Jerusalem Highlights Week of August 20 – 26

Rex Nights invites the public to enjoy animation shorts by the Jerusalem TOHU Animation Collective at this fun event, which includes a DJ and film watching. Music starts at 8 p.m. with the first films screened from 9 p.m.

“The Diameter of the Ocean of Arabic Language and the Hebrew Word” is a reference to the 1870 Arab dictionary Qutr al-Muhit by Butrus al-Bustani.

Prof. Yehouda Shenhav-Shahrabani will discuss the challenges of translating from Arabic to Hebrew in this English language event and speak of his efforts to rid Hebrew-language literature from orientalist conceptions of Arabs and the Arab world. He will be discussing these things with Akin Ajay, a British-Nigerian-Israeli writer who is the co-founder of The Tel Aviv Review of Books.

More than 20 Jerusalem roofs participate in the three-day “Gag Eden” event, which explores how the roofs of the capital may become its green lush gardens during the climate change the Earth is going through. Would you like to grow your own food? Or install solar panels? Or simply create a playground for the children in your block? Here you will learn how. Today, the team in Sinsila near the Old City will have workshops on bee keeping and kite flying.

On August 24 (Tuesday) the roof on 97 Jaffa Road will introduce Leon van Geest, the founder of Rotterdam Roof Days, which inspired this event. This will be followed by a rooftop concert with Quarter to Africa.

On August 26 (Thursday) anyone visiting the city (or people looking for a night away from home) can sleep on the roof of Abraham Hostel and get a breakfast to boot for NIS 130 (bring your own sleeping bag).

Three Italian-Jewish brothers survived WW2 as children by hiding in a cave in Tuscany. Their story is explored in the film Three Brothers and a Cave (also called Shalom Italia), which follows one of the brothers who decided to spend half a year in Italy and half a year in Israel and wants his elder brothers to help him find this cave, as he was too little to remember where it was. This free screening at Moon Square (Kikar HaYareach) will take place this evening (no exact time was listed, try 8 p.m.), courtesy of the Society of Italian Jews. Directed by Tamar Tal Anati, the film is in Hebrew but the film won international awards so English subtitles might be available.

The Israeli chamber orchestra stages the classic 1944 children’s book Dov Duboni by Leah Goldberg at the Jerusalem Theater. The little bear decides to start a shoe shining business and does well, until a caterpillar shows up. The performance takes place outdoors under the Health Ministry’s COVID-19 guidelines and is suitable for children from ages three to eight. The show is roughly one hour long. Free (and quick) COVID-19 test stations are available for children under the age of 12.

Enjoy a free Pilates class at 8:30 a.m. today at the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens with Avital Blass. Please bring a mattress and a water bottle. As long as you are here, why not bring your laptop and work at Botanic-Hub for just NIS 25 for the entire day? When was the last time you checked your emails under the shadow of mighty oak trees?

This unique chance to explore the gardens both in fitness and work is not limited to Thursday. Yoga classes are on offer on August 23 (Monday) at 8:30 a.m.