As I have
written many times my family and I live in the Negev. One of the cities in the Negev is Netivot. Now if this name sounds sort of
familiar to you, it is because Netivot has been the recipient of many Grad
missiles fired by Hamas. Netivot is 9km [about 5 and 1/2 miles] from Gaza
In Netivot,
like many other cities in Israel
Tuesday is shuk
day in Netivot. In Hebrew, shuk means “marketplace.”
For hundreds of years, Jews from all over the world have vended and shopped in
marketplaces. Merchants would travel by ship to sell their spices, fine perfume,
material etc. My ancestors going back to the early 1700’s traveled by ship from
Spain to Romania
In biblical times, Avraham Avinu,
met with caravan merchants on the very land where Netivot and the surrounding
moshavim and yishuv stands today.
Every
Tuesday, merchants and farmers from the moshavim and kibbutzim in the area set
up their wares, fruits and vegetables in the open air market. You can buy
almost anything in the shuk from fruits and vegetables, clothes, toys, Judaic,
cheap costume jewelry, paper products, plastic ware and there is always a
surprise or two.
The shuk in
Netivot is on a large piece of land in the industrial area. Shopper’s crowd
onto the bus with their shopping wagons and hand held baskets. Young mothers with babies in carriages and a
toddler or two trailing behind are a common sight. Everyone is going to the
shuk to look for bargains. And if you are patient and have the time to really
look carefully, you will find the bargains.
But you
need patience when you arrive at the shuk. The traffic on the street of the
shuk and around the entrance is always crazy. Early bird shoppers block the
entrance putting their purchases in the trunk of taxis. Bus drivers honk their
horns wanting to pass. Venders are unloading produce and merchandise and
security is checking each car as they drive into the parking lot.
As you walk
into the shuk, you are entering a very interesting and entertaining place to
shop. The noise level is very loud. Vendors are hocking their produce and
wares. Knowing how to bargain is part of
the game. The secret is knowing prices and know how much you are willing to
pay.
After you
ask the vendor how much, he / she will usually give you a high price, figuring
you are going to bargain. I usually say too
expensive and walk away. The vendor will call you back “gaverette, gaverette”
[literally Mrs.] and give you
another price. If it is a fair price, you buy, if not, say no and as you leave
he will say how much. Give your price [it has to be fair, no cheating allowed]
and in most cases you have a deal.
The
moshavim and kibbutzim in the areas have a bus that takes its residents for an
“outing” to the shuk. The older women love to meet and smooze. For many, it’s
their only time away from home.
As I
started this blog, I told you that Netivot has had many rockets fired at it
citizens. Because of this, Pikud Oref ,
Israel
Many
vendors travel from city to city, setting up their wares. With the shuks closed, the vendors are
suffering. Their income has been taken away because of rockets.
If
you are visiting Israel, the famous Mahane Yehuda in
Jerusalem and Carmel Market in
Tel Aviv are a stop for every tourist.
No
matter if you are a native Israeli or a tourist, if you have never shopped in
the shuk, you owe yourself the experience.
Happy
shopping!
Postscript.
One of the farmer families that sell their produce in the shuk lives in my
yishuv. They decided that since the people can’t come to the shuk, the
shuk
will come to them. Every Tuesday they have
set up a veggie shuk
on the lawn outside of their home. Many residents come to
buy and
appreciated their efforts.
That’s
all for now.
Feel
free to comment and share.
Miriam
