It’s spring, which means festival season is back in full swing in Jerusalem. From special offerings at museums and sites for the Passover holiday to the usual barrage of culture and entertainment offerings around town, there’s no excuse to feel like a slave to boredom this Passover.
- Many of the most beloved spirits are no-no’s over Passover according to radition – unless you count arak, potato vodka and plum brandy – so you may want to head over to Hatza’atzua Thursday night for a pre-Passover party full of malty goodness, and help the poor bar get rid of all it’s chametz impurities before the holiday. “Last call” for unleavened concumables can also be enjoyed at Darna, where cava is being poured for free, and at Lara, where a triple threat of chefs has created a pre-Passover tapas menu to rev up appetites.
- Leave to a street named for Israel’s godfather of crafts, Bezalel (not Shatz), to host a weekly fair that caters both to the Etsy and artsy crowds. Bezalel’s weekly flea market and arts fair is one part South Florida, one part Machane Yehuda and one part Nahalat Binyamin, all mixed together to great effect. And next week, the Bezalel Fair runs for three days straight, in honor of the holiday.
- It’s been 200 years since Hungarian composer Franz Liszt was born, and the Eden Tamir Music center in Ein Kerem is celebrating Lizstomania with a concert of the composer’s work on Saturday.
- On Sunday, check out the Israel Museum’s exhibit of four compellingly crafted objects from the 16th to 18th century on display for the first time, including a deer bone decorated with scenes from Ovid’s Metamoprhoses and more. And you can keep the rugrats entertained at some of the city’s top cultural institutions – including the aforementioned Israel Museum’s Youth Wing, the Museum of Islamic Art in Katamon, Mini Israel out in Latrun and Givat Ram’s Bloomfield Science Museum – where Passover fun starts early with craft workshops, story times, day camps, Exodus reenactments and sing-alongs.
- Monday is a great day for pyromaniacs, who can wander the city checking out the massive bonfires lit for people to burn their last bits of leavening. Throw in some toast and then head to seder for four cups o’ fun. Over at Angelica, an upscale, kosher, non-traditional seder kicks off with five courses of chef concoctions and unlimited wine refills.
- Just because most of the country is refraining from bread (and some are staying away from rice and legumes too) doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a palette-wowing meal out. Loads of restaurants around the city are offering special Passover menus, with everything from potato-roll sandwiches to Georgian-style meat dishes. And it is true that not everybody in Jerusalem cares about Passover’s traditional dietary restrictions – for a decidedly non-kosher spin on the holiday menu, head over to Restobar. Dayenu.
- The ice sating rink in Safra Square may be history, but at the Jerusalem Theatre, the slippery stuff is out in full force, for a performance of the Moscow Ice Circus (pictured). Acrobats, jugglers, clowns, dancers and plenty of skates should keep the whole family enthralled. And Wednesday is also the first of three days filled with performances by the Holy City’s best English-language performing artists at Beit Avi Chai’s Stage One festival.
As always, check out our full events section for everything else happening on this wonderful holiday week. Next week, we’ll be bringing out still more holiday week event recommendations here at our dynamic articles section. And you can always check us out on Twitter for real time advice.
