Tom Brimmer's Israel Journal-shopping in Israel

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Tom Brimmer's Israel Journal

Shopping in Israel

The average tourist gets a great deal of fun out of shopping in Israel. The things that are available are different from what you can get at the Wal-Mart stores you find in nearly every American town. You can find stuff like hammered copper and carved olive-wood and hand painted Armenian ceramics.
But I'm not a tourist! I live here. I have all of the Middle Eastern souvenirs I will ever need. Let's be serious, I don't actually need those kinds of things in everyday life. I need a place where I can buy the stuff I actually need.
How does Wal-Mart do it anyway? They buy tons of things and sell them at delightfully inexpensive prices. Sure, you probably don't need a new snow shovel all that often but when you do, Wal-Mart has one. Try buying one in downtown Jerusalem during a snowstorm and you will either be disappointed or much poorer. Here's a project for the hardy. Go into Jerusalem and buy a motorized go-cart for your kids. Good luck.
Hey, I'm a tour guide. I can find you the best prices on Ahavah products, a camel trek or the best places to eat in Israel. Be serious, it's not that I can't find stuff. I can find amazing things. If you want to buy a Kosher Torah scroll, I can find one for under $ 40,000.00! Want a shofar? I know the best place with the best prices. What I need today, however, is help with the DVD player in my laptop. I do have access to the internet so I went to the Gateway 2000 web site and it was very helpful. That is, except for the fact that the machine is more than 90 days old (try 2 years) and they no longer have the part I need. They don't actually remember exactly which part I need either since they used DVD as an add-on way back then.
Let's go down to the mall and see if anyone there knows anything. Oh, that's right, we have shuks here instead of malls. The computer revolution has not yet invaded the shuk. Sure, they use cash registers and computers to conduct business but there is no Radio Shack anywhere to be seen. I can get some wonderful fresh fruit, pastries and vegetables but no technical assistance. Well, that's not entirely true... Moshe and Yuri up at the fresh fish stand can be pretty helpful.
Oh, forget the dumb computer and enjoy life a little. I'm off to the candy store to buy some hot cinnamon flavored candies... Hot Tamales to be precise. Shoot, no such luck! I'll have to put that on my list of stuff I want folk to send me from the US.

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