Editor’s note: Due to the ongoing security situation, events listed below may be postponed or canceled. Check before booking, and stay safe.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14
The Tourism Ministry is offering a variety of Jerusalem-based experiences, many at a discount. Take a loved one or a group of friends and go on a Wild Quest tour along Jaffa Street (2 hours, at a 20% discount).
Or maybe try a guided walk exploring the history of the manhole covers of Jerusalem. Tour guide Zahi Shaked will be delighted to take you on a guided walk in English and show you the wonders beneath your feet.
One of them is Water, a 1996 artwork by Micha Ullman. It is cleverly placed at Zion Square as a fake manhole cover with the artist’s handprint on it. His other hand is imprinted on a similar manhole cover placed near the New Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem.
To book a Wild Quest, visit www.wildchild.co.il/jlm-central (Hebrew only). Use the code tayarut25 when placing your request. Zahi Shaked can be reached at 054-690-5522.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15
Watch Ghostlight, a 2024 American film directed by Kelly O’Sullivan about Dan Muelle (played by Keith Kupferer), a construction worker who is having a hard time to heal after the suicide of his son and be a present father to his teenage daughter (Katherine Kupferer).
Muelle discovers community theater and, in a sense, the film becomes a compelling take on acting and family ties, portrayed by actors who are a family off screen as well.
6:15 p.m. Jerusalem Cinematheque. NIS 43 per ticket. 11 Hebron Road. Call (02) 565-4333 to book.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16
One of Jerusalem’s longest-running cafés, Tmol Shilshom, recently changed its menu. Named after the 1945 novel by Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Tmol Shilshom offers tasty meals, books, and various cultural events. Originally opened by David Ehrlich in 1994, the location became an expression of the wave of tolerance and hope brought forth by the Oslo peace accords and the dream of a new reality in the Middle East for all the various groups that live here. An openly gay man, Ehrlich made a point that the eatery be open to all. Many men and women of letters held public readings there. Ehrlich passed away five years ago, but his spirit lives on in this unique establishment.
On the menu, all the salads are new, and the humble kohlrabi is now served in an interesting starter. Readers might enjoy a new main dish, spaghetti alla puttanesca, and relax in a warm, accepting space. For those curious to learn more about the Agnon novel, glance down at Wednesday’s listing.
5 Yoel Moshe Salomon St. Open daily from 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Call (02) 623-2758 to book.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17
Attend Heroines! Songs & Soliloquies for the Soul, an English-language musical that links biblical stories of women heroism and endurance with current real-world women who had to survive, and triumph, during the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack and the war that followed.
From the first all-female IDF tank crew to Rachel Edri, who bought time for the security forces to reach her home in Ofakim by offering food to her would-be killers, ending with biblical Miriam leading Jewish women to freedom in the Promised Land, this ought to be a unique experience.
8 p.m. Nissan Nativ Theater. 3 Menora Street. NIS 90 per ticket. Call 052-883-8839 to book. Women only.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18
Watch Benny Safdie’s latest film, The Smashing Machine. Dwayne Johnson plays the lead role of mixed martial artist Mark Kerr in a biopic that won the Silver Lion for Best Director at the Venice Film Festival in September.
8:30 p.m. English with Hebrew subtitles. NIS 35. Cinema by Sam Spiegel, 3 Menora St. Visit cinema.jsfs.co.il to book.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19
Step into Agnon House and start a series of three weekly sessions to journey through the pages of S.Y. Agnon’s magnum opus Only Yesterday. Participants will have a guide during the reading as Rabbi Jeffrey Saks discusses the major themes of the novel in English.
First published in 1945 in Hebrew as Tmol Shilshom, the book is now in English translation thanks to Barbara Harshav. The novel’s main character is Isaac Kumer, a Jewish man brought up in the “old country” (East Galicia, Buchach to be precise) who decides to build a life in the Land of Israel, then under the Turkish Empire.
Agnon won the Noble Prize for Literature in 1966. Since then, Israeli high school students have been required to grapple with the author’s complex, often deeply ironic and poetic language in a tale that straddles nearly all of Jewish experience.
7 p.m. A weekly meeting. NIS 80. 16 Klausner St. Call (02) 671-6498 to sign up. Or simply show up.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20
Techno musician Ari Miller once said that Tel Aviv has a lot to learn from the Cactus 9 club in Jerusalem when it comes to accepting everyone and dancing without aggression. Come see what he was talking about at Techno Thursdays.
4 Shushan St. Opening hours 7 p.m. to 4 a.m. Friday. Book ahead by calling the owner, Amit, at 054-482-3671.
Those who are more into punk might enjoy the latest joint album by Jerusalem-based punk band Bein Haharisot (Among the Ruins) and fellow-punk band Kleptomanim. Self-described as “Industrial post punk from Jerusalem’s gutter,” their album can be listened to at:
beinhaharisot.bandcamp.com/album/bein-haharisot-kleptomanim.
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.