Jerusalem hotels, restaurants, attractions, tours & events. Helping since 2008

This time of year, it seems that everybody is looking back at 2010, remembering the year that was, for both better and worse. But here at GoJerusalem.com, we are bucking the trend and looking forward to a new year of good times and great entertainment across Jerusalem. The party starts off right with Sylvester celebrations on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and the rest of the week should continue, as we hope the year does, with a plethora of concerts, plays, shows, lectures, exhibits, parties and everything in between.

• Before we can say hello to 2011, we must say goodbye to 2010. You can do so in style at classy restaurants Adom (in two seatings), Lara (lots of roasted lamb and raw fish), Link (three courses pave the way for cocktails into the wee hours), La Guta (with bottles from Tabor), Agua (emphasizing root vegetables and seafood) or 1868 (by candle light), which are all serving special end-of-year dinners on Thursday, Friday and/or Saturday nights. Or you can do so in your dancing shoes, at Boogie's twice monthly free movement gathering, this time featuring the tranced-out didgeridoo madness of Noa Zulu.
  

• Friday night is the real Sylvester, and while celebrations here in Jerusalem may be more muted than other years because the holiday falls out on Shabbat, a number of bars and pubs are staying open and throwing parties, including HaTza'atzua (pictured), which hosts DJs Elad Jibly, Yotam Shebo, and Alon Yehudiof with a high-profile bash.

• Now that you've got that goyische New Years stuff out of your system (wasn't the new year back in September?), spend Saturday night with Carlebach disciple Yehudah Katz, as the Reva L'Sheva frontman takes the stage at the Yellow Submarine with a new solo album's worth of repertoire, along with guests Sha'anan Street of Hadag Nachash and Kobi Oz of Teapacks. The acclaimed new release, Not Without You, was produced by Gilad Vital of Shotei Hanevuah.

• All that eating, drinking and celebrating may have you hankering for a break. There's nothing more passive you can do than visit an exhibit of calming landscapes by Aryeh Azan on display at David Yellin College. Well, staying in bed would also be pretty passive, but do you really want to do that?

• On Monday, the Jerusalem Theatre stages the play Apples from the Desert, a highly touted and award-winning production adapted for the stage from a Savyon Liebrecht short story.

• On Tuesday, the Khan Theater hosts a one-time-only performance of Yearning, a production celebrating the music and art of the Oriental Jewish communities, together with the amazing voice of Ruth Wieder Magan.

• Passover is still a few months away, but the Exodus story is a prevalent theme in recent Jewish history, and recounting the process of leaving foreign lands for Israel is a significant element to Israeli identity, no matter what time of year. On this Night, a performance telling the story of Moroccan Jewry's immigration to Israel, hits the Gerard Bachar Center on Wednesday.

And there's plenty more happening. Check it all out at our full events section, here.