Editor’s note: Due to the ongoing security situation, events listed below may be postponed or canceled. Check before booking, and stay safe.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2
Watch the 2024 Mexican nature film Flamingos: Life After the Meteorite, directed by Lorenzo Hagerman, and fly to another realm. Screened at Jerusalem Cinematheque with English and Hebrew subtitles, the camera brings the viewer closer to the intimate lives of these majestic birds.
NIS 25. 6:30 p.m. 11 Hebron Rd. Call (02) 565-4333 to book.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3
Stroll to Smadar Initiative to watch the 2009 extreme action film Inglourious Basterds. Directed by Quentin Tarantino, and starring Brad Pitt, Eli Roth, and Christoph Waltz (among many others), this 2.5-hour film is a bloody and funny exploration of an alternate history story of two converging plots to assassinate Nazi Germany’s leadership. Hitler is shot, and a powerfully built Jewish-American man murders Nazis with baseball bats.
Patrons who are in the spirit can also celebrate Oktoberfest with great beer on offer at the complex.
8 p.m. NIS 25. 4 Lloyd George St. Call 054-207-2111 for more. Smadar Initiative is an attempt to revive the building around the Smadar Cinema; this screening will take place at the complex’s bar, not the movie theater itself.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4
Visit the Khan Theater to watch Waiting for Godot, the timeless 1953 classic masterpiece by Samuel Beckett.
This production, beautifully translated into Hebrew by Joe El-Dror (who won the Ada Ben Nahum Award for this work), is directed by Udi Ben-Moshe, and includes Nir Ron as Pozzo, Itay Schorr as Lucky, Yossi Eini as Estragon, and Erez Shafrir as Vladimir, with a rotating cast for the boy’s role.
The play is about two down-and-out men, Estragon and Vladimir, who are waiting for someone called Godot. As they wait, they encounter the powerful Pozzo and his poor slave Lucky. A boy delivers an ambiguous message about the arrival of Godot.
8 p.m. 2 David Remez St. NIS 220. Call (02) 630-3600, ext. 1 to book.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 5
Enjoy an English-language production of The Last Five Years. Written and composed by Jason Robert Brown, the 2001 musical presents Jamie Wellerstein (Avi David Rene Cohen) and Cathy Hiatt (Sarit Brown), and tells their five-year relationship in a novel way.
Jamie begins their story from the moment they met; Cathy from their divorce. The only time that they engage with each other directly is during their wedding.
Funny and irreverent, the musical includes songs such as “Shiksa Goddess,” where intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews is described with side-splitting humor. If you bring nine friends, it is possible to buy 10 tickets and get a bonus: a glass of wine (red or white) or beer for the entire group (one drink per person).
Shows at 5 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. 19 Mesilat Yesharim St. NIS 100. A Living Room Productions show. Call 058-778-9865 to book or visit ticks.co.il/event.php?i=PpRXtr9mxp1.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6
Consider browsing the titles at Everyday Carry Books, a curated online Jerusalem-based English-language bookshop with a wide range of used books. Curious about dystopian literature? Pick up Sea of Tranquility, by the award-winning author of Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel (NIS 55 each).
In Memories of Survival (NIS 90), Esther Nisenthal Krinitz tells the story of her survival during the Holocaust, and how she built a new life in the US. Snow, by Orhan Pamuk, is offered under used books for NIS 35.
Visit everydaycarrybooks.com, or text 058-404-8799 for more. Free deliveries in Jerusalem.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7
Sign up for a foraging adventure with Adara Peskin Shalem. While it is useful to learn what is edible in the great outdoors, the workshop also teaches what is toxic, and what might be used to cure ailments.
By the end of this two-hour excursion, participants will be much more knowledgeable about the treasures of Jerusalem’s forests.
NIS 1,250 for a group of up to 20 persons. Additional participants: NIS 50. Maximum of 40 people in each group. In English. Also available: workshops on cooking or surviving in the wild. Visit adarapeskinshalem.com, or call 050-710-1791 to book.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8
Visit the Jerusalem Music Centre and enjoy a special concert as conductor Zvi Carmeli and the Young Israel Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra perform Serenade No. 3 in E minor for String Orchestra, Op. 21, by Austrian composer Robert Fuchs.
7 p.m. 3 Yemin Moshe St. NIS 125. Call (02) 623-4347 to book.
Throwing a special event? Opening an art exhibition or a new bar? Bringing in a guest speaker to introduce a fascinating topic? Email hagay_hacohen@yahoo.com and let In Jerusalem know about it. Write “Jerusalem Highlights” in the subject line. Although all information is welcome, we cannot guarantee it will be featured in the column.