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

The arrival of the Sukkot holiday means Jerusalem's cultural institutions are churning out their best at full steam this week. On top of the religious revelry and annual Simchat Beit Hashoeva musical happenings around the city, Jerusalem's community centers, museums, theaters, parks and every other venue is offering special seasonal events for the whole family. Let the feast of fun times begin.

• Tuesday is not Sukkot yet, but don't complain about it to the folks at the Museum of Islamic Art, where holiday-themed activities kick off early with craft workshops, puppetry performances and more.

• The holiday starts Wednesday evening, and lucky for the sukkah-less, kitchen-less and/or motivation-less, the Inbal Hotel is serving up holiday meals to all comers (for a fee, of course), whether you prefer seating indoors or in their massive booth.
  
  Wednesday is also the beginning of cultural center Beit Avi Chai's marathon of Sukkot-themed awesomeness, which includes storytelling sessions, an artsy sukkah-building contest andmusical instrument encounters - with many offerings for free, no less.
  

• A big sukkah calls for a big table, and one of the biggest ones in town, smack in the middle of Safra Square (pictured), hosts Moshe Lahav's Big Tisch acclaimed nostalgic sing-along revue Thursday night.

• On Friday, head to Bezalel and Shatz Streets for an arts fair that's giving Tel Aviv's Nachalat Binyamin a run for its money. Get there at noon for guided tours of the area.

• Take a relaxing Saturday morning and mosey on over to Ein Kerem for the opening concert of the Eden Tamir music Center's season, with - fittingly enough - Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

• Jerusalem has its fair share of niche ethnic holidays catering to all the communities that have converged in the city - like Mimouna for Moroccans and Sigd for Ethiopians. Add to the list Saharana, a Kurdish Jewish festival held on the intermediate days of Sukkot. Thousands of Kurds and non-Kurds alike are expected to convene in Gan Sacher on Sunday for the massive picnic celebration.
  

  The Malcha Mall invites the whole family to celebrate Sukkot with a three-day Looney Tunes Festival, starting on Sunday at 11:00. A wide variety of activity stations with crafts, characters and plenty of cartoons are set to take over the mall.

  The Menachem Begin Heritage Center presents guided tours and extended opening hours over the intermediate days of Sukkot, from October 16-18, 2011. Tour Mishkenot Sha'ananim in the footsteps of Moses Montefiore, meet a veteran Jerusalem resident, and experience all the Begin Museum has to offer.
  

• Beit Lechem, or Bethlehem, translates literally into English as "House of Bread." How fitting, then, that on Jerusalem's Bethlehem Road, Monday sees a Bread, Wine and Art Festival in honor of the Sukkot holiday.
  

  Culture Scapes, the season of progressive Swiss culture in Israel, takes place at venues around the country in October and November, in collaboration with local cultural venues. Click here for more information and a list of upcoming Culture Scape events in Jerusalem.

  The Tower of David Museum presents "Water Whirls at the Citadel". Explore the Citadel, discover the water ceremonies that take place during Sukkot, meet pilgrims to Jerusalem from historic eras, participate in craft workshops, play giant-sized board games and take in the Train Theater's production of The Best Collection.

  The Israel Museum invites you to celebrate Sukkot with attractions and activities for the whole family, including arts and crafts workshops, guided tours, story hour and an innovative experiential gallery exploration game entitled Journey to Faraway Lands.

But that's not all. Check out our full events section for everything else happening this week, and keep your eyes on our pages for next week's recommendations, as Sukkot continues. We'll also be issuing real-time holiday fun updates from our Twitter feed, so feel free to join the conversation.