Mahane Yehuda

Western visitors to Jerusalem are often impressed with the city’s large open-air market, Mahane Yehuda.  Arutz-7 runs an illustrated article about it today.

You can learn much about a city by exploring its open air market and listening to its stories. By the end of the 19th  [secular] century Jerusalem was growing, with Jews returning to their homeland. In addition, immigrants from numerous nationalities and religions from Europe, Ethiopia, Turkey, and Russia were also contributing to the urban fabric of the city. New neighborhoods were built outside the walls to alleviate the overcrowding in the Old City.

The Jerusalem neighborhood of Mahane Yehuda was established in 1887 with 162 houses, founded by three business partners: Johannes Frutiger, Joseph Navon, and Shalom Konstrum, and named after Navon’s brother Yehudah. Frutiger was a German Protestant who owned the largest private bank in Palestine; it was he who acquired the license for the Jaffa-Jerusalem Railway with Navon from the Ottoman government.

The full article and photos are here.

Mahane Yehuda, Jerusalem 

This might be a good opportunity to mention an Israeli film related to the feast of Sukkot (which begins on Friday evening).  Ushpizin is a delightful 90-minute movie about a husband and wife whose celebration of the holiday is interrupted by some unexpected visitors.  The film is in Hebrew with English subtitles.  The movie won awards in Israel for “best picture” and “best actor,” but it’s popular enough in the U.S. that I found it for rent in our local Blockbuster.  Amazon has it used for $8.