The Best Restaurant in Jerusalem

I ran out of the office at 4:00 to meet people from this e-mail group (Isra-foods list) I'd never met before, where English speakers talk about my favorite subject - food. This group had arranged a tour of the shuk and I was curious to see who these other food-obsessed people were. Even though I know the shuk well, there may be some "secrets" of the shuk I do not yet know. Also, it's fun to see faces behind the e-mails.

They made us wear name tags, which I hate. Especially so because I got teased by the shopkeepers, who'd call out my name as I walked passed. I played the tourist and shot photos of the place, something I've always wanted to do, but was always too bogged down with packages to be able to do it properly.

The tour took me through familiar territory. I pretty much knew all the "secret" places and fun stops, but I wasn't familiar with the fish shop that gives out recipes and the Asian shop nearby that sells black bean sauce and rice things that look like pancakes so I did learn something knew.

We all gathered after two hours for dinner at a very special place - one which I've heard alot about but never got around to seeing it. It's a soup kitchen disguised as a restaurant called Carmei Ha'ir - translated as vineyards of the city. It looks like a regular restaurant, done up nicely, and as confused patrons ask for the bill, they are told "pay what you want." 500 people a day are fed here for free between the hours of 12:00 and 3:00 pm and then it's open for dinner (pay as you wish). During lunch paying customers mingle with the non-paying customers, so you don't know who is getting a meal for free, so as not to embarrass anyone. It had the nicest vibe to it. Plus the fact that our family could have used a place like that a few years back when I lost my job in high tech and hubby was unemployed as well - those awful months when we were down and out. You can't take your family to something with a sign that says "SOUP KITCHEN FOR THE NEEDY" because how can you look your children in the face? This place was bright, airy and cheerful.

The Orthodox Jewish woman, Batya, who runs the joint, says the vendors at the shuk give them donations of fruits and vegetables, and an anonymous baker leaves them many loaves of expensive whole grain bread each morning. She said this place is open to everyone - Jew, Arab, Christian. I was, of course, pleased as pie to hear that one. She told stories of how she believed the place was even visited by Elijah the Prophet - an anonymous donor who left the equivalent of $1,000 and wanted no receipt and the kind monthly donations from the Christian group Bridges for Peace. And she told us of the woman who always prepared food for her husband and didn't want ready made food, so they gave her all the food she needed to prepare the meals herself. Plus school lunches for needy children. The list goes on. Their next project will be feeding lunch to the street kids who are strung out on drugs at Kikar Zion.

The funny thing was the chef brought out this dish. He explained it was an Arabic dish called Makhloubeh. Of course, knowing much of Arabic culture, I was the only one showing much excitement. No one else knew what it was. 50% of the people there were from Jewish settlements deep in Judea and Samaria in the West Bank.

I told them "If you go to the next village over, you could have Makloubeh every Friday!"

Silence.

I explained to everyone at the table that I do dialogues with Palestinians and Israelis and we share each other's culture, so I know alot about Arabic food and customs.

Still no comment, but at least they smiled. At least they now know someone who does dialogue with the Other and maybe some of it will sink in one day and they'll be curious to join in dialogue too.

By the end of our dinner, I was happy and thankful that I was able to give more than the meal was worth towards supporting this wonderful place. And if you are ever in Jerusalem and want to volunteer, they are always in need of people to pitch in.