Avi Ben, owner of the Avi Ben Wine Shop chain, is helping bring the "nectar of the gods" to Jerusalem mortals with the Israeli Wine Festival, an event held each summer at the Israel Museum. The festival, which attracts wine connoisseurs, wanna-be wine connoisseurs and those just looking to get loaded, runs from July 15-17 and offers attendees the chance to taste hundreds of top-shelf bottles for a flat fee.

How did you first get into the wine business? I started 25 years ago, working in my family's business, which was wholesale alcohol distribution. I soon realized that I was more connected to wine than to alcohol and that the type of people that enjoy wine are a bit different than your regular alcohol drinker, so I decided to develop this aspect of the business.

I opened my first store in Mahane Yehuda as a wholesale distributor. Then I opened a wine store in Talpiot in the mid-1980s. When I opened a second store in Nachalat Shiva in 1993 people thought I was crazy. That I was opening specifically a wine store and not an alcohol store – a store with tastings and courses in wine appreciation. It was definitely different, but it succeeded.

On July 3 we opened a new store in the shuk, right across from Rachmo. I've completed the circle, returning to the same place where my wholesale distribution store used to be. Today people say to me, "What? You're opening a store like this in the shuk?" But people said the same thing to me when I opened my store in Nachlat Shiva, and I proved them wrong.

All across Israel, the wine culture has changed, it has developed, and I was one of the pioneers of this development, one of the people at the forefront of this change, because of my own personal affiliation with wine, my personal taste for wine and the wine business.

You are one of the organizers of Jerusalem's annual Wine Festival. How did the Wine Festival come to be? What was the impetus behind it and when did it start? The first festival was held five years ago, in 2003. It was a time when bombs were going off regularly in Jerusalem and we noticed that business was slacking off - especially in the summer, when many of our regular customers went on vacation.

It was a bad time for Jerusalem in general, so we decided to organize a fair that would bring wine distributors to Jerusalem. We picked a great location, the Israel Museum, and once they agreed to house the festival, all the planning became easier. People loved the location, they loved the idea, and it was a huge success. We're now in our fifth successful year.... (click here for the full interview)

That falafel you ate last night was the bomb. Seriously, it was the best falafel of your life. A little piece of heaven in a pita. Two nights ago, that steak you ordered at that place near Hillel St.? Overcooked, crispy and black. That's okay though, because the bar you stayed at until 3:00 am had the best whiskey selection you've ever seen in Jerusalem. And the exhibit you visited the following day? Biggest waste of time. Ever.

So let's hear it. We want to know from the ground - and think of the many others you'll help too with your feedback: newcomers, tourists and even us locals. Register with Jerusalemite and express your praises, criticisms, kudos, gripes, compliments and complaints. We have over 700 Jerusalem restaurants, bars, museums, clubs, theaters and concert venues just waiting for your comments. By registering, you are able to bookmark anything on the site using our advanced My Jerusalemite tool, you can access our events submission form, and you are given the option to subscribe to our newsletter.

You've got to have an opinion on at least one of these places, right?

The late spring-early summer months seem to be prime time for turnover and regrouping among the city's eateries.

Although its Talpiot location is still going strong, the unnecessary satellite downtown version of Mifgash Hashech recently closed its doors.

On lower Agrippas St., where it seems that paintings of short-order restaurant proprietors are obligatory, landmark Middle Eastern steak haunt Sami has recently shut down operations for a few weeks of remodeling, an endeavor that includes replacing windows with plaster panels perfect for a mural depicting none other than Sami himself, presumably.

Two or so blocks towards town, Osaka's Agrippas takeout stall, which had been closed for months, has recently completed a remodeling of its own and is now equipped to not only sell Far Eastern takeout dishes but to prepare them too.

And in the row of storefronts running eastward on Jaffa Rd. directly from Zion Square, many eateries that closed down for Passover have simply never reopened, thanks to plans to completely refurbish that block. While Holy Bagel had already opened another branch just down Jaffa Rd. and Big Apple has always been open just a few steps away, Coffee Time's replacement location is still to me announced.

Photo of Sami's mural-in-progress by Ben Jacobson for Jerusalemite.

There has been a flurry of activity over the past few days on the streets of Jerusalem as the city and its people prepare for tomorrow night's festivities and celebration. Jerusalem sent out a photographer out on a mission to photograph the city's preparation. Ok, we didn't - he just took the photos on the way to the office.

When the municipality announced the laser show, Jerusalemite was a bit suspect, expecting something not too professional and absolutely cheesy. As demonstrated by the photo directly below, the laser show might be worth checking out after all.

Photos by Ben Jacobson for Jerusalemite.

Jerusalemite joined thousands of, er, Jerusalemites at the Moshe Safdie-designed plazas flanking the Old City walls near Jaffa Gate for The Wall, an impressive spectacle indeed. There were bright, colored lights; projected video depicting Biblical, contemporary military and even theological connections between the people of Israel and the capital; a pyrotechnical display; and even a closing message from our besmirked Mayor Uri Lupolianski, thanking us all for having schlepped out.

The Passover-enjoying masses, mostly from the nationalist-religious sector but with a few haredim and secular folk thrown in for good measure, seemed roused enough, spilling out onto closed-for-traffic main thoroughfares, area parks and, of course, the Mamilla Mall (above).

Photos by Ben Jacobson for Jerusalemite.

In just a few short hours Shabbat will begin and we'll be taking a much needed break for the weekend. Tomorrow night we begin our celebration of Passover, so things will be quiet here until Monday. If you happen to stumble upon here during our down time please feel free to take a look around the site. Jerusalemite is much more than a blog. 

Photo of Chametz burning on a Jerusalem street courtesy of bdnegin from flickr under a creative commons license.

Shalom and welcome to Jerusalemite, the Jerusalem Culture Guide. After more than a year of hard work – more than a year of tireless research which left few Jerusalem stones unturned – the team behind Jerusalemite is thrilled to finally debut the fruit of its labor, the most comprehensive English-language guide to the city of Jerusalem ever published in any form.

Now you, the Jerusalemite reader, not only have access to an unprecedented repository of exclusive, high-quality Jerusalem-related content on Jerusalemite, you'll also have a hand in shaping the future of the site as we progress from our current beta to our final wide release – a release that will trump any and all Jerusalem guidebooks and websites in scope, depth and interactivity.

Jerusalemite is no passive repository of information, either. It is a community nexus which will foster the development of municipal culture, whether artistic, culinary, touristic or religious, while empowering residents and visitors to fully appreciate the vivid palette that colors life in the city.

The site brings an unprecedented level of interaction and customizable content to users, including downloadable maps of Jerusalem streets and Wi-Fi hotspots; up-to-the-minute Jerusalem information directly to your computer via three specialized RSS feeds delivering the latest blog entries, newest additions to our expansive guides and events in Jerusalem; the ability to comment on and rate blog posts, venues and events; the option to upload your own submissions to help flesh out the site; the ability to share your personal Jerusalem favorites with other users with the My Jerusalemite feature; and much, much more. Every Jerusalemite user has the power to make Jerusalemite an even better resource.

This first release of Jerusalemite is in the beta stage, meaning that we're still ironing out kinks, improving functionality and user friendliness, and working on new features – and for that we need your help. Our metro guides are up but are in the process of undergoing an updating and augmenting overhaul, with ideas for many new guides sections to go live in the coming months. Our event listings are live, but we're constantly adding venues and performers and are in the process of expanding the depth of our coverage on each event that we post. Our chief interactive features are ready, but many more are in the pipeline.

That's where you come in: You, as a Jerusalemite beta user, are encouraged to contact us with tech improvement suggestions and/or bug reports (in as much detail as possible to info@jerusalemite.net), guides suggestions/corrections (to guides@jerusalemite.net) and event suggestions/corrections (to events@jerusalemite.net or via the automated form).

We're also interested in general feedback/suggestions and love content submissions and offers to help (to info@jerusalemite.net, for terms see here).

Thank you for being with us as we begin our journey, and we hope you'll help us remain Jerusalem's definitive culture guide.

– The Jerusalemite Crew

Photos of Rey (above) and photo of a street scene outside of Sira (below) by Asaf Kilger.