History
Kerem Avraham was established by James Finn, British Consul in Ottoman Jerusalem, and his wife Elizabeth Anne Finn. Finn was a devout Christian, who belonged to the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews, but who did not engage in missionary work during his years in Jerusalem.
In 1853, Finn purchased for £250 Karm al-Khalil (Arabic for "Abraham's Vineyard", vineyard of the loved one, which in Hebrew became Kerem Avraham) a barren piece of land outside the walls of the Old City. Kerem Avraham was established as a training farm for Jews in agriculture and to become productive citizens, rather than relying on the halukka, i.e., the distribution of charity from abroad, which was the norm in Jerusalem in those days.
Finn employed Jewish laborers to build the first house there in 1855. Cisterns for water storage were built and a soap factory was established which produced high quality soap sold to tourists. The manager was a Christian named Dunn who believed he was a descendant of the tribe of Dan.
Israeli novelist Amos Oz grew up in Kerem Avraham in the 1940s. Most of the residents of Kerem Avraham today are Orthodox.
Read more about this topic: Kerem Avraham
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