Jerusalem Day is not over yet at the Yad Yitzchak Ben-Tzvi Institute, which will be holding 120 tours of Jerusalem over the next four days. Among them are tours of the city’s bakeries, archaeological digs, Jerusalem tastes, night life and more.

Some of the tours will be theme-based, such as music, literature, environment, photography and more. A sampling:

  • Between Samuel the Prophet and the Sanhedrin: Along Samuel the Prophet St. up to the Sanhedria graves. The tour will discuss the Mandelbaum Gate, the 1967 City Border, the ancient graves and more.
  • Jerusalem in its Glory: Seeing the remnants of the destruction of the Second Temple at the Western Wall digs and the Davidson center.
  • The Bab El-Wad route: The 1948 attacks on the convoys to Jerusalem
  • Orde Wingate and Dr. Tanus in Talbiye: Martin Buber’s home, the Rose Garden, the former Lepers’ Hospital, and more.
  • Stations in the life of actor Yossi Banai, beginning in Machaneh Yehuda, to the “Banai Family” Synagogue (Ohavei Tzion in Nachlaot), and more. (Three singers of the famous Banai family have returned to observant Judaism in recent years.)
  • Who Abandoned the Jewish Quarter in 1948? Where was the Palmach?
  • Bread and Books: Tours of Jerusalem’s bakeries and old book stores.
  • There are tours for amateur photographers, and more.
Internet registration for the tours has ended – demand was particularly high this year, said Institute Director Yaakov Yaniv  – but one may still register by phone at 02-5398855 until Friday at 1 p.m.  Some of the walking tours are scheduled for the Sabbath.

Yad Yitzchak Ben-Tzvi, named for Israel’s second president, deals with the study of Jerusalem throughout its generations, and conducts courses, lectures and tours throughout the year about people and places in Jerusalem’s past and present. The marathon is being organized by its new School for Jerusalem Studies.