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19
Advanced Level –?מסילת הרכבת?

The Train Station
In 1892, when the Turks were ruling the country, a great upheaval
took place in the Land of Israel: (They) built a train track that
connected between Jerusalem and the coastal area.
The track was built within only two and a half years and opening the
train track excited all of the residents and promised a new stage in the
development the area. All of the city’s dignitaries were at the
inauguration ceremony of the track: Jews and Arabs and among them
Eliezer Ben Yehuda, the reviver of the Hebrew Language, who gave
the train its (Hebrew) name “rakevet”.
The problem was that the project was quite expensive and the money
lasted only for one track, so that each time, there could be a ride only
in one direction, from Jaffa to Jerusalem or from Jerusalem to Jaffa.
The ride was convoluted and very slow, lasting between four to six
hours!
(They) say that a sign was hung on one of the trains, attesting to the
slow travel speed: “Please do not get off to pick flowers during the
ride.”
Later, the Jerusalem municipality turned the place into a cultural
center which is called “The First Station”, and today many cultural
activities take place in the area: Film festivals, jazz festivals, the
Hebrew book week and more.

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