Fun Joel’s Shuk Tours Offer a Taste of Jerusalem

One of my more popular specialty tours has always been my Machane Yehuda tasting tour. And lately, following all of the posts I’ve written about the shuk, and the popular reception of my map of every stand in the market, these tours have become even more popular. Still, a lot of people ask me, “So Read More

All You Want to Know About Machane Yehuda – Part 7: What’s In the Shuk?

Click Here for Part 6 of “All You Want to Know About Machane Yehuda” Now that you’ve all seen my map of every shop in Machane Yehuda Market, it is time for me to use that map to highlight all of the wonderful, the surprising, the delicious and the downright strange things that you can Read More

All You Want to Know About Machane Yehuda – Part 6: THE Map

Click Here for Part 5 of “All You Want to Know About Machane Yehuda” Though not massive in size like Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar, Machane Yehuda Market can still be somewhat confusing to the casual visitor. It’s not as if you will get lost and not be able to find your way out, so if you Read More

All You Want to Know About Machane Yehuda – Part 5: The Shuk Calendar

Click Here for Part 4 of “All You Want to Know About Machane Yehuda” Now that I’ve covered the history and development of the Machane Yehuda Market, I want to focus on the “whens” of the shuk. The market is not the same every time you visit there. It shifts and changes with the hours Read More

All You Want to Know About Machane Yehuda – Part 4: Making Improvements

Click Here for Part 3 of “All You Want to Know About Machane Yehuda” The shuk today is much nicer, cleaner and developed than it once was. (I know some people still think it is too dirty or smelly, but I disagree. Not trying to convince anyone though!) The improvements began in the 1970s, and Read More

All You Want to Know About Machane Yehuda – Part 3: Building Permanence

Click Here for Part 2 of “All You Want to Know About Machane Yehuda” Following the early developments at Machane Yehuda Market through the first few decades of the 20th Century, the shuk found a permanent home in Jerusalem. This called for other changes that would solidify this permanence, over the decades of the mid-century. Read More

All You Want to Know About Machane Yehuda – Part 2: The Early Years

Click Here for Part 1 of “All You Want to Know About Machane Yehuda” In my last post on “the Shuk,” I gave you some of the background information. What the shuk is, why it is located where it is and where its name comes from. But I also mentioned that I see Machane Yehuda Read More

All You Want to Know About Machane Yehuda – Part 1: Background

One of my absolute favorite places in Jerusalem — and not just as a tour guide but also as a city resident — is Machane Yehuda, the outdoor market at the heart of the city. I’m a real foodie, and this market (commonly just referred to as “the shuk” — the Hebrew and Arabic word Read More

A Tour of Wineries in Eretz Binyamin / Samaria

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting five different wineries with some other tour guides and friends. The wineries were all located in the region of Eretz Binyamin — the area that was designated in the Bible for the tribe of Benjamin. Today it is part of the region known as Samaria, and there Read More