Petite and pretty with animated brown eyes, Tali Friedman isn't your typical character at the brusque Jerusalem shuk, but she carries as much weight as any of the burly shop keepers as she promotes the 100-year-old market.

A chef with a gift for drawing out the merits of local cuisine, Friedman has the same passion for Jerusalem cooking as Julia Child did for French dishes. Friedman has been instrumental in ferreting out the culinary treasures of the market and turning them into a touring business as well as an upcoming TV show.

Her unique Jerusalem food tour of the shuk, Mahane Yehuda, incorporates a hands-on approach:  With a deep respect for its traditions and her keen culinary eye, Friedman describes the unique items and shops in the market, then the tour is capped off with a meal cooked by the guests from fresh produce in the market. On a r

October 27, 2009  It was a passage in Zechariah 14 that clinched it for Susan Jones, a Christian supporter of Israel from the United Kingdom. Immediately after reading the passage Susan knew the time was right to plan her first trip to Israel.

"I was reading the book of Zechariah where it says that the nations will come up to Jerusalem after Jesus comes back," she said. "I thought, ‘I need to do this now, before Messiah comes back. I need to come up to Jerusalem on behalf of my nation and worship Jesus."

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