Lag Ba’omer learning

Museums throughout Israel will be free to enter on Thursday in honor of the holiday.

By YOCHEVED LAUREN LAUFER
CHILDREN PARTICIPATE in the activity ‘Cavemen discover fire’ at the Kfar Saba Museum. (photo credit: LIRAN BREDESHSKY)
CHILDREN PARTICIPATE in the activity ‘Cavemen discover fire’ at the Kfar Saba Museum.
(photo credit: LIRAN BREDESHSKY)
The line “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire,” by Irish poet William Butler Yeats, is especially fitting for Lag Ba’omer in Israel this year. While the holiday is traditionally celebrated with bonfires and trips to Meron, this Lag Ba’omer, which falls on May 3, will also be enjoyed with free entrance to over a dozen of the country’s museums, in accordance with International Museum Day.
The theme of 2018’s International Museum Day is “Hyperconnected museums: New approaches, new publics,” as part of which participating museums will introduce interactive digital activities to attract new and young audiences.
NORTH
In northern Israel, The Underground Prisoners Museum in Acre, located at 10 Ha-Hagana Street, will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information contact (04) 991-1375 or (04) 981-1020.
The Bar-David Museum of Judaica Arts in Kibbutz Bar’am will be offering free tours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information call (04) 698-8295 or visit http://www.bardavid-museum.org.il.
Kibbutz Ein Dor’s Archeological Museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., offering free entrance to the exhibition “Maze of Peace.” For more information call (04) 677- 0333 or visit http://www.eindormuseum.co.il.
The Beit Hashomer Museum in Kfar Giladi, that tells the history of the Hashomer organization and its activities during the settlement of Israel and the defense of the Jewish community, will be open on Lag Ba’omer from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information about the museum call (04) 694-1565 or e-mail hashomer_museum@ mod.gov.il.
The Sturman Museum in Ein Harod will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will host activities for the whole family, including a geographical briefing on the region, an explanation of the founders’ vision, and the story of the Sturman family. For more information contact (04) 648-6328 or visit www.beit-shturman.co.il.
Haifa’s National Maritime Museum, located at 198 Derech Allenby, will be open from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. For more information contact (04) 991-5997 or visit www.hms.org.il.
The Tefen Industrial Park Open Museum will be open to the public on Lag Ba’omer from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.. It will be debuting the museum’s unique digital game, fit for the whole family. For more information call (04) 910-9609 or visit www.omuseums.org.il.

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CENTER
In central Israel, The Battalions Museum in Moshav Avihayil is opening its doors to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and will feature creative workshops for children. For more information call (09) 882-2212.
The Kfar Saba Museum is having a special activity from 10 a.m. to 12 a.m. titled “Cavemen discover fire.” This activity includes a guided tour of the archaeological exhibition “An up-close look at the past,” and a workshop where participants will learn a variety of ancient methods to light fire. For more information call (09) 764-0868 or visit www.kfar-saba-museum.org.
Ramat Gan’s Beit Avraham Krinitzi Museum will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
with special activities in line with International Museum Day’s digital theme.
Visitors will be able to learn about the symbol of the city, where the IDF was established and what military unit Ramat Gan adopted, through an interactive game played using your smartphone. For more information call (03) 673-9050 or visit www.beit-krinitzi.org.il.
Also in Ramat Gan, The Man and the Living Museum will be having special guided digital tours that use participants’ smartphones. The museum will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the tours will take place at the top of every hour from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Preregistration is required at (03) 631-5010. For more information visit www.adamvechai.org.il.
The Davidson Institute Clore Garden of Science Museum in Rehovot will be featuring a show with scientific demonstrations related to heat, a “flexagons” workshop and a creative corner for the little ones.
The museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information call (08) 937- 8300 or visit www.davidson.weizmann.ac.il/science-garden.
The MUSA Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv will be providing five special activities, including a digital treasure hunt, a digitally-focused behind-the-scenes tour of exhibits with archeologist Dr. Eitan Ayalon, a digital activity on the development of the Hebrew language with the option of a QR code-based track, guided digital tours of exhibitions about local wildlife, and an activity where participants will learn about the map of Israel through the works of leading Israeli artists.
The museum, located at 2 Chaim Levanon Street, will be open from 10 a.m.
to 8 p.m. For more information visit www.eretzmuseum.org.il or call (03) 641-5244.
JERUSALEM & THE SOUTH
The Ashdod Art Museum will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and will offer guided tours (in Hebrew) at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. For more information call (08) 854-5180 or visit www.ashdodartmuseum.org.il.
Also in Ashdod, The Museum of Philistine Culture will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m, with a gallery talk (in Hebrew) on the new exhibition “Collecting Collections.”
For more information call (08) 622-4799 or visit www.phcm.co.il.
The Beersheba Museum of Art is also offering free entrance on May 3. The museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information call (08) 699-3535 or visit www.negev-museum.org.il.
The Museum of Islamic and Near Eastern Cultures in Beersheba will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., featuring the exhibition “At the West End – Art and Art from the Maghreb: Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.”
For more information call (08) 699-3535 or visit www.ine-museum.org.il.
The Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and will offer a variety of digital and innovative activities. The museum will be showcasing its new interactive display “The Start-Up Nation celebrates 70,” where participants can learn about the roots of Israeli innovation. Visitors to the museum can also download the museum’s application to their smartphones and participate in a scavenger hunt-style activity.
At 10:30 a.m. there will also be a guided tour in English of all the museum’s exhibitions.
For more information call (02) 561-1066 or email kupa1@blmj.org.
U. Nahon Museum of Italian Jewish Art in Jerusalem will be open from 12 noon to 7 p.m., offering a tour of a Jerusalem using a special smartphone application.
For more information call (02) 624-1610 or email info@ijamuseum.org.
Jerusalem’s Tower of David Museum will be opening its doors to the public from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with special activities at the museum’s “Innovation Lab.” At 10 a.m. a lecture in English on “The Museum Challenge: Innovative storytelling through the development and integration of cutting-edge technology,” will take place, among other inventive exhibits. For more information call *2884 or visit www.tod.org.il.
Other museums participating in International Museum Day and free to the public include: Haifa’s Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum, Hadera’s Khan Museum, University of Haifa’s Hecht Museum, The Haifa City Museum, Haifa’s Hermann Struck Museum, Haifa’s Mané Katz Museum, Haifa Museum of Art, Haifa’s Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art, Ein Hod’s Janco Dada Museum, Zichron Ya’akov’s The First Aliyah Museum, Kibbutz HaZore’a’s Wilfried Israel Museum of Asian Art and Studies, Tel Aviv’s The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot, Holon’s Israeli Cartoon Museum, Tel Aviv’s Rubin Museum, Tel Aviv’s Israel Defense Forces History Museum, Tel Aviv’s Jabotinsky Institute, Petah Tikva’s Museum of Man and the Environment, Tel Aviv’s Etzel Museum, Tel Aviv’s Haganah Museum, Tel Aviv’s Palmach Museum, The Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv’s Lehi Museum, Tel Yitzchak’s Massuah Museum, Tel Aviv’s Nahum Gutman Museum of Art, The Petah Tikva Museum of Art, The Rishon Lezion Museum, The Ramle Museum, Jerusalem’s Museum of Underground Prisoners, The Jewish Heritage Center in Jerusalem, Jerusalem’s Bloomfield Science Museum and Jerusalem’s Old Yishuv Court Museum.
For further information on International Museum Day in Israel visit the Association of Museums and ICOM Israel website at www.icom.org.il.
In addition to the museums, bonfires and other activities will be taking place throughout the country on the holiday.
Neve Hagar in the Galilee is having a special archery festival in honor of Lag Ba’omer on May 3 and May 4 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The festival includes 3-dimensional shooting, music, concession stands and stations where one can create handmade soaps and jams. On Friday, May 4, an archery competition will also be held for those who register in advance. For more information contact (04) 953-3353.