us, but also the places and the memories replaced by destruction and neglect.
It was time for us to continue on our journey, this time to find the clinic owned by Dr Chaim Kobrin located in the city center. The place he was so proud of, being the doctor of the citizens of Tveria (Tiberias), the city he called his home.
The search continues…
