Wine-Tasting, Art and Jazz at the Israel Museum
(Photo: Miriam Schwab, CC BY 2.0)
Looking for something to do in Jerusalem? The 10th anniversary of the annual Jerusalem Wine Festival will open August 5-8 at the Israel Museum in Givat Ram. For the ticket price of NIS 85 you receive a re-fillable glass and can taste wines from about 40 of Israel’s leading wineries. Some of the top wineries participating are the Barkan Winery at Kibbutz Hulda in Central Israel, Israel’s second largest winery specializing in red and white wines; the Golan Heights Winery in Katzrin known for its series of Yarden, Gamla, Hermon and Golan; the Gush Etzion Winery, a boutique winery in the Judean Hills, and the Carmel Winery, Israel’s largest winery of fine wines and Tirosh Grape Juice. There is no limit on how much you can drink, so it is strongly suggested you arrive and leave by public transportation rather than by driving!!
Sculpture Garden
(Photo: David Reshef Pikiwiki Israel, CC BY 2.5)
Set against the backdrop of the fantastic Billy Rose Sculpture Garden with jazz music in the background you can have a wonderful evening out in Jerusalem’s lovely cool mountain air. As hot as it is by day during Jerusalem’s hot summer months, there is a wonderful drop in temperature at night and you may still need to bring along a sweater! The Billy Rose Sculpture Garden, designed as a Japanese Zen Garden by the famous Japanese-American sculptor Isamu Nogushi, features sculptures of some of the world’s most famous artists of the 19th and 20th centuries like Auguste Rodin, Pablo Picasso, Jacques Lipshitz, Henry Moore, and Israeli artists, Menashe Kadishman, Igael Tumarkin, Ezra Orion and Benny Efrat.
The King’s Final Journey
The ticket price also includes entrance to the exhibition: Herod the Great – the King’s Final Journey which opens at 5:30 pm in the Bella and Harry Wexner Gallery. Here are artifacts from Herod’s palaces at Herodium, Jericho and other places, his sarcophagus and a reconstruction of his tomb. While Herod was a master-builder he is considered to have been a traitor who served the occupying Romans. The Romans persecuted the Jewish people, and destroyed Jerusalem and the Second Temple that lead to 2000 years of exile.
Second Temple Model
(Photo: M.t.lifshits, CC BY-SA 3.0)
While at the Museum, be sure also to visit the fascinating outdoor Model of the Second Temple where you can see in explicit detail the Jerusalem of 2000 years ago. This is one of the most popular attractions at the Museum.
The Festival is open from 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm, but the Herod exhibition opens at 5:30 pm. It’s a good idea to arrive early, especially if you are a connoisseur of fine wine. Since space is limited it is best to order tickets on-line or by phoning: (02) 625-9703.
Jerusalem Wine Festival: Did You Know?
Wine has been produced in Israel since Biblical times and there are archaeological remains in Jerusalem at the White Valley, Emek HaLavan, of a winery from the time of King Hezekiah and the First Temple.