Editor’s note: Due to the ongoing security situation, events listed below may be postponed or canceled. Check before booking, and stay safe.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 3
Attend the opening of the exhibition “Four Heart Place” at the Musrara School of Art and see works by four artists – Noa Gur, Maya Smira, Tseela Grinberg, and Daniella Meroz.
While all works explore the unique character of the Jerusalem neighborhood where the school is located, Gur’s video project, Lament, depicts the social roles of “professional mourning” in which wailing women clad in dark robes walk along the funeral procession and weep.
Though common in the neighborhood among traditional families from North African countries and the larger Arab world, this practice waned after the 1960s.
11 a.m. opening. On display until Monday, March 3. Hours: Sunday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free. 22 Shivtai Yisrael St., third floor.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 4
Watch the remarkable documentary film The Kaiser of Atlantis about how two musicians in Theresienstadt, the Nazi concentration camp built in the heart of the Czech town of Terezín, composed an opera titled The Kaiser of Atlantis.
The work, by Viktor Ullmann and Peter Kien, explores how even the Grim Reaper is sickened by dictators and war, and calls it quits. A few weeks after the opera’s first rehearsal, the creators were murdered in Auschwitz.
Considered lost, the opera was pieced together and shown in Amsterdam (1975) and Madrid (2016). Both productions are covered in the film.
Patrons can attend a Hebrew lecture before the screening by Michael Wolpe about the role of musical drama during the Holocaust.
11 a.m. In Czech, Spanish, English with Hebrew subtitles. Jerusalem Cinematheque. 11 Hebron Rd. NIS 90 per ticket. Call (02) 565-4333 to book.
✱ Dance the night away at Boogie-A Spot to Dance in Talpiot. DJs Gilad Noked, Yotam Elal, and Avi Boogie will be behind the turntable. Cocoa Forest, a Talpiot-based chocolate factory, will be serving chocolate-based drinks at the cocktail bar.
9 p.m. NIS 45 in advance; NIS 60 at the door. 4 Yad Harutzim St. Fourth floor. Visit ticks.co.il/event.php?i=rgnxOgqBfx1 to book.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 5
Watch Archaeology of Memory at Cinema by Sam Spiegel. This collection of five short films, shown with English subtitles, deals with the memory layers that built Jerusalem. See the city as it was in 1963 via the lens of David Perlov; an IDF kitchen as seen by Tal Elkayam, who has three shorts in this screening; and Dani Rosenberg’s movie about an Arab family from Khirbet Susya visiting Susya, now an archaeological site.
8:30 p.m. NIS 30. 3 Menora St. Visit cinema.jsfs.co.il for more information.
MONDAY, JANUARY 6
Wash the Monday blues away at the Barrel & the Tap during Happy Hour (6 p.m. to 8 p.m.), when two beers are offered for the price of one. Bite into a classic Barrel Burger with pickles and homemade garlic mayonnaise sauce, or its vegan cousin, the Green Burger, while you sip a pint.
33 Hillel St. Call 072-371-2088 to reserve a seat. Visit www.barrel.co.il for more.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 7
Attend A Night Voyage after Franz Kafka, an adult story hour at the National Library. Performers include Dana Ivgy and Meital Raz, who will read extracts from the short stories, diaries, and thoughts by the author of The Castle (1926), In the Penal Colony (1919), and First Sorrow (1922) – all shining gems of 20th-century literature. The event is in memory of the late translator and Jerusalem Report arts editor Stuart Schoffman.
Doors open at 8:30 p.m.; the 90-minute Hebrew show starts at 9 p.m. NIS 60 per ticket. 1 Kaplan St. To book, visit www.nli.org.il/he.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8
Watch Nir Manki in his stunning one-man performance Animal Farm. Based on the 1945 novella by George Orwell, Manki depicts all the various animals that overthrow the tyranny of man. Soon, they descend from a society aspiring to live in equality and justice to an exploitative one led by pigs. Patrons are invited to discuss the show with its creators after the performance.
8:30 p.m. NIS 50-NIS 80. Jerusalem Theatre, 20 Marcus St. In Hebrew. Call (02) 560-5755 to book.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 9
Attend a talk by Rabbanit Esther Farbstein to mark General Kaddish Day, on the eve of the Tenth of Tevet. Farbstein, a leading expert on religious responses to the Holocaust, will discuss this theme at Beit Knesset Hatzvi Yisrael, Blondheim Hall, 14 Hovevei Zion St.
7:30 p.m. Hebrew with English summaries. Free upon registration via jbh6@walla.co.il.
✱ Attend Oh, My Electric Eye by Dana Haim Hafouta at the Machol Shalem Dance House. Created for three dancers, the work explores the theme of an observer and the bodies in motion who are performing.
8:30 p.m. 3 Haparsa St. NIS 90 per ticket. Call 053-335-8210 to book.
Throwing a special event? Opening an art exhibition or a new bar? Bringing in a guest speaker to introduce a fascinating topic? Email hagay_hacohen@yahoo.com and let In Jerusalem know about it. Write “Jerusalem Highlights” in the subject line. Although all information is welcome, we cannot guarantee it will be featured in the column.
