The Festival of Lights is soon upon us, and there are sparkling and, literally, illuminating events lined up all over the country over the Hanukkah week or so.
Herzliyah, for example, will be celebrating with its City of Lights bash from December 14 through December 22. The nine-day program includes giant, artfully crafted, cutting-edge installations spread around town, covering themes from nature to fantasy. The illuminations agenda will be complemented by a varied slew of events, including latke-making workshops, origami and doughnut workshops, parties, community candle lighting, and a parade. Entry is free.
bit.ly/4r7kh7t
Tel Aviv, naturally, is not going to miss out on the luminescence front. The city’s Hanukkah contribution is already up and running at the Ganei Yehoshua park with the Lumagica event, centered on featuring one of the world’s biggest Hanukkiyot, standing 5 meters high, weighing 300 kg, and with some 3,000 LED bulbs. Environmentally conscious folk need not fret, as we are told the event uses a minimal amount of electric power.
The park features a kilometer-long route lit up by giant installations, and a 3D movie will be screened on the adjacent lake. Lumagica runs through January 15.
kupat.co.il/show/lumagica
All vacation furloughs cater to the younger entertainment consumer age brackets, and there is an abundance of staged goodies on offer at all points of the national compass. The Orna Porat Children’s Theatre outfit is always a good bet in that sector, with the company putting on shows at the Tel Aviv Museum, Eretz Israel Museum, and ZOA House in Tel Aviv, December 17-22. Children of all ages, youth, and accompanying adults can see productions tailored to a wide age group, from one-year-old babies through to 14-year-olds. The verified Hebrew-language repertoire includes perennial favorites such as Peter and the Wolf, Beauty and the Beast, and Goldilocks and the Three Bears, animation, music and video art, and lots of balloons.
*6437 and porat-theater.co.il/
The Train Theater in Jerusalem also has plenty to offer the younger crowd with its Mini-Hanukkah Festival from December 16 to 22. The roster takes in a dozen productions, including A Touch of Light, based on the life of French inventor of the eponymous reading and writing system Louis Braille, The Chelem Legend – Fool Moon, A Sick Day for Morris McGee, and The Adventurer’s Guide.
*4524 and traintheater.co.il/en
There are more theatrical goodies on offer over at Givatayim Theater with a three-day program by Hashaa Theater company and the local municipality, December 17-19. The onstage Hebrew-language spread includes classics like Peter Pan, The Wizard of Oz, Pinocchio, The Emperor’s New Clothes, and Uzu and Muzum from Kakaruzu. Offstage, the festival program features creativity workshops and various arts and other activities, and all are gratis.
t-g.co.il/ and teatron-hashaa.smarticket.co.il/
Back in Jerusalem, the National Library of Israel (NLI) is offering family events with its Kova Kesamim (Magic Hat) festival, which runs December 15-21. The program takes in original Hebrew-language works such as the Princess Abigail and the Feelings Factory musical, starring Yarden Bar Kochba, with the Revolution Orchestra providing the quality sonic underpinning. The library is also in on the creative act, with The Place from which You Can’t Fall from its collaboration with the Beersheba Theater. The festival also includes guided tours of the permanent exhibition and a rare opportunity to take a look at some of the NLI’s archive gems. All youngsters participating in the tours will receive a personal activity kit with quizzes, games, and surprises.
nli.org.il/he/visit/family-visit/hanukkah
There’s some atmospheric fare laid on over at the Tower of David Museum with lantern-lit guided tours, stories and games, and candle lighting all in the unique ambiance of the Old City of Jerusalem walls. The tour program features family circuits, with children aged under 5 getting in for free. The museum is also hosting some extramural activities such as a candle-lit walk through the alleyways of the Jewish Quarter featuring storytelling, games, and quizzes.
tod.org.il/en/
The ANU Museum of the Jewish People, over in Ramat Aviv, is laying out the festive red carpet for kids and families with Hanukkah-themed guided tours and an opportunity to get up close to professional actors portraying major characters from Jewish history. There will also be a new Hebrew-language production, by the Orna Porat Children’s Theatre, of King Solomon’s Legends based on the play by Haim Nachman Bialik. The show, which will run December 17-22, is suitable for children aged 5-9.
anumuseum.org.il/he/events/king-solomon-hanukkah/
Family-oriented events at The Israel Museum
The Israel Museum in Jerusalem also has plenty to offer over the holiday period on the family-oriented front. The program, which takes place December 16-22, includes guided tours relating to the Dead Sea Scrolls, an encounter with a Torah scribe, circus acts, candle-making workshops, nighttime tours of museum exhibits, musical storytelling sessions, and the customary doughnuts. Free admission for children.
imj.org.il/he/events/
The Bloomfield Science Museum in Jerusalem is hosting its We Came to Surround Darkness program on December 16-21. Over the six days, children and families can take part in hands on workshops and interactive events, learn how to make fidget spinners, and get a better handle on the element of fire and its various components. There will also be a chemistry-themed show, and there will be a Quiet Time event for children with special needs on December 15.
qrco.de/bgSebh
Avi Chai House in Jerusalem will warm to the Hanukkah theme with several showings of the now-famed One Song podcast-based event overseen by Maya Kosover and Nir Gorali. The pair will join forces with singer-songwriter-actor Maor Cohen in a production that dips into traditional and contemporary Hanukkah children’s songs. All told, there will be six shows suitable for children aged 8-12, twice daily, on December 16-18.
bac.org.il/events/?eventID=23357
Meanwhile, up in Haifa, the Holiday of Holidays Festival takes place, for the 32nd time, from its base at Beit Hagefen Arab-Jewish Culture Center. The city will be illuminated with festive lights, and there are programs with music, theater, and dance productions, exhibitions, workshops, guided tours, lectures, and interdenominational talks. The multicultural itinerary includes a classical concert, with works by internationally renowned composer-pianist Nizar Elkhater, Chopin, and Mozart, as well as a Christmas song show, and the Song Repels the Darkness concert featuring the Rana Choir performing a varied repertoire of scores in a range of languages, including Hebrew, Arabic, Ladino, and Persian.
haifahag.com/Index.aspx?lang=1
Staying in our northern reaches, the Janco Dada Museum at Ein Hod has plenty going on for kids, in terms of passive entertainment and hands-on activities, December 17-20. Each day’s agenda includes holiday-themed workshops at the Maabadada creativity space, suitable for families and children from the age of 4. The Shabbat lineup features a Hebrew-language show with clown-actors getting the kids involved in the performance action.
(04) 984-2350 and jancodada.co.il/
The 21st annual Children’s Film Festival at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque is called All of Us, and is focused on coexistence. From December 16 through 20, children of all ages can watch movies from seven countries, take part in hands-on workshops and get some insight into behind-the-scenes cinematic machinations. There will also be slots for small children and previews of new series due to be screened on KAN Educational TV, as well as theatrical fare courtesy of the Train Theater, Mediatheque, Elmina Itim Ensemble, Tremelo, and the Orna Porat Children’s Theatre.
cinema.co.il/en/
The Jerusalem Cinematheque is showing a program of movies, shows, lectures, and discussions for children, youth, and families from December 16 to 21. The movie lineup takes in adaptations of Cinderella and The Nutcracker from its Royal Ballet & Opera series, and there will be a feline set called Everyone Wants to Be a Cat with a screening of Aristocats and a concert of cat-themed songs and relevant soundtracks. The filmic fare also features items from this year’s Jewish Film Festival as well as Charlie Chaplin’s iconic The Great Dictator.
Like its Tel Aviv counterpart, the Jerusalem Cinematheque will offer a preview of series due to be shown on KAN Educational TV.
jer-cin.org.il/en