Over the Hanukkah break, the capital will be awash with Festival of Light good cheer, and an abundance of cultural and entertaining offerings to keep Jerusalemites and out-of-towners of all ages engaged and well entertained.
With school out for a week or so, kids are well provided with a broad range of shows, activities, and stuff to see around town. The Train Theater is generally at the forefront of such endeavors with the Princes and Princesses of Light mini-festival taking place there from December 28 through January 2, between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. There will be daily hands-on workshops, shows, games areas, a library, an exhibition, live music and “more surprises” laid on.
For more information: www.traintheater.co.il/he
BEIT AVI CHAI is hardly likely to miss out on the Hanukkah fun either. The Al Hanissim (For the Miracles) program on Monday, December 30 (4 p.m.) offers 8-12 year olds and their parents an opportunity to shake a leg or two, or get the grey matter in gear, as part of the Movement of Thought workshop series. Haya Gilboa and Renana Raz will guide their charges through a process of communal study and movement, and grasping ideas through corporeal activity. Adults and kids from the age of nine can also get into the art of journal chronicling at the Tuesday, December 31 (11 a.m.) workshop, while 8-12 year olds can take part in an experiential tour of the You Must Choose Life exhibition of works by Pinchas Litvinovsky.
For more information: www.bac.org.il/en
THERE IS more entertainment lined up for junior culture consumers over at Mazia House, December 29-31, when the Psik Theater troupe runs its Hanukkah Lights Festival. The three-day program includes takes in six productions for kids from the age of four.
For more information, (02) 651-3663, (058) 778-9865, and mbusiness.psik@gmail.com
THE TOWER of David Museum is rolling out a rich program of gainful and entertaining items for children and the rest of the family all across the festive recess. Activities take place daily 10 a.m.-4 p.m., with a treasure hunt, guided tours of the museum, a theatrical production, a hands-on creative spot that feeds off the Mitzad Shaynee (On the Other Hand) exhibition of works by Tzadok Ben David, a quiz, games and candle lighting complete with doughnuts, a Christmas walk through the Christian Quarter and a tour of menorahs in the Jewish Quarter, including a couple in English.
For more information: www.tod.org.il/
AND THERE is a plethora of activities, performances, and tours for families, tourists, and locals taking place across town, under the aegis of the Jerusalem and Heritage Ministry, in collaboration with the Jerusalem Municipality and the Jerusalem Development Authority. The winter celebration markers include the High Light Hanukkah Laser Show at Armon HaNatziv; the YMCA Winter Market with a concert, artists’ fair, and holiday-themed food stalls; and the Winter Dreams Light Sculpture Exhibition at the Jerusalem Botanical Garden with a mammoth light sculpture display.
For more details and to register for events and tours, visit the Jerusalem Tourism website at itravel.com.
(See “Around the Country” for more in Jerusalem.)
Tel Aviv Region
There is generally plenty to see in Tel Aviv all year round, and the local municipality will ensure we have an opportunity to catch some of the seasonal goings on around town with a slew of guided tours themed on Hanukkah, Christmas and the New Year. The Ir Olam Vetayarut (City of the World and Tourism) program encompasses numerous aspects of life and cultural endeavor, including a behind-the-scenes peek at the Cameri Theater, a vittles circuit of enterprises run by IDF reservists and evacuees, a hanukkiot viewing walk, Christmas fare in Jaffa and nocturnal tours of Florentin.
For more information and registration: https://visit-tlv.co.il/
TEL AVIV’S unrivaled collection of Bauhaus architecture was recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO over 20 years ago, with the metropolis gaining the prestigious moniker of The White City in the process. That is celebrated in the Negative Narrative photographic exhibition currently in progress at Liebling Haus, on Idelson Street. Members of the public will be able to gain some immersive insight into the way photographers, from here and abroad, viewed the over 4,000 buildings across the years on Friday, December 27 (11 a.m.) when curator Limor Yossifon Goldman gives a gallery talk.
For more information: www.whitecitycenter.org/
OVER AT Bialik House, the accent is very much on catering for the whole family with a variegated roster of activities for children and adults. The Hanukkah vacation fun kicks off on Saturday, December 28 with a hands-on slot for the 6-11 year old brigade with a treasure hunt, theater show and a tour of the cultural institutions dotted around Bialik Square. The festive itinerary also takes in a stained glass design workshop, literary get togethers, and Hanukkah arts and design workshops.
For more information: https://bit.ly/4f7mdpk
HOLON HAS long been considered the epicenter of the country’s cultural activity scene for children, and the Mediatheque Theater there is duly proffering the requisite entertainment goods. The jam-packed theatrical rollout, which runs from December 27 through to January 4, features Hebrew language productions of The Little Mermaid, Maya The Bee, Einstein, Gulliver and Doctor Dolittle, to mention but a few of the quality shows laid on over the holiday period.
For tickets and more information: (03) 502-1555 and mediatheque-theater.org.il
THE ELMINA THEATER in Jaffa will make sure children and their parents have a good time in the run up to the festive slot with the ninth annual Elmina Children’s Theater Festival (December 19-21). The weekend entertainment includes shows in Hebrew, Arabic, or both, that cater to kids from the age of two. The program also features free outdoor and interactive shows and arts workshops, with Santa Claus dropping by to hand out Christmas gifts.
For tickets and more information: (03) 533-5444, (050) 280-0300 and www.elminajaffa.com
(See the next section for more in Tel Aviv.)
Around the country
The Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra (JBO) normally delivers the seasonal goods, and this year’s festive season sees the ensemble perform concerts in Haifa, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Rehovot (December 21-25) with baritone vocalist Guy Pelc and recorder player Adi Bercowski in the solo spots. The repertoire for the four-parter includes two works by JS Bach and one by German French-influenced baroque composer Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer.
For more information: www.jbo.co.il
THIS YEAR’S Ein Kerem Music Festival, which takes place December 26-29, oversteps its Jerusalem bounds for the first time with the three-day musical lineup featuring nine concerts in Kiryat Shmona and Tel Aviv in addition to at its regular Ein Kerem berth of the Church of Saint John the Baptist.
The artist roster includes Moslem, Christian and Jewish musicians, as well as guest artists from Vienna.
For more information https://zimbalistamf.com
IF YOU fancy getting out to the far cleaner desert air, perhaps a ride over to Kfar Hanokdim, near Arad, at the beginning of the New Year might do the trick. The Winter Festival there, on January 2-4, offers a plethora of all-the-family shows, workshops and trips fueled by the anthroposophic line of thought. The three dayer includes live rock and folk-pop music, a comic theater show, acrobatics, ecologically-themed workshops, dance and movement, storytelling and children-friendly compounds. Above all, the organizers offer “a direct connection with nature without screens, reception or superfluous stimulation.” Sounds good.
For more information: (052) 348-2289 and onotfest.co.il
AND THERE’S more in store down south with the Tamar Regional Authority laying on a rich lineup of experiential activities and entertainment for the whole family, Monday and Tuesday, December 30-31. The free attractions roster includes light and pyrotechnics shows, giant illuminated figures, acrobatics and arts installations along the Ein Bokek Promenade.
For more information: www.deadsea.co.il
HEADING WEST to the Negev, the annual Desert Sounds Festival, at Kibbutz Sde Boker has lined up its usual broad sweep of music, from Western classical to pop, rock, ethnic music and opera with plenty more betwixt. The 27th edition runs December 24-28 and features the likes of the Israeli Chamber Orchestra, Knessiyat Hasechel with Amir Benayoun, the Meitar Ensemble and veteran rock-pop guitarist and vocalist Miki Gavrielov.
For tickets and more information: tzlilimbamidbar.co.il
MEANWHILE, further north, the Technoda Hadera science and technology center has lined up a science and astronomy extravaganza for the whole family, running from December 29 through to January 2. The program is based on the Masa Ben Hakochavim (Interstellar Odyssey) interactive activity, with children and adults alike making their way across an interplanetary circuit. Children aged 3-7 can also learn a little more about Planet Earth on a guided tour of a thematic exhibition.
For more information: technoda.org.il
ANOTHER HALF an hour or so’s drive up the coast, the veteran Holiday of Holidays festival takes place in Haifa for the 31st time. The rich program of events runs through to December 29 under the aegis of Beit HaGefen — The Arab-Jewish Cultural Center with a slew of bilingual musical slots, standup comic turns, a trilingual festive concert, exhibitions, experiential Christmas tours, hands-on activities, talks and family-friendly areas.
For more information: www.haifahag.com