Events

• If you go to Israel on a tour, you'll find events arranged for you -- a celebration at the hotel, a presentation at a kibbutz, excellent speakers. If you go on your own, or stay on after the tour is over, you can be part of local events. Here is a partial list of what to watch for, month by month.
• January: Remember that rain is a blessing. (See http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/12/watershed.html ) You're likely to have sunny, shirtsleeve days after two or three rainy ones. On partly cloudy days, the sunset will take your breath away.
• February: Tu b'Shvat, the Trees' New Year. Look for street festivals (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/02/unexpected-february-entertainment.html ) and bountiful tables of dried fruit and nuts in the shouk, supermarkets, and malls. February is the end of Crembo season.
• March: On Purim ( http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/03/shushan-purim.html )watch for kids on the streets in traditional and faniful costumes. For evening parties, lots of adults dress up, too. Oznei Khaman (hamentashen) are the seasonal baked treat. Shesek (loquats) begin to appear in ths shouk. After Purim supermarket baked goods shelves start to empty.
• April: Pesakh (Passover) can be at the very end of March, but is usually in April. By the time it arrives, familiar packaged baked goods are scarce, but an ever widening variety of cakes and cookes based on coconut and potato flour fill tables in the shout=k and shelves in macolet and super. Fresh garlic appears in the shouk. What do the people who buy it by the kilo do with it? Schools are on vacation for the seven days of Pesakh. Ask your hotel and the AACI about English walking tours (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2007/01/holy-sepulcher-church.html).
• May: After Peakh comes Holocaust Memorial Day, followed a week later by Soldiers' Memorial Day and, the day after that, by Independence Day. ireworks mark the beginning of Independence day. At several venues around town you'll find live music outdoors. In Kikar Safra (City Hall Plaza) there's folk dancing from about 9PM until long after midnight. The next day museums hold open house. Last year, the police had a festifal with historical playlets, robot bomb squad demos, live music, and a lot more. The Israel festival of the performing arts is likely to be in May.
• June: Jerusalem Day, marking unification of the city after 20 years of separation, can be in late May or early June. Watch for informal parades (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/05/water-on-jerusalem-day.html ), more walking tours, and concerts. In the long evening, eat outside. After a hot day, drink limonana gahroos at a sidewalk cafe(http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/mint.html ) .
• July: Ask about outdoors folkdancing. Last year there were weekly sessions in HUC's courtyard.
• August: Best month for a walk through Hezekiah's water tunnel (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/11/city-of-david.html ).
• September: Succot (which is in October some years: http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/10/all-together-now.html ) is a school vacation. Join the family crowds exploring the Old City. Succa tours can be interesting, and it is also fun to watch the huts go up during the days before the holiday.
• October: Pomegranates go for less than 50 cents a pound. Buy some and pick out the juicy seeds yourself. Get pomegranate juice at a juice bar ( http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/juice.html ). Soufganiot (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/10/soufganiot.html ) appear in bakeries and on shouk tables.
• November: Get tickets for the Oud Festival (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/11/oud.html )! Crembo (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/11/crembo.html) appear.
• December: During Khanuka, walk through neighborhoods where people put their hanuka lights outside (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/12/lights.html ).

Copyright 2007 Jane S. Fox