Always Ancient, Always New – Walking Through Jerusalem

Jerusalem is so contradictory. For all its deep, tangled historical roots and self-conscious cosmopolitan air,  it’s still a small town. Sometimes, climbing onto a crowded bus during rush hour, squeezing past old folks laden with bulging shopping bags and tired soldiers talking into cellphones, hoping you’ll find at least a standing space with some elbow [...]

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What Are You Eating This Shabbat?

What do Israelis cook for Shabbat? The vendors at the shuk tell Mimi.

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Open-Air Market: Shuk Mahaneh Yehudah, Jerusalem

I lived in Jerusalem for 14 years once, but I’m almost a stranger there now. New roads, changes in bus routes, old shops closed down, new shops open, and above all, the maddening construction of the light rail, a great useless trench in the middle of Yaffo Road. Buses and cars must travel squeezed to [...]

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Shuk: The Beduin Market in Beersheva

I’ve been saving this post for a cold, rainy winter day, to remind me of a searingly hot June morning in Beersheva this year. But the rains have made only a reluctant appearance so far, and the weather is maddeningly bright. Never mind – it could be hotter. As it was that morning in the [...]

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Open-Air Market in Petach Tikvah

There are famous open-air markets in Israel. The three best-known are Machaneh Yehudah, in downtown Jerusalem, the Arab shuk in Jerusalem’s Old City, and the Carmel Market of Tel Aviv.  Other large towns also have permanent shuks of their own. Smaller towns are served by traveling markets that arrive once a week and set up [...]

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