By JULIE STEIGERWALDThe Baha’i Gardens(photo credit: REUTERS)NORTHIn honor of Passover, the city of Haifa is hosting sundry events for residents and visitors to celebrate the festival.Bat Galim Community Center Seder: The center will hold a Seder on Monday (April 10) night for the general public. Doors will open at 7 p.m. For more information and tickets call (04) 852-1835.Haifa Educational Zoo Tours: Guided tours will be provided at the Haifa Educational Zoo on Wednesday and Thursday (April 12-13), as part of the city’s activities during the intermediate days of Passover. The tours are open to the general public over the age of five. To register and for additional information call (04) 837-2886.Tasting Tour – Shuk Talpiot: The sights and smells of Haifa’s largest outdoor market will be on display on Wednesday and Friday (April 12 and 14), as part of a Passover tasting tour in Shuk Talpiot. From exotic dried fruit to cocoa from Africa, the tour will take participants to charming corner stalls, restaurants, pastry shops and produce stands representing an array of cultural and culinary traditions from around the world. The tour will last approximately two-and-a half hours, and participants are asked to convene at 28 Sirkin Street before the tour beings at 10 a.m. on both days.Carmel Nature Tours: Since Passover is also known as the Spring Holiday, the Haifa Municipality has arranged for several tours providing panoramic views of the city’s blooming flora. On Tuesday and Wednesday (April 11 and 12) at 10 a.m. and Friday (April 14) at 9 a.m., the tours will set out along the Louis Promenade overlooking the Baha’i Gardens before continuing further through the blossoming Carmel Mountain.CENTERArt, film meet at EPOS festival in Tel Aviv This weekend, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art is hosting the EPOS International Art Film Festival dedicated to the intersection of arts and cinema.
Running until Saturday (April 8), the event will screen 50 feature films from Israel and around the world and will include lectures, acting workshops, competitions, artist meet-and-greets and exhibitions.The films to be screened during the festival are categorized under various thematic subjects, including visual arts, architecture, poetry and literature, theater, cinema on cinema, music and dance.General admission tickets cost NIS 44 and can be purchased by calling *9066/(03) 6077020 or at filmart.co.il/categories-en/.Tel Aviv celebrating LGBT Seder The Aguda – The Israeli LGBT Task Force and the Tel Aviv LGBT Center are teaming up to hold a communal Seder on Monday (April 10) for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.The traditional holiday meal is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. at the city’s LGBT Center in Meir Park. The donor-sponsored event is free of charge, but donations are welcome and registration is required.Dozens of people are expected to take part in the Seder, which promotes the sentiment of unity and family. To sign up for the meal and for volunteer options on the day of the Seder, visit: http://bit.ly/2n7PBmX/.SOUTHSeder for African detainees to be held at Holot Detainees at the Holot Detention Center in the Negev are set to hold a ceremonial Seder on Thursday ahead of Passover.Activists from around the country will gather at the facility, which holds African asylum-seekers. The Passover-themed event is being held to promote interactions with the detainees, and also as a demonstration to call for the detention center’s closure and the release of its detainees.The program includes a reading of an “alternative” Haggada in partnership with members of the left-wing NGO Rabbis for Human Rights. Other activities include dialogue sessions and African drum circles along with speeches and a festive concluding concert.Passover events in the South While Passover commemorates the ancient Israelites’ escape from slavery in Egypt and their subsequent wandering the desert for 40 years, this year in the desert of modern-day Israel there is an abundance of festivities to celebrate the holiday.Free museum entrance: The Ashdod Museum of Art, the Joe Alon Museum of Beduin Culture, the Museum of Water and Security at Kibbutz Nir Am, the Arad Doll Museum, the Corinne Maman Museum of Philistine Culture in Ashdod and the Glass Museum in Arad will all open their doors for free to the public during the intermediary days of Passover on Wednesday (April 12) through Sunday (April 16).A full list of hours and days of operation of the museums is available at www.poalimatarim.co.il.Passover in Beersheba’s Old City: Free guided tours for the whole family will take place every hour between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday (April 12 and 13) in Beersheba’s Old City.The minibus tours will pass through tourist and cultural centers along with historic sites in the city. The tours will also include a theatrical performances by actors from the Fringe Theater, who will emerge at various stops along the tours. Admission is free, but registration is required at officeatika@br7.org.il or (08) 646-4980.