By Michael Liebermann and Josh Markowitz
All of the stalls in the shuk are inhabited by vendors hawking items — fruit, schnitzel, phone cases — and if you walk past them you will see stacks of fresh olives and nuts, and you will hear Hebrew and English and Yiddish (“oy vey”). Shuk HaCarmel has been part of Tel Aviv since 1920, which means it’s actually older than the city it calls home. And more than 20,000 people pass through this narrow maze of streets every day, most often walking shoulder-to-shoulder.
On Tuesday, visitors saw a woman from Israel, by way of America, drinking at 3 p.m. and yelling at people to try the falafel, along with a smiling man proud to have opened his empanada shop six years ago — which is open here five days a week, and by the mall on Fridays — and a small man with weather-beaten skin and a faded red polo selling almonds. His almonds go for 80 shekels per kilo. That’s about $26.
It’s not all food. There are the green awnings, the red awnings and the tasseled awnings, and socks that are probably ripoffs and soccer jerseys that are definitely ripoffs. These shops line either side of pavement littered with the occasional napkin, and dirty alleyways branching off, shops behind shops, shops piled on shops, the market swelling upward like a gentle wave, clearing of people in spots and clogging with them at others. A Wolt driver (Israeli Uber Eats) poked his motorbike’s wheels through the crowd. It’s a miracle no one got hit. Few even noticed he was there in the first place.
On this Tuesday, a large group of hundreds of Americans from Maccabi USA showed up to enjoy themselves.
“It’s like a smorgasbord of people,” said Eric Cooper, a golfer. “A lot of different stores, great food, a lot of tchotchkes, good shmaying.”
Cooper had never been to the shuk. But many had been here before, such as Jonathan Reisman of the U17 Boys’ Futsal White Team, who was born in Israel, and Kobi Bregman of the U17 Boys’ Futsal Blue Team, who lived in an apartment by the shuk when he was younger. They each taught their teammates the ways to navigate this congested area, because, well, it takes some learning.
“A lot of hustlers,” Ben Peyko, of the blue team, said. “Everyone likes to hustle.”
For some people, this is new. For Israelis, noted trainer Sammy Szajnert, it’s a way of life. The shuk is an 11 out of 10, he said, a “must-do.”
And it’s crazy.
“It’s chaos in a bottle, right?” Szajnert said. “There’s a ton of yelling, people are bartering, and it’s just a really fun environment to be around.”
Nathan Drogin skipped the chaos. The golfer, who just graduated Princeton, stayed in Tel Aviv for a couple weeks two summers ago and fell in love with Hot Taco, “About the best tacos in the world,” he said. “Best tacos I’ve ever had.” He spent most of his time in the shuk Tuesday waiting for his tacos and then enjoying them, not flitting from stall to stall.
“Totally worth it,” Drogin said.
Kevin Brill ran into some friends from Miami Beach who work in the real estate business. They own some property near his home and are also here on vacation. It was nice for him to momentarily encounter a bit of home. But otherwise, his focus was at the shuk. He has been here five times.
“It’s a great environment,” Brill said. “You get to know the culture very well and integrate with the people as well. It’s a great experience.”
If you walk around the shuk, you will see a bunch of Maccabi USA athletes enjoying their first day of Israel Connect. Six more days of touring the country awaited them.
Michael Liebermann is a fourth-year student at the University of Virginia from Westfield, NJ. He is a senior writer and former sports editor at The Cavalier Daily, where he primarily covers men’s basketball, soccer and lacrosse. You can email him at michaelzev22@gmail.com and follow him on X at @michaellieb01.
Josh Markowitz is an incoming fourth-year student at American University from Briarcliff Manor, NY. He is a double major in Communications and Photography with a minor in Marketing. He is a staff photographer for the American University Athletics Department as well as a photographer at The Eagle, American University’s official newspaper, where he covers sports and news events on campus and around DC. You can find his professional portfolio on his Instagram account.