Israel's national parks and heritage sites are opening their gates for Friday afternoons of music and history, The Jerusalem Post reports. Starting this Friday and on select Fridays through November and December, visitors will find musical Kabbalat Shabbat receptions (the songs that welcome the Sabbath at sundown), expert-led tours and family activities at national parks, nature reserves and heritage landmarks across the country.
The program is called Shishi Moreshet, or Heritage Friday. It is a joint effort of the Heritage Ministry, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the Council for the Conservation of Heritage Sites in Israel, the Post reports. Most activities are included with standard entry and are free for Matmon annual pass holders. Tours and live performances at northern heritage sites cost NIS 10 per person.
The series opens on Friday, November 6. At Beit Alfa National Park, visitors can bake challah, tour the ancient synagogue and its famous zodiac mosaic with accordion and clarinet players, and join a musical Kabbalat Shabbat. At the Museum of Underground Prisoners in Acre, dramatized tours of the Mandate-era prison end with an afternoon tribute show, The Hitmans Sing Uzi Hitman. On November 13, guests at Hamat Tiberias National Park can soak in the natural hot springs, tour the ancient synagogue and hear a Kabbalat Shabbat performance. Apollonia in Herzliya will host acoustic music along its trails and a sing-along in the Crusader fortress courtyard, and Kfar Giladi opens its historic Hagana arms cache alongside a rock 'n' roll show.
Later in November the program heads south and north. On November 20, visitors to Mamshit can walk the ancient Nabatean town and then watch a sunset Kabbalat Shabbat set to the live show Desert Sounds, with overnight stays available at the park's campground, the Post reports. On November 27, traditional Safed melodies and liturgical poems will fill the Beit Hameiri Museum in Safed, and an Andalusian ensemble performs at the Founders Museum in Ma'alot-Tarshiha.
Hanukkah candle lightings, for the eight-night Festival of Lights, follow later in the season. As the holiday approaches on December 4, menorah lightings and fresh sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts) join the weekend programs. The first candle will be lit near the famous menorah relief in the Cave of the Sarcophagi at Beit She'arim, with parallel ceremonies at Beit Alfa, Hamat Tiberias and Qumran. On December 11, the eighth candle will be lit at the Enot Tsukim Nature Reserve and at Herodium. The series ends on December 25 with a drumming session and performance at Tel Ashkelon and a concert at the historic Ramchal Synagogue in Acre.
Most activities depend on the weather, and some events require advance booking through the Israel Nature and Parks Authority website, the Post reports.
