The Arab bazaar is a wonderful, colorful bazaar just within the walls of
Jerusalem.
The people minding the stores are Arabs, descendents from many
generations of storekeepers they are experts at getting the highest
possible prices from their customers. Not only do they succeed in selling
their wares at a good profit their customers also go away feeling happy
that they’ve struck a great bargain and that they’ve made a new friend.
The greatest experts among them start the dealing with a personal
complement, for example: “Wow you’re the first customer I’ve had today.”
This means you’re his “siftach”and everybody knows that a person who is
a “siftach”deserves a big discount. One could even say its an unwrittenl
law of Arab market storekeepers.
Often when he has a “siftach”he’ll shrug his shoulders, in s sign of
resignation that he has no choice but to sell whatever thing you have
chosen from his store, a bag, a shawl, a pair of shoes, at a loss. You’re a
siftach and if he doesn’t do the right thing by you he’ll have bad luck all
day long. If he gives you a discount, at great sacrifice to himself, he will
have good luck the whole day long.
The most important thing in the market is to keep the upper hand
while at the same time being polite. Whatever he does you should
complement him and insist that he’s a wonderful fellow.
If you refuse to buy the article he’ll show you other articles in his store
until you buy something. He’s always trying to sell something. The only
way to get out of buying is to tell him what a good fellow he is and
wonderful his store is and even to promise him you’ll be back.
The phrase that you’re not in the market for that article right now is a
give away that you badly want that article and it’s just a question of
price.
In this game the more you want the article the more you show how
much you don’t want it.
The Jewish stores in the Jewish Quarter aren’t really a market. The
bargaining there is different. Nobody ever seems to go down in price.
I think you can buy beautiful things there, like paintings, kiddush cups,
candle sticks for the festival and Shabbat and even some antiquities.
There you’ll get pleasure from what you buy. In the Arab Market you’ll
get pleasure from how you buy.
Testimonials
Filed Under Testimonials | Leave a Comment
It was a very enjoyable trip - a great bunch of people and a tour leader that took the stress out of travel. Particular highlights were the overnight stay Jerusalem, visiting the Golan and of course the Dead Sea tour that was an incredible experience. The local guides in particular were absolutely fantastic and deserve special acclaim.
Keith (London)
Jerusalem Chronology
Filed Under Israel History | Leave a Comment
Jerusalem Chronology
| Date | Controlling Faction(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1005 BCE | Jewish | City of Jerusalem taken by the Jews under King David |
| 973 BCE | Jewish | First Temple built by King Solomon |
| 587-6 BCE | Jewish | Jerusalem conquered by the Babylonians; Temple destroyed |
| 538 BCE | Jewish | Jews allowed to rebuild the Temple by the Persians |
| 331 BCE | Jewish | Jerusalem conquered by the Greeks under Alexander the Great |
| 168 BCE | Jewish | Second Temple desecrated by Greek king |
| 167 BCE | Jewish | Jewish revolt against Greek rule Judah the Macabbee |
| 64 BCE | Jewish | Romans take over Jerusalem |
| 20 BCE | Jewish | King Herod the Great begins to rebuild Temple again |
| 29 CE | Christian | Jesus preaches and dies in Jerusalem; beginning of Christianity |
| 70 CE | Jewish | The Romans destroyed the 2nd Temple |
| 73 CE | Jewish | Fall of Massada |
| 637 CE | Christian & Muslim | Muslims take Jerusalem, but are tolerant toward Christians; allow them to keep part of the city |
| 1099 CE | Christian | The First Crusade is successful in taking Jerusalem from the Moslems;Crusaders establish the Kingdom of Jerusalem |
| 1187 CE | Muslim | Jerusalem taken from the Christians by the Egyptian Saladin |
| 1860 | Turkish Moslem | First Jewish neighborhood outside the walls of the Old City |
| 1917 | British | British conquer Jerusalem from the Ottoman Turks |
| 1948 | Jewish | The State of Israel is declared |
| 1967 | Jewish | Israel conquers the Old City |
| 2007 | Jewish | The city celebrates 40 years |
Israel, the 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world’s
population, can make claim to the following.
Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the
world. In 1984 and 1991, Israel airlifted a total of 22,000 Ethiopian Jews
at risk in Ethiopia to safety in Israel.Israel produces more scientific papers
per capita than any other nation by a large margin- 109 per 10,000
people- as well as one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed.
When Golda Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1969, she
became the world’s second elected female leader in modern times.
In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup
companies in the world. In absolute terms, Israel has the largest number
of startup companies than any other country in the world, except the
U.S. (3,500 companies, mostly in hi-tech).
When the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya was bombed in 1998, Israeli
rescue teams were on the scene within a day- and saved three victims
from the rubble.
Israel is ranked #2 in the world for venture capital funds behind the U.S.
Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship- and the highest
rate among women and among people over 55-in the world.
Outside the United States and Canada, Israel has the largest number
of NASDAQ listed companies.Relative to its population, Israel is the
largest immigrant- absorbing nation on earth. Immigrants come in
search of democracy, religious freedom and economic opportunity
Israel has the highest average living standards in the Middle East. The
per capita income in 2000 was over $17,500, exceeding that of the U.K.
Israel was the first nation in the world to adopt the Kimberly process, an
international standard that certifies diamonds as “conflict free.’”
With an aerial arsenal of over 250 F-16s, Israel has the largest fleet of the
aircraft outside of the U.S. According to industry officials, Israel designed
the airline industry’s most impenetrable flight security. U.S. officials now
look to Israel for advice on how to handle airborne security threats.
Israel’s $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbors
combined.
Israel’s Maccabi basketball team won the European championships in
2001.
On a per capita basis, Israel has the largest number of bio-tech start-ups.
Israeli tennis player Anna Smashanova is ranked the 15th female player
in the world.
Israel has the largest raptor migration in the world, with hundreds of
thousands of African birds of prey crossing as they fan out in to Asia.
Mighty Morphin ‘Power Rangers” was produced by Haim Saban, an
Israeli whose family fled from Egypt.
Twenty- four percent of Israel’s workforce holds university degrees-
ranking third in the industrialized world, after the United States and
Holland- and 12 percent hold advanced degrees.
In 1991, during the Gulf War, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra played a
concert wearing gas masks as Scud missiles fired by Saddam Hussein fell
on Tel Aviv.
Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East.
Israel has the world’s second highest per capita of new books.
Israel is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with
a net gain in its number of trees.
Israel has more museums per capita than any other country
Israel has two official languages: Hebrew and Arabic
Medicine
Israel’s Givun imaging developed the first ingestible video camera, so
small it fits inside a pill. Used to view the small intestine from the inside,
the camera helps doctors diagnose cancer and digestive disorders.
Israeli Scientists developed the first fully computerized, no radiation, diagnostic
instrumentation for breast cancer.
An Israeli company developed a computerized System for ensuring proper administration of medications Thus removing human error from medical treatment.
Every Year in U.S. hospitals 7,000 patients die from treatment mistakes.
Technology With more than 3,000 hi-tech companies and start-ups, Israel has the
highest concentration of hi tech companies in the world (apart from the
Silicon Valley.)
Most of the Windows NT operating system was developed by Microsoft
-Israel
In response to serious water shortages, Israeli engineers and
agriculturists developed a revolutionary drip irrigation system to
minimize the amount of water used to grow crops. The Pentium
MMX Chip was designed in Israel at Intel. Voicemail technology was
developed in Israel. Both Microsoft and Cisco built their only
R & D facilities outside the U.S. in Israel.
Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per
capita. The technology for AOL Instant Messenger was developed in
1996 by four young Israelis.
Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the
workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the U.S., over 70
in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. With over 25% of its work force
employed in technical professions, Israel places first in this category as
well.
A new acne treatment developed in Israel, the Clearlight device,
produces a high intensity, ultra violet free, narrow –band blue light that
cause acne bacteria to self destruct- all without damaging surrounding
skin or tissue.
The cell phone was developed in Israel by Motorola, which has its
largest development center in Israel. An Israeli company was the first
to develop and install a large-scale solar powered and fully functional
electricity generating plant, in southern California’s Mojave desert.
The first PC anti-virus software was developed in Israel in 1979.
BIBLICAL PERIOD
2000 BCE Patriarchs and Matriarchs: settlement of the Land of Israel
1250 BCE Moses, desert wanderings; receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai; conquest of Land of Israel by Joshua; rule by Judges
1st TEMPLE PERIOD
1000 BCE Jerusalem becomes King David’s capital; Solomon builds First Temple; division of kingdom into Israel and Judah
586 BCE Destruction of First Temple; Babylonian Exile
2ND TEMPLE PERIOD
Return to Zion; Ezra and Nechemia; construction of Second Temple
332 BCE Jerusalem comes under Greek domination
166 BCE Maccabean Revolt; restoration of Jewish autonomy;
Hasmonean Empire
63 BCE Roman invasion of Israel [Kingdom of Herod; Hillel and Shammai leaders of rabbinic thought]
70 CE Destruction of Jerusalem and Second Temple
EXILE AND DIASPORA (Beginning of rabbinic period)
73 CE Destruction of Masada
132 CE Bar Kochba Revolt; compilation of Mishna by Rabbi Yehuda
Hanassi
324 CE Talmudic period; decline of Israel as Jewish center; rise of Jewish academies in Babylonia
638 CE Arab conquest of Jerusalem; construction of the Dome of the Rock and Al Aksa mosques; renewal of Jewish settling
1100 CE Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099); in France, Rashi writes commentary on the Bible; Ramban’s settlement marks return of Jews to Jerusalem and worship at the
Western Wall (1267)
1492 CE Jews expelled from Spain
1517 CE Ottoman Empire rules Jerusalem; Sephardic synagogues established; Shulchan Aruch published in Zfat
1789 CE Napoleon In Eretz Yisrael
1860 CE Yemin Moshe was founded as first settlement outside Old City walls
1880 CE Pogroms in Russia; Dreyfus trial; Theodore Herzl; First Aliyah; First Zionist Congress; Tel Aviv founded
1917 CE British Mandate in Palestine; Jewish population increases; rise of Arab nationalism
1938 CE Kristallnacht; British White paper restricts Jewish immigration to Palestine; beginning of Holocaust
MODERN STATE OF ISRAEL
1947 CE Partition Plan
1948 CE State of Israel proclaimed; War of Independence; beginning of waves of immigration from Europe, Yemen and Iraq
1967 CE Six Day War; reunification of Jerusalem
In the last 30 years, we have seen the Yom Kippur war and the War in Lebanon, peace agreements with Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians, terrorist attacks, the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin. You will learn about these events on your trip. Which of these might appear on the timeline 500 years from now?
About Israel
Filed Under Facts about Israel | Leave a Comment
Israel stands at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa. Geographically,
it belongs to the Asian continent. Its western border is the
Mediterranean Sea. To the North it is bound by Lebanon and Syria, to the east by
Jordan, and to the south by the Red Sea and Egypt.
Long and narrow in shape, Israel is about 290 miles (470 km) long and
85 miles (135 km) across at its widest point. Its total area is 22,072 sq. km
of which 21,643 sq. km is land area (Sea of Galilee: 164 sq. km.; Dead Sea:
265sq.km.).
Israel’s total land border measures 857 km., its Mediterranean coastline
194 km, and 12 km on the Red Sea.
The majority of Israelis (92%) live in urban communities. One quarter of
the Israeli population lives either in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv or Rishon LeZion.
Jerusalem is the largest city with 719,900 residents. Most of Israel’s
population is concentrated in the center of the country around Tel Aviv, which
has a population of 378,900.
Largest Cities by Population
Jerusalem 719,900
Tel Aviv –Yafo 378,900
Haifa 267,000
Rishon LeZion 219,500
Ashdod 200,600
Latest Population Figures for Israel
On its Independence Day, April 24th, 2007 the State of Israel’s
population stands at approximately 7,150,000 inhabitants – compared to
806,000 residents who lived in Israel in 1948, according to the Central
Bureau of Statistics data.
Of the total population, 5,415,000 are Jews (76 percent) while 1,425,000
million (20 percent) are Arabs. 310,000 (4 percent) of the people were
classified as “others”, mostly non-Jewish immigrants from the former
Soviet Union or those whose Jewish status is still undetermined by Interior Ministry.
In the past year the Israeli population has grown by 121,000, a rate of
1.8 percent. Since 2003, the growth rate has remained relatively stable.
The majority (88 percent) of the increase was due to natural births. There
were 148,000 births recorded in Israel in 2006.During that same period,
18,400 new immigrants made aliyah to Israel, accounting for the rest of
the growth (12 percent) in Israel’s population.
