A windmill? Really?

Not that I gave it much thought before I came, but there are certain things I didn’t expect to see here, one was a big white windmill on the top of a hill overlooking the Old City.  Built in 1857 to do what wind mills were meant to do, grind flour, Moses Montefiore purchased the land, built the windmill and the first neighborhood outside the protection of the Old City, Mishkenot Sha’ananim (1860). 

 

Sir Moses Montefiore, was a visionary who loved Israel, and believed that with the blessing of wealth comes the responsibility to give back, to be philanthropic, what the nobility called Noblesse oblige.   Sir Moses is described in several places as religious, with a strong sense of social justice, who helped all Jews, regardless of their affiliation and non-Jews as well.

As the first neighborhood outside of the Old City 

sitting on a hill, the people who moved here lived a mixed blessing.     Much like that scene in Catch 22 when Danby is giving the condition report for the pilots, “Weather conditions have improved tremendously over the mainland, so you won't have any trouble at all seeing the target. Of course, we mustn't forget, that means that they won't have any trouble at all seeing you.”  (Sniper fire from the city was a constant threat from 1948 until 1967 while Jordan controlled the Old City.)

Apparently Moses didn't consider maintenance and the difficulty in shipping parts from England, so after about 18 years the mill stopped milling.  (All supplies were still being brought in over land, the first train route from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem wasn’t built until 1892).  In 2012 through the efforts of a Dutch windmill enthusiast and lover of Israel, D.G. Schutte and about $1.25 Million dollars raised by Jewish, and Christian organizations, state, local and business groups, the Windmill was restored and the hope is that at some point it may mill grain again.  Is there a need to mill grain for a modern Israel? Probably not, but seeing the dream fulfilled, Moses is surely smiling.  Much like I smile when I see this icon in the middle of Jerusalem, completely out of place, unless you know the history.

So what are the chances there are two windmills in Jerusalem? Pretty good actually, the second is not a functioning but decorative mill, for I kid you not, an Asian Fusion Kosher restaurant.  You know I have to eat here before I leave, and I’m sure there’s a story!

 
Read more: A second wind for Montefiore's magnificent Jerusalem windmill | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/a-second-wind-for-montefiores-magnificent-jerusalem-windmill/#ixzz3Jiqjk1VC
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"View of building and windmill built by Sir Moses Montefiore." 
 The negative was probably made by British Sergeant Henry 
Phillips in May 1866 -- a period when the mill was operational.
 (Palestine Exploration Fund)

http://www.israeldailypicture.com/2012/08/the-jerusalem-windmill-will-soon-turn.html