Concerts, hikes and other recreational activities, as well as gatherings marking the traditional pilgrimage to Jerusalem are planned.
Exploring the Land of Israel
The Jewish Agency has arranged for all nature preserves and parks in northern Israel to be open to the public free of charge during the course of the festival. The initiative aims to encourage tourism to the north, which was devastated by the recent war with Hizbullah terrorists in Lebanon.
The sites include:
Zippori National Park
Ahziv National Park
Horshat Tal National Park
Baram National Park
Tel Hazor National Park
Nahal Ayoun Nature Reserve
Nimrod Fortress National Park
Kursi National Park
Corazim National Park
Ein Afek Nature Reserve
Nahal Amoud Nature Reserve
Hamat Tiberias National Park
Beit She'arim National Park
Beit Alfa Synagogue National Park
Kochav Hayarden National Park
Tel Megiddo National Park
Nahal Me'arot Nature Reserve
Majersa (Batiha) Nature Reserve
Gamla Nature Reserve
Hula Valley Nature Reserve
Yehiam Fortress National Park
Beit She'an National Park
Agmon Hahula Yarden Park
More details can be found at JewishAgency.org
On Tuesday, October 10, a hike through the Judean Hills from one of the largest towns in the Hevron region to one of the smallest and youngest hilltop communities will take place. The hike, billed as “In the footsteps of our fathers” and organized by Youth for the Land of Israel, will depart from Kiryat Arba and reach Maaleh Hever in the Hevron Hills.
The rugged hike begins at 11 AM, leaving from Kiryat Arba’s Nir yeshiva. Motorists will meet behind the local municipality and tour local hilltop communities, traveling in a convoy along the route King David used to escape King Saul, and joining the festivities in Maaleh Hever as well. There will also be a shorter, downhill, hiking route available for families with strollers or small children. For more information, call: 052 580 2666, 052 655 5184 or 052 311 4627
Dozens of hikes and tours of the Gush Etzion region are being offered by the Kfar Etzion field school. Places like the flat-topped Herodion mountain fortress, caves and natural springs will be explored. Click here for more information (in Hebrew).
On October 9-11 the town of Sussia, in the Hevron hills, will be recreating life there 1,200 years ago, with performances, hikes, barefoot grape juicing and other activities. For more information call 02 996 3424, email info [at] susya.org.il or visit Susya.org.il
On October 10-11 the “Dwelling in the Desert Festival” will take place at the Joe Alon Center in the northern Negev Desert. The festival includes models of sukkahs throughout Jewish history as well as desert tents, musical instruments and a photography exhibition about the development of the Negev. For more information call 050-7366125 or click here (Hebrew).
The Gush Katif women's seminary, reestablished in the Lachish region, is hosting a "family wine and cave experience" on October 9, from 10:30 AM to 5 PM. Wine will be hand-prepared in ancient presses and the network of caves used during the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Romans will be open to visitors and explored with the help of guides. For more information, call: 054 667 1554 or 054 667 1555.
The fourth annual Judean Kite Festival will take place in the hilltop community of Pnei Kedem, located in southeast Gush Etzion Tuesday, October 10 from 11 to 5. For information and schedules of chartered buses call 02-930.9076 or email: mollmutty@yahoo.com
Western Wall and Temple Mount
Each day of the festival (as well as Friday night), prayers will take place at the Western Wall with lengthy singing and dancing in the tradition of the late Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. The daily morning prayers, which include the Hallel prayer and marching with the four species, will begin each day except Monday (see below) at 8:15 AM and be held up against the middle divider between the men’s and women’s sections. For more information call 054-596-9598.
Visits for Jewish men and women who wish to ascend the Temple Mount in accordance with Jewish law are being offered over the course of the Sukkot Festival. All tours begin at 7.30 AM, beginning at the Mughrabi Gate, adjacent to the main entrance to the Western Wall plaza.
Tours will be offered each day in various languages:
Sunday October 8: Dr. Yoel Elitzur (Hebrew), Rabbi Chaim Richman (English), Shmuel Ben Hamu (French)
Monday October 9: Dr. Michael Ben-Ari (H), Nachum Schnitzer (E), Archeologist Yaffa Musaii (Women only, Hebrew)
Tuesday October 10: Dr. Yaacov Heyman (H), Rabbi Nachman Kupietzky (E), Yosef Dayan (Spanish)
Wednesday October 11: Menachem Ben-Yashar (H), Rabbi Zvi Rugan (E), Lily Richman (Women only, Bilingual)
Thursday October 12: Golan Shai-Cohen (H), Adv. Shmuel Caspar (E), Moshe Garbuz (Russian)
Sunday October 15: Yoel Lerner (Bilingual)
Participants must undergo physical preparations and immerse in a ritual bath beforehand, as well as arrive dressed in non-leather shoes. Police currently require a passport to ascend the mount and forbid the carrying up of religious articles aside from tzitzit and head coverings. For more information about the free tours and instructions on how to prepare, call (02) 571 0171 or 050 658 0224 (from outside Israel: +972 2 571 0171 or +972 50 658 0224).
Jerusalem’s Municipality has erected Israel’s largest sukkah. The temporary structure is constructed by each Jewish family and is a staple of the festival, which entails dwelling in sukkot. The municipal "Sukkah of Stars" is decorated with light fixtures from France and is located in Safra Square, just outside the Old City. It has an area of 500 square meters, measures six meters tall, and will be open to the public all through the week.
On Sunday, October 8 a joyous Simchat Beit HaShoeva, which commemorates the water libation performed in the Holy Temple, will take place in Jerusalem’s City of David, just below the Old City’s Dung Gate. Hassidic singers Yaakov Shweky and Chaim Yisrael will be performing. The event begins at 5:30 PM
Several other City of David hikes and tours will be offered, including the Pilgrims' Route, ancient aqueducts tour, the newly established Jerusalem Trail and a survey of the sifting Temple Mount remnants in the Emek Tzurim valley. For more information, visit cityofdavid.org.il/succoth.asp or email Foundation [at] cityofdavid.org.il
Several tours are being offered of the Jewish sites and residences in Jerusalem’s eastern half, liberated in 1967 and developed ever since.
Half-day tours, offered by the Jerusalem Capital Development Fund will visit historical sites including the huge Jewish cemetery on the Mt.of Olives and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem. Jewish homes in the Shimon Hatzadik, Maaleh Hazeitim and other eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods will be visited as well. For more information, visit: http://www.jcdf.org/tournow.html or contact Reuven Grossman at tours [at] jcdf.org or 052-579-0958
Beit Orot will also be offering a 3 ½ hour tour of the area, visiting the same sites and following in the footsteps of the IDF soldiers who liberated the eastern half of the capital in 1967. For more information or to join a group, email: trips [at] beitorot.org or call (from the US) 201 530 0210 or (from Israel) 02 628 4155.
Lectures, Film Screenings and Conferences
A new documentary about the expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif will be screened each night of the intermediate days of the festival in downtown Jerusalem. The movie, Home Game, uses the metaphor of Gaza's Jewish basketball competition to portray the pain of the Disengagement and determination of the evicted residents.
The screenings will take place at the OU Israel Center in Jerusalem (22 Keren HaYesod, diagonally opposite the Dan Panorama Hotel) on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 8 PM during the holiday.
The 27th annual Christian Feast of the Tabernacles will also take place in Jerusalem over the festival, attended by more than 4,000 Christians from more than 80 nations who will arrive in Jerusalem. The event is sponsored by the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem. Israel’s Ministry of Tourism bills the Feast of Tabernacles as “the largest annual tourism event in Israel.”
Concerts
On Sunday and Monday, October 8-9, the entire Cave of the Patriarchs in Hevron will be open to the public, including the Tomb of Isaac, which is usually used as a mosque by local Arabs. Guided tours of the city will be given and large musical morning prayers will take place at 9:15 AM each day. Klezmer sensation Moussa Berlin will accompany the Hallel prayer and hassidic singer Mordechai Ben David will perform in the afternoon on the second day. Other performers include Adi Ran, Daklon, Shlomo Katz, Chaim Dovid Saracek, Shira Hadasha, Udi Davidi, Yoni Shlomo and Mendy Jerufy. For more information, call 1-800-400-456.
The annual three-day free Beit Shemesh music festival will take place from October 8-10, featuring The Andalusi Orchestra (Sunday at 8 PM), Rockia, Para Aduma, Haakevot, Shlock Rock, Aaron Razel, Adi Ran, Moshav Band and Shai Gabso (Monday from 8 PM) and Udi Davidi, Naftali Abramson, Pey Dalid, Chaim Dovid, Shlomo Katz, Shlomo Gronich and Reva L'Sheva Tuesday night at 8 PM. For more information, visit shemeshfest.com
Tuesday night October 10 a cantorial concert will take place at Jerusalem’s Menachem Begin Heritage Center, entitled "And they came to Zion in Song." Performing with the Tel Aviv Cantorial Institute will be Chazan Naftali Hershtik. For more information and tickets, call: 02-565-2020
Information about many more concerts, lectures and celebrations can be found on the web site of the Jerusalem Municipality.
Additional events may be added in the comments section
Exploring the Land of Israel
The Jewish Agency has arranged for all nature preserves and parks in northern Israel to be open to the public free of charge during the course of the festival. The initiative aims to encourage tourism to the north, which was devastated by the recent war with Hizbullah terrorists in Lebanon.
The sites include:
More details can be found at JewishAgency.org
On Tuesday, October 10, a hike through the Judean Hills from one of the largest towns in the Hevron region to one of the smallest and youngest hilltop communities will take place. The hike, billed as “In the footsteps of our fathers” and organized by Youth for the Land of Israel, will depart from Kiryat Arba and reach Maaleh Hever in the Hevron Hills.
The rugged hike begins at 11 AM, leaving from Kiryat Arba’s Nir yeshiva. Motorists will meet behind the local municipality and tour local hilltop communities, traveling in a convoy along the route King David used to escape King Saul, and joining the festivities in Maaleh Hever as well. There will also be a shorter, downhill, hiking route available for families with strollers or small children. For more information, call: 052 580 2666, 052 655 5184 or 052 311 4627
Dozens of hikes and tours of the Gush Etzion region are being offered by the Kfar Etzion field school. Places like the flat-topped Herodion mountain fortress, caves and natural springs will be explored. Click here for more information (in Hebrew).
On October 9-11 the town of Sussia, in the Hevron hills, will be recreating life there 1,200 years ago, with performances, hikes, barefoot grape juicing and other activities. For more information call 02 996 3424, email info [at] susya.org.il or visit Susya.org.il
On October 10-11 the “Dwelling in the Desert Festival” will take place at the Joe Alon Center in the northern Negev Desert. The festival includes models of sukkahs throughout Jewish history as well as desert tents, musical instruments and a photography exhibition about the development of the Negev. For more information call 050-7366125 or click here (Hebrew).
The Gush Katif women's seminary, reestablished in the Lachish region, is hosting a "family wine and cave experience" on October 9, from 10:30 AM to 5 PM. Wine will be hand-prepared in ancient presses and the network of caves used during the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Romans will be open to visitors and explored with the help of guides. For more information, call: 054 667 1554 or 054 667 1555.
The fourth annual Judean Kite Festival will take place in the hilltop community of Pnei Kedem, located in southeast Gush Etzion Tuesday, October 10 from 11 to 5. For information and schedules of chartered buses call 02-930.9076 or email: mollmutty@yahoo.com
Western Wall and Temple Mount
Each day of the festival (as well as Friday night), prayers will take place at the Western Wall with lengthy singing and dancing in the tradition of the late Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. The daily morning prayers, which include the Hallel prayer and marching with the four species, will begin each day except Monday (see below) at 8:15 AM and be held up against the middle divider between the men’s and women’s sections. For more information call 054-596-9598.
Visits for Jewish men and women who wish to ascend the Temple Mount in accordance with Jewish law are being offered over the course of the Sukkot Festival. All tours begin at 7.30 AM, beginning at the Mughrabi Gate, adjacent to the main entrance to the Western Wall plaza.
Tours will be offered each day in various languages:
Sunday October 8: Dr. Yoel Elitzur (Hebrew), Rabbi Chaim Richman (English), Shmuel Ben Hamu (French)
Monday October 9: Dr. Michael Ben-Ari (H), Nachum Schnitzer (E), Archeologist Yaffa Musaii (Women only, Hebrew)
Tuesday October 10: Dr. Yaacov Heyman (H), Rabbi Nachman Kupietzky (E), Yosef Dayan (Spanish)
Wednesday October 11: Menachem Ben-Yashar (H), Rabbi Zvi Rugan (E), Lily Richman (Women only, Bilingual)
Thursday October 12: Golan Shai-Cohen (H), Adv. Shmuel Caspar (E), Moshe Garbuz (Russian)
Sunday October 15: Yoel Lerner (Bilingual)
Participants must undergo physical preparations and immerse in a ritual bath beforehand, as well as arrive dressed in non-leather shoes. Police currently require a passport to ascend the mount and forbid the carrying up of religious articles aside from tzitzit and head coverings. For more information about the free tours and instructions on how to prepare, call (02) 571 0171 or 050 658 0224 (from outside Israel: +972 2 571 0171 or +972 50 658 0224).
Jerusalem’s Municipality has erected Israel’s largest sukkah. The temporary structure is constructed by each Jewish family and is a staple of the festival, which entails dwelling in sukkot. The municipal "Sukkah of Stars" is decorated with light fixtures from France and is located in Safra Square, just outside the Old City. It has an area of 500 square meters, measures six meters tall, and will be open to the public all through the week.
On Sunday, October 8 a joyous Simchat Beit HaShoeva, which commemorates the water libation performed in the Holy Temple, will take place in Jerusalem’s City of David, just below the Old City’s Dung Gate. Hassidic singers Yaakov Shweky and Chaim Yisrael will be performing. The event begins at 5:30 PM
Several other City of David hikes and tours will be offered, including the Pilgrims' Route, ancient aqueducts tour, the newly established Jerusalem Trail and a survey of the sifting Temple Mount remnants in the Emek Tzurim valley. For more information, visit cityofdavid.org.il/succoth.asp or email Foundation [at] cityofdavid.org.il
Several tours are being offered of the Jewish sites and residences in Jerusalem’s eastern half, liberated in 1967 and developed ever since.
Half-day tours, offered by the Jerusalem Capital Development Fund will visit historical sites including the huge Jewish cemetery on the Mt.of Olives and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem. Jewish homes in the Shimon Hatzadik, Maaleh Hazeitim and other eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods will be visited as well. For more information, visit: http://www.jcdf.org/tournow.html or contact Reuven Grossman at tours [at] jcdf.org or 052-579-0958
Beit Orot will also be offering a 3 ½ hour tour of the area, visiting the same sites and following in the footsteps of the IDF soldiers who liberated the eastern half of the capital in 1967. For more information or to join a group, email: trips [at] beitorot.org or call (from the US) 201 530 0210 or (from Israel) 02 628 4155.
Lectures, Film Screenings and Conferences
A new documentary about the expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif will be screened each night of the intermediate days of the festival in downtown Jerusalem. The movie, Home Game, uses the metaphor of Gaza's Jewish basketball competition to portray the pain of the Disengagement and determination of the evicted residents.
The screenings will take place at the OU Israel Center in Jerusalem (22 Keren HaYesod, diagonally opposite the Dan Panorama Hotel) on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 8 PM during the holiday.
The 27th annual Christian Feast of the Tabernacles will also take place in Jerusalem over the festival, attended by more than 4,000 Christians from more than 80 nations who will arrive in Jerusalem. The event is sponsored by the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem. Israel’s Ministry of Tourism bills the Feast of Tabernacles as “the largest annual tourism event in Israel.”
Concerts
On Sunday and Monday, October 8-9, the entire Cave of the Patriarchs in Hevron will be open to the public, including the Tomb of Isaac, which is usually used as a mosque by local Arabs. Guided tours of the city will be given and large musical morning prayers will take place at 9:15 AM each day. Klezmer sensation Moussa Berlin will accompany the Hallel prayer and hassidic singer Mordechai Ben David will perform in the afternoon on the second day. Other performers include Adi Ran, Daklon, Shlomo Katz, Chaim Dovid Saracek, Shira Hadasha, Udi Davidi, Yoni Shlomo and Mendy Jerufy. For more information, call 1-800-400-456.
The annual three-day free Beit Shemesh music festival will take place from October 8-10, featuring The Andalusi Orchestra (Sunday at 8 PM), Rockia, Para Aduma, Haakevot, Shlock Rock, Aaron Razel, Adi Ran, Moshav Band and Shai Gabso (Monday from 8 PM) and Udi Davidi, Naftali Abramson, Pey Dalid, Chaim Dovid, Shlomo Katz, Shlomo Gronich and Reva L'Sheva Tuesday night at 8 PM. For more information, visit shemeshfest.com
Tuesday night October 10 a cantorial concert will take place at Jerusalem’s Menachem Begin Heritage Center, entitled "And they came to Zion in Song." Performing with the Tel Aviv Cantorial Institute will be Chazan Naftali Hershtik. For more information and tickets, call: 02-565-2020
Information about many more concerts, lectures and celebrations can be found on the web site of the Jerusalem Municipality.
Additional events may be added in the comments section