‎(Video) Knicks' Amar'e Stroudemire in Israel

Amazing who you run into at Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda open-air market: the Knicks' Amar'e Stroudemire: http://www.davebrianbender.com/

Jerusalem: 'Playing for Mime' (original photography)

Playing for Mime (Dave Bender) Click on the image for the full-size photos.

Friday morning at Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda open air market: Local street-theater artist, "The Purple Man," freezes, until passersby drop a coin or two into his guitar case. They he plays for another 15-seconds, until he again goes rigid.

Last I heard the cops ran him off for drawing too big a crowd and causing a public disturbance [sigh].


Friday morning at Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda open air market: a beggar with a headset microphone and tambourine wishes passersby a good, peaceful Sabbath. (Dave Bender)

Ha. Haha. Like Friday shopping at Mahane Yehuda isn't a public disturbance, anyway...


Friday at Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda open air market, a veteran hawker sells trinkets from a rolling cart. (Dave Bender)


A hero of the Revolution now shops for Shabbat. (Dave Bender)

Just imagine the things this elderly Russian immigrant has seen in his lifetime, including what he experienced in the service of the Soviet Red Army in order to merit those battle pins and medallions.

Shabbat Shalom, and have a great weekend.

Yitzhak Peretz of Mahane Yehuda (original photography)

Yitzhak Peretz of Mahane Yehuda 1 (Dave Bender)

Yitzhak Peretz is a devout Moroccan Jew who immigrated to Israel in the 1980's. He owns a small tailor shop across the street from Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda open-air market. I stopped in one day, looking to repair my backpack.

Peretz's pride and "old-world" manner, innate respect for his lifelong profession, and his clientele impressed me as I waited for him to finish the repair.


Yitzhak Peretz of Mahane Yehuda 2 (Dave Bender)

I was rapt, watching his hands and eyes as he worked on his ancient sewing machine. He said he'd brought it with him from Morocco to Israel.


Yitzhak Peretz of Mahane Yehuda 3 (Dave Bender)

As I waited for him to complete the work on my pack, another customer came in. Peretz proudly displayed his completed repairs on a handbag she'd brought in earlier.