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Monday, April 9, 2012

Chol Hamoed at the Museum

It’s Chol Hamoed Pesach, and you know what that means, right?

Yes, that’s right! It means that it’s once again time for me to bore you to tears with our family vacation photos! Yay!

Open-mouthed

But for a change, this post won’t include any national park pictures (although I can’t promise that they won’t appear here on the blog later this week IY”H).

The thing was that yesterday’s warmer temperatures seemed to call for an indoor attraction, and Yerushalayim’s Israel Museum fit the bill.

Although it’s been nearly two years since the museum’s renovations were completed, we hadn’t been there since it reopened, and so when a Shiputzim daughter asked if we could go this week, YZG and I were happy to oblige.

Because not only is admission free for kids under 18 throughout chol hamoed, but the Israel Museum is somehow able to pull off that rarest of feats:

You see, it’s very interesting and has much to offer for visitors both young and old. (In particular, the Judaica collections, the interiors of the old shuls, the wedding gowns, and the Holyland model are some of the Shiputzim family’s favorite things to see.)

However – and here’s the amazing part – at the same time, like any museum, it, by definition, raises the KQ (the all-important Kvetching Quotient) to astronomical levels. And as I’ve noted elsewhere, there’s nothing that YZG and I enjoy more than some good, old-fashioned, adolescent grumbling… </sarcasm>

And now, without further ado, here are the promised photos…

Assorted archeological finds:IMG_6830IMG_6831

A succah from late 19th century Germany:IMG_6847

The interior of an Italian shul from 1700:

IMG_6852BTW, a somewhat similar 18th century Italian Aron Kodesh can be seen in Beit Knesset Renanim, Heichal Shlomo’s on-site shul.

And of course the famous Holyland model of Yerushalayim from the time of the Second Beit HaMikdash, which is now located near the Shrine of the Book:IMG_6857

As always, please feel free to click on the pictures for a closer view.

What are your favorite parts of the Israel Museum?

7 comments:

  1. I like the sukkah. JPiX submission, please. And I haven't been to the Israel Museum since 1980, time for a second visit, no?

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  2. Lovely pictures, what the guards didn't stop you from photographing?

    I get to the museum a few times a year. It's always a treat.

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  3. Leora - The succah reminds me of your painted succah. And yes, it's definitely time for another visit! :-)

    Batya - When some people tried to use their flash, the guards stopped them, but otherwise, the guards didn't seem to care if anyone took pictures.

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  4. I love the sukkah, and if/when we get to build our shul, the sukkah will be modeled after it! Do you have more pics of the other walls?

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  5. M. - Welcome to the blog! The Israel Museum website has this picture of the same succah. I hope it helps!

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  6. So if it's not hot, I would say the sculpture garden is my favorite part. I like the biblical parts - the parts that related back to stories of Naviim. I could use a guide for this section. (Left this new comment now that I visited in 2013).

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    1. Leora - I enjoyed reading about your recent visit!

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