Editor’s note: Due to the ongoing security situation, events listed below may be postponed or canceled. Check before booking, and stay safe.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3
The Tower of David Jerusalem Museum is offering a special English-language tour for adults to view the treasures of the Rockefeller Archaeological Museum. A stone’s throw away from Herod’s Gate and closed until May, this museum contains some of the most stunning treasures discovered in this region.
These include carved ivory from Tel Megiddo depicting lavish royal feasts from the days of Cana’an (13 BCE), as well as the Lachish letters, written in ancient Hebrew on clay from the period of King Zedekiah (ca. 5886 BCE).
Be sure to visit the museum’s meeting hall, with its impressive Greek inscription. The words are from “What Is Beauty?” a dialogue by Plato in which Hippias tells Socrates that people enjoy hearing about “genealogies of heroes and humans… and the settlements that established their cities in times gone by and, in short, all the ancient lore.”
Museum architect Austen Harrison has noted that “ancient lore” is actually the first written reference to archaeology.
9:30 a.m. Three hours. NIS 100. Meet at the center of the parking lot off Nahal Tsofim, located next to the light rail station at Givat Hamivtar. A shuttle will take you to the museum. Participants must arrive no later than 9:15 a.m. At the end of the tour, the shuttle will take you back to the light rail station. Call *2884 to book.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4
Visit The Medium and the Message – Six Centuries of Printmaking at the Israel Museum Jerusalem. Curated by Tanya Sirakovich, the exhibition offers a wide range of prints, which include those by Albrecht Durer, Louise Bourgeois, Henri Matisse, and Andy Warhol.
Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Last chance to visit for a while, since the museum will be closed on Sukkot holiday (Monday and Tuesday) but open during Hul HaMoed afterwards. Children enter today for free (ages five to 17). NIS 62 for adults.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5
Take your children or grandchildren to the National Library and enjoy the Secret Garden.
Geared for children between the ages of five to 11, the experience includes a visit to a lavish “garden” (made from cardboard), an original children’s theater show about the “place” that poems come from, and a guided walk featuring flowers in Israeli culture.
10 a.m. NIS 45 for children. NIS 35 for adults. Two hours. 1 Kaplan St. Call *5049 to book. Hebrew tour.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 6
Yogev Shetrit was the drummer in the much-loved Jerusalem groove band Coolooloosh, which broke up in 2014. Enjoy his latest album, Way of Tradition, as you entertain in your sukkah. As Shetrit told Columbus Music Magazine, just because he is a drummer doesn’t mean that all he knows is to beat a drum – he also plays the piano.
The opening concert launching the album was held in the capital. Now is your chance to enjoy it during the holiday by buying a digital album ($9.99).
Visit www.yogevshetrit.com to explore more. Interested in a print copy of Columbus Music Magazine? Find the publication at the Cassette pub, 1 Horkanos St.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7
“Come to planet Earth, the sufganiyot [doughnuts] are free,” sings Tuna (Itay Zvulun) in his new album Guns and Curls (Rovim Vetaltalim).
“I asked for Tzedek (Jupiter but also “justice”), they gave me planet Earth,” he sings in his album that takes on the ongoing war, the Oct. 7 massacre, and the tense global times we live in.
Listen to the king of Israeli hip hop during this holiday by visiting vaadhavibe.bandcamp.com/track/--92. NIS 30 per digital copy.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8
Attend the poetry of the Ushpizin (“guests”) Festival at Confederation House and enjoy a panel discussion devoted to the poetry of Meir Wieseltier.
The discussion honors the late poet’s important 1976 book, Optimistic Thing, Making Poems, and includes speakers such as poet and poetry translator Rafi Weichert; and Anat Sharon, also a poet, who presents a program on culture on national television on her show One Plus Five.
Wieseltier’s poetry was translated into English by Shirley Kaufman in the masterful The Flower of Anarchy. The Hebrew panel discussion will introduce current perspectives about Wieseltier and his work to readers who love Israeli poetry.
2:30 p.m. One hour. Other literary events include a Thursday, October 9, discussion of the poetry of Anne Sexton (3 p.m., one hour), as well as a panel that will focus on madness in the fables of Nachman of Breslov on Friday, October 10 (2 p.m., one hour). NIS 30 for each event. To book, call (02) 539-9360. 12 Emile Botta St. In Hebrew.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9
Attend “A Serenade to the New Season” with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra at the Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies.
Violinist Julian Rachlin and pianist Anna Tsybuleva will perform Antonín Dvorák’s Serenade for Wind, and Johannes Brahms’s Piano Quartet No. 1, alongside soloists from the JSO.
8 p.m., at 1 Hadassa Lampel St. One hour. Free upon pre-registration at (02) 561-1498.
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.