How much would it have cost to buy a cucumber in the 2nd Temple Market, and what’s the price for a trendy shirt at the Machaneh Yehudah Market, now?

by Orit Shayovitz, Professional Tour Guide

Our tour will start across from the archeological park of Jerusalem, near the Temple Mount.

We will explore and experience market life next to the Temple and observe its reflections in the Jewish Midrash (ancient commentaries on Jewish scripture). The sounds and smells of the open market will certainly stand out.

On our next stop, we will find ourselves in a Roman Byzantine setting, with the two Cardos roads that were the heart of city at that time (between the 3rd and the 5th centuries). You will hear the amazing story of its discovery, and learn what the Jews have to say about Roman lifestyle and developments.

From there, we will continue into the Crusader’s market that transverses the Old City from north to south. We will find that each alley has its own unique, professional workshops, and see what we can buy there today.

Moving on, we will skip directly to the 19th century, to the market in the center of the Christian Quarter - the “Muristan”. There we can learn about Christian pilgrims’ marches and hear the story of old Mrs. Berman and how she started what later became the current Berman’s Bakery, one of the largest bakeries in Jerusalem.We will walk through the Christian Quarter’s market, that used to be a major center for textile trade, then up to the Jaffa gate, and on to the Mammilla neighborhood . The old Mammilla neighborhood that was burnt and damaged at the beginning of the War of Independence in 1947, is today, a fancy, upscale mall.

Walking through the center of town we will finally find ourselves in the most colorful and lively market in Jerusalem, the “Machane Yehuda market”. We will learn how it was established as a part of the process of expanding the city outside of the walls, and see all its hidden corners and new trendy boutiques, cafes and restaurants.
 
Walk and experience colorful markets - the beating heart of the city from the 2nd Temple period, through the generations in the Old City and up to the “Modern” market of Machane Yehudah.

Orit Shayovitz is a licensed tour guide, specializing in the unique and often hidden sites of Jerusalem. If you wish to contact Orit, please send us a message and we’ll be happy to pass it along.

New Tech Ideas

As suppliers of a wide range of products, Efrat Networks gets bombarded with a variety of emails from importers pushing their wares. Some of what we’re seeing is not your run-of-the-mill products, yet we find them to be interesting enough to share with you for your consideration.

Pen Camera Recorder
Here’s where the announcer says: “It slices, it dices…”

Actually, this device can really come in handy if you’re in a meeting or at a location where a regular camcorder won’t do the job. We won’t ask any questions.

It writes, records and does take pictures. Just like in the James Bond movies…

This pen retails for $59 + VAT and comes with 4GB of storage, recording time of about 1.5 hours, and resolution of 640×480 pixels.

Logitech Sound
Logitech has released a range of new products for use with your iPod or iPhone.

The Pure-Fi Express Plus (shown to the right) and Pure-Fi Anytime are great sound solutions for next to the bed or in the office. Express Plus comes with omnidirectional stereo speakers, an alarm clock and wireless remote. It retails for NIS 419+VAT. The Anytime version includes motion-activated backlighted controls, alarm clock stereo (2.0), and an AM/FM radio. It retails for NIS 565+VAT.

Add Color to Your Life
If your kids need to make color prints for their reports, put away the markers and crayons. Now’s the time to consider buying a quality color laserjet. The HP CP1215 is a powerful printer that is easy to install. It prints high-quality color documents, supports manual duplexing (double sided printing) and takes up a small amount of real-estate on your desk. This printer retails for over $170. We have one unit remaining - it is selling for $135+VAT. First come, first served.

Back To School Software Ideas

Herbi Writer is a Tablet PC/UMPC application for people with handwriting and speech disabilities that lets them develop handwriting skills. The handwriting development software available here is being used today by occupational therapists and teachers to help their students, and the speech assistance software has been used by people who are unable to speak.

Herbi Writer shows sample letters to the student, and the student writes the letter on the computer screen. If the software considers the student’s letter to be a match for the sample, positive feedback appears on the screen. You can have reinforcing phrases spoken by the computer too. A simple game can be played to see how many letters of the alphabet are correct when writing all the letters of alphabet.

The developer of this application has been kind enough of making this fine application for free.

Efrat Networks has a wealth of experience in working with and training owners of Tablet PC’s. These computerized notebooks are powerful tools for accountants, lawyers, doctors and other professionals, along with students.  Tomas, one of our premier technicians, will tell you that his highly souped up tablet PC allows him to be a full time graduate student and work with our Efrat Networks clients, also full time.  Stay tuned for Tomas’ tips for high powered student use of computers beginning in the next issue of Get Connected.