Just because this year's Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day) celebrates 61 years of the Zionist state - as opposed to last year's number, which had the advantage of ending with a zero - doesn't mean the celebrations will be meager.

Jerusalemites in particular are known to bite into Yom Ha'atzmaut with remarkable levels of vigor. And this year is no exception. There's plenty going on in terms of celebrations in the city, with events to appeal to every age and taste. Celebrations in the city's main open plazas, complete with folk dancing, rock performances and fireworks? Themed dance parties at pubs and dance clubs? Barbecuing en masse? Check, check and check.

Our full roundup of the most noteworthy events going on in Jerusalem this week - from before the holiday, to during, to even after the holiday - can be found on our sister website, Jerusalem.com.

But that's not all. The event calendar that can be seen on the right-hand side of every page of that site includes still more great events to check out - we're publishing event information there all week long.

And we're also gearing up for plenty more Independence Day coverage over there on the Jerusalem.com culture and tourism channel. Keep your eyes over there for upcoming 61-themed photospreads, fireworks schedules and more.

Happy Independence Day from everyone here at Jerusalemite.

Photo of an Independence Day-themed subversive photo project from 2008 courtesy of hagigit.org from Flickr under a Creative Commons license.

Jerusalem is made of many things. Most famously, it's made of gold, but here at Jerusalemite, we've written about a few other ingredients to the city (see the "Related" links below). Beloved, gloriously Jew-fro-ed Seventies singer-songwriter Meir Ariel (pictured), however, had a different vision of the city, writing his own "Jerusalem of Iron," as an iconic rebuttal to the Nami Shemer hit. Ariel's version was written from the perspective of a paratrooper who had actually liberated the Old City in 1967, rather than that of a state-sponsored songstress.

Ariel's catalogue, however, was far more varied than this tune might indicate. His career spanned three decades, coming to an abrupt end that ought to rank among the top strange rocker deaths of all time, when he died of a bacterial infection from a flea bite in 1999.

However, Ariel's work lives on - especially this week, and especially his Rishumei Pacham (Coal Sketches) album, which is being presented as a live concert tribute show by artists including Yossi Babliki, Albert Sofer and Ilan Bergbaum at the Yellow Submarine this Wednesday.

But that's not all that's going on over the next few days. You're hereby invited to check out our team's picks for the most exciting cultural and entertainment events in the city this week over at our sister website Jerusalem.com - and a full calendar, with new events being added all the time, can be viewed there as well.

That's right. The harvest moon swells, and soon we'll be singing the Song of Songs. The smells of abrasive detergents and overdone toast waft. The bees are a-buzzing and the ants are a-crawling everywhere.

And hundreds and thousands of pilgrims are ascending to the City of Gold, where the feeling that big things are happening is palpable. Schools are on vacation, tourist season is gaining momentum, and virtually every cultural institution is gearing up to offer the best in springtime high art and lowbrow entertainment.

Over at our sibling website, Jerusalem.com (read more about Jerusalemite's relationship with that site, if you'd like, here), we've got heaps and heaps of unleavened content relating to the holiday....

• For our picks of the most tempting kosher restaurants that'll be open on Passover, broken down by cuisine style, check out this article.

• For our coverage of City Arts Encounter, an exciting visual art project taking place in unexpected places all over the city all month long, check out this piece.

• For comprehensive listings of Jerusalem chol hamoed Passover events, check out the calendar on the right-hand side of every page on the site. It's constantly being updated, too.

• If comprehensive listings represent simply too much choice for you, we've whittled it down to the best of the best, curated for your reading pleasure here.

• Our roundup of the most worthwhile children's-themed Passover events should be ready for publication on Wednesday, when it should appear at the top of this page.

• Our coverage of Birkat Hachama, an ancient Jewish ritual that has the whole world tantilized and focused on the Western Wall on Wednesday morning can be found here.

And that's just the beginning. Loads more of Pesach-riffic content is still in the works. Happy matza time from Jerusalemite.

Photo of shmura matza baking courtesy of elibrody from Flickr under a Creative Commons license.

One of these men is a rock god

It's been a good week for Jerusalem. Sure, it's cold, but Hamshushalaim is in full swing, and in its wake have come 120,000 visitors, 90% occupancy in city hotels, and a 30% increase in weekly takings of restaurants and coffeeshops. The festivities continue this weekend, and as always, there's plenty of other stuff to do as well:

• First of all, don't miss your opportunity for more Hamshushalaimery with special discounts and tours throughout the weekend.

• Suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune with a modernist English-language performance of Hamlet tonight at the Jerusalem Theatre. 'Tis noble.

• And in case Hamlet is too much of a downer, you can try your luck at an English performance of the theatrical adaptation of the Diary of Anne Frank at Beit Shmuel, also tonight.

• Start the weekend off in style by listening to the Israeli Philharmonic saw through the classics on Friday morning.

• Rocker Asaf Avidan and his boys the Mojos are stomping back into town to light the Yellow Submarine on fire Friday night.

• Speaking of stomping back into town, dinosaur rocker Rami Fortis, pictured above, is doing just that on Saturday night, also at the Yellow Sub.

• Or if you prefer your pop stars younger, try out David D'Or on Saturday night at the Ma'abada.

• The Cinematheque's Jewish Film Festival kicks off Sunday for five whole days of celluloid neuroses. Don't miss it.

• Sunday. Footie. TV. HaTaklit. Go.

• You know who loves to sponsor underground, independent theater in Jerusalem? The Ma'abada. And you. Check it out on Monday.

• A Hebrew University production of My Fair Lady on Tuesday? Yes, please.

• You're not seeing enough homegrown Ethiopian theater. We can tell. Rectify that by catching the Holgab Troupe's latest on Wednesday.

Now go check out the rest of the week's events and get out there to have some fun. Keep moving, or you'll freeze.

Image courtesy of the Yellow Submarine.

If you can't beat them, advertise to them. That's the attitude the city is taking toward drivers who insist on driving into and parking in the city's center, apparently oblivious to the fact that it’s more congested and messed up than Amy Winehouse with a cold. The Jerusalem Tourism Authority, which apparently thinks the tourists came to see the traffic jams, wants them to know that the city fought over by a multitude of peoples has more to offer. From a press release:

If until now the words "city center" caused you to shudder, to think of pressure, traffic jams and noise, the Tourism Authority and the Eden Company would like to remind you that there is so much more: tourist attractions, galleries, museums, sculptures, city murals and many other attractions.

For those lucky enough to find a place to put their cars and actually get out, the Authority will offer a free brochure - ahem, booklet - listing a number of places of interest for them to visit during their foray. Although the new initative is called Naim B'Yerushalayim in Hebrew, a double-meaning play on words ("Naim" means both "moving" and "pleasant"), planners have translated it simply as "A Stroll through Jerusalem," perhaps a lesson learned from overzealously literal translations.

Presentation of the booklet will give users 10 to 33 percent discounts at many of the city's attractions, such as the Tower of David (15 percent discount during the day), the Museum on the Seam (10 percent discount), the Time Elevator (10 percent discount), the Rav Kook Museum (25 percent discount) and more. Other items in the booklet are advertised for the special price of free, though in reality we doubt you would be charged admission for walking into Machane Yehuda or looking at street art without the booklet.

Still, the fact that the booklet itself is free makes it that much more attractive than the city's previous marketing scheme, HolyPass, which we discovered is not such a deal. Plus, it comes with a handy dandy map, and the entire content is printed in both English and Hebrew. Take that, Frenchies.

The booklet, which features a love-polluting little lion (see picture above) that looks suspiciously like some of Don Hertzfeld's more disturbing characters, will be given out to cars parked at the Karta, Safra, Independence Park, City Tower and Machane Yehuda lots.

Image of the new booklet guide courtesy of the Jerusalem Tourism Authority.

Lock up your daughters: these puppets mean business.

It's winter, and there's a faint whiff of approaching holidays in the air, even here in Jerusalem...or maybe that's just the delicious, delicious smell of sufganiyot (Hanukkah donuts) in the morning. And it's also festival time. Hamshushalaim madness kicks into full swing this evening, and it's your best (and by that we mean cheapest) chance all year to take in dozens of Jerusalem museums, restaurants and cultural venues. So get to it:

• First off, don't forget to check out our full Hamshushalaim listings (so far) to find out what you can expect in terms of discounts and special events this weekend. 

• Tonight features the final performance of the International Oud Festival, specially marked down for Hamshushalaim.

• March along with hometown brass band Marsh Dondurma from Mamilla to the Jaffa Gate - just like in New Orleans, except nobody had to die first.

• Fresh off a triumphant opening gig for Deep Purple, foul-mouthed washed-up American rock 'n' roll puppet Red, star of the Israeli comedy Red Band, will be appearing alongside his puppet compatriots for a performance at Dublin Friday morning.

• PREPARE FOR YOUR DOOM ON FRIDAY FOR IT IS METAL FEST AT THE YELLOW SUBMARINE. Headbangers need apply.

• Is there any non-meta theater in Jerusalem? Not at the Khan. Check out longtime favorite production Happiness on Saturday.

• Nurit Galron is a great name. And also a decent '70s Israeli rocker. Check her Saturday night at Beit Avi Chai.

• Beloved children's production Journey Behind the Scenes, which teaches kids about the magic (and the nuts and bolts) of stage productions, is back at the Jerusalem Theatre on Sunday.

• Also at the Theatre Sunday is the Andalusian Orchestra, a collective of Jerusalem's finest Arab musicians.

• You probably can't learn to be funny if you're not, but that won't stop Off the Wall Comedy maven David Kilimnick from trying to teach you on Monday.

• Lucky you, you get another chance to see a thoughtful theatrical presentation of the prickly relationship between a white supremacist and his Jewish attorney on Monday when Skinhead returns to the Lab.

• Dig Chick Corea? Then should enjoy Tal Babitsky, performing free Tuesday evening at the Yellow Sub.

• The stage version of the Diary of Anne Frank is coming to Beit Shmuel on Wednesday - and it's in English too.

• And just in case you were worried you had too much of a life...head down to the Merkaz Wednesday for a nightlong beer-soaked Friends marathon. 

And, as always, don't feel limited by our picks. Check out the full listings for this week's events for yourself. Have a good one.

Image courtesy of Red Band.

The arrival of the Queen of Sheba, projected on the Tower of David. That's right.

Or, uh, at least the next three weekends.

Hamshush is a bit of acronym-tastic army slang, short for "Hamishi, shishi v'Shabbat" ("Thursday, Friday and Saturday"), that refers to a rare prize in an Israeli's army service: getting released from base on Thursday to enjoy two and a half whole days of leave. And with uncharacteristic pithiness, the Municipality has tacked "hamshush" onto "Yerushalayim" to give us Hamshushalaim, an annual city-wide festival taking place over three consecutive long weekends. And it's starting this Thursday.

So what can a Jerusalem resident or visitor expect from these three hamshushim for the price of one? A pretty good deal: free or reduced-price admission to museums and tourist sites; extended venue and museum hours; reduced hotel fares as thousands upon thousands of both domestic and foreign tourists descend on the city; and cheap food from some of the city's finest restaurants.

That leaves you with a lot of choices:

• Seize the opportunity to visit the Israel Museum, the Bloomfield Science Museum, the Bible Lands Museum, the Museum of Italian Jewry, the Museum of Islamic Art, the Tower of David Museum, the City of David, the Jerusalem Archaeological Park or the Ramparts Walk free of charge.

• Dig a choral concert in the Shrine of the Book or a wacky Tower of David light and sound show (pictured above), or the dozens of other events.

• Eat a 62 NIS or 92 NIS prix fixe meal at Pera e Mela, Okhlim BaShuk, El Gaucho, Ima, Emil, Angelica, Buffalo Steakhouse, Between the Arches, Black Bar 'n' Burger, Gabriel, Darna, Hess, ZaZa, La Boca, La Guta, Link, Montefiore, Sofia, Focaccia, Polly, Pituim, Canela or Shipudei HaGefen.

Of course, Jerusalemite is your one-stop shop for Hamshushalaim event information. Most of the events taking place at Jerusalem's major venues over the three weekends of Hamshushalaim were already scheduled and will simply be receiving a price cut, so check out our listings for the first, second and third weekends - and keep in mind that new events are being added all the time, so keep checking back. You can also get a full listing in English on the Municipality's website, although be prepared to contend with the same terrible organizational skills that brought you the light rail.

And if you'll be visiting from out of town, don't forget to check out the lengthy list of hotels offering special discounts.

We'll have more special Hamshushalaim content in the days to come. Have fun, eat well, and tip your hat towards city hall for their one yearly good idea.

Light show image courtesy of Amit Geron for the Tower of David; Hamshushalaim banner image courtesy of the Jerusalem Municipality's sopkesperson's office.

Learn the secrets of the King David and other classics of Jerusalem British architecture

It may be time to bust out the cornucopias and raise a drumstick to Squanto (or...whatever) in America, but in Jerusalem, it's just another week. But don't let that stop you from making the most of it by hitting the town for an only-in-Jerusalem good time:

• Gain insight into an inscrutable sector of Israeli society by viewing a documentary on Charedim (ultra-Orthodox Jews) at trendy gallery Barbur tonight.

• The Oud Festival keeps on microtonally truckin' tonight with a presentation of old-school Persian piyutim (liturgical poems set to music) at Beit Shmuel.

• Comedy Bible study: it's less terrible than it sounds. Find out for yourself late tomorrow morning with the Kalbat Comedy Bible School at Beit Avi Chai.

• Everybody loves an indie German techno DJ - especially those groovy Jerusalem secular twentysomethings. Catch Glitterbug at new club BASS tomorrow evening.

• It's Mozart time at the Targ on Saturday morning. If you like classical, don't miss out.

• It's a blast from the past Saturday night when '70s Israeli rock power trio Tzlil Mekhuvan lights up the Yellow Submarine.

• More classical fun on Sunday at Brigham Young: a performance by the winners of a musical scholarship competition.

• Nikolai Gogol's Marriage is running once again at the Khan; catch it Sunday evening.

• Hey: even more classical music (geeks, it's your week). Dig the sounds of Ligeti on Monday at the Hebrew University's classical music appreciation classes.

• Lady rocker Yehudit Ravitz is returning to the Jerusalem Theatre on Monday evening to celebrate her latest album reaching gold status in sales.

• Free jazz at the Yellow Sub on Tuesday night. Not free jazz as in Ornette, free jazz as in o-nay ough-day, dad.

• Want to hear about the history of British architecture in Jerusalem? Shuffle on over to Mishkenot Sha'ananim on Tuesday.

• Wrap yourself in the warm embrace of the Anglo community and the Jewish people's beloved humor-about-nothing with a Wednesday night Seinfeld marathon at the Merkaz.

Not enough for you? Fine! Go check out the rest of the week's events! See if we care!

Image courtesy of EagleXDV from Flickr under a Creative Commons license.

Children: can't live with 'em, can't further the species without 'em. And on the long (or too-short) road between birth and financial independence, you've gotta entertain 'em. Fortunately, you're in Jerusalem, and that's a pretty easy task. Middle Easterners love children (and they have bunches of them), so it's only fitting that Jerusalem be gifted with a great abundance of child-friendly entertainment options. Just trust your friends at Jerusalemite and your kids will never be bored, because they'll be in the thrall of the top five children's activities in Jerusalem.

HaMifletzet (The Monster)
The best things in life are free. Especially when the economy is in the tank and you're starting to think that your kid's piggybank is a safer place for money than your 401(k). Not all children's entertainment comes with a price of admission; the Mifletzet has been thrilling Jerusalem children day in and day out for nearly 40 years, and nobody pays a dime. Erupting out of the ground in a modest Kiryat Yovel park, the grotesque glory is the work of renowned sculptor Niki de Saint Phalle, and literally every single person in Jerusalem knows it by one-word name alone (even though, technically, it's called "The Golem"). Sure, your kids have gone down slides before...but were the slides erupting from the rouged mouth of a creature that looks like a Picasso interpretation of a melting cow? No. No they weren't. So head over to the Mifletzet and join a venerable Jerusalem tradition.

The Bloomfield Science Museum
There is no child-oriented institution in the world that wrings as much fun out of so modest a premise as the science museum. One would think science museums would be a series of static exhibits clarified by dry, small-print placards (and for adults, they are), but children's science museums are awesome. Lightning balls. Houses of mirrors. Play gyms. Robots. Bright lights, loud noises, and more interactivity than you can shake a TV-addled attention span at. The Hebrew University's Bloomfield Science Museum does not let down. The museum pursues its worthy goal of making every Jerusalemite child love science by putting together scads of hands-on science-made-real activities and exhibits, giving your child the opportunity to literally climb all over learning. They don't offer that sort of thrilling take on education in school, and yet you pay taxes. Hardly fair, huh?

The Israel Museum Youth Wing
If the hard science-focused Bloomfield Science Museum is the dedicated, sober MIT of Jerusalem children's museums, then the Israel Museum's Youth Wing is the crunchy, Birkenstocked Oberlin. Here, it's all about art, and reading, and self-expression, and creativity, and all those other things you try to instill into your munchkins between rapt Dora the Explorer viewings. Whether your child is exploring a cave/tower of books seemingly constructed by Georgia O'Keeffe or participating in one of many craft workshops, you'll be able to proudly watch as their artistic sides grow, develop and start getting designs on your hard-earned money for art school. At least they'll be reading, though.

The Biblical Zoo
Officially known as the Tisch Family Zoological Gardens, a name far too cumbersome for anyone to bother remembering, the Biblical Zoo gets its more pedestrian nickname from its main (and entirely unique) draw: the zoo houses dozens of animals mentioned in the Bible as being native to the land of Israel - some of which had gone locally extinct and had to be brought to Israel from other countries. But little kids don't really care about neat stuff like that. They want to know if there's a petting zoo, and if they can feed the adorable little baby goats. Yes there is, and yes they can. They can also climb all over a massive Niki de Saint Phalle sculpture garden of animals spilling out of Noah's Ark. Parents can enjoy the immaculate grounds and Jerusalem mountain air. And those adorable little goats - even if they do refuse to engage in conversation.

The Time Elevator
There has to be a better way to experience history than reading a dusty old book. Maybe if Haim Topol was somehow involved. Maybe if there were moving, vibrating seats. Maybe if water occasionally sprayed from the ceiling. That's history Jerusalem Time Elevator-style. It's actually exactly like that scene with the filmstrip and moving seats in Jurassic Park, except instead of dino cloning, the Haim Topol-augmented movie documents 3,000 non-stop years of Jerusalem history, using those wobbly chairs to make your kids believe they're taking an active role in the grand history of Jerusalem, which might not be such a stretch after all. Didn't they always say they wished they could have sacked Jerusalem with the Roman Tenth Legion? Jerusalemite respectfully suggests that you let them fulfill their dream.

And that leaves us with a few honorable mentions. Museums like the Islamic Art and Bible Lands often offer children's activities; the Botanical Gardens have a fun miniature train to ride around on; Hezekiah's tunnel and the Ramparts Walk offer much historical fun in the Old City; and children of all ethnicities and faiths play together peacefully in Liberty Bell Park, which also happens to be home to the kid-oriented Train Theater.

Photo of Mifletzet spewing children courtesy of bdnegin from Flickr under a Creative Commons License; thumbnail photo of the Mifletzet by Harry Rubenstein for Jerusalemite; photo from the Bloomfield Science Museum courtesy of Dany_Sternfeld from Flickr under a Creative Commons License; photo from the Israel Museum courtesy of yanec from Flickr under a Creative Commons License; photo of the adorable little baby goat at the Biblical Zoo courtesy of EagleXDV from Flickr under a Creative Commons License; photo of the Time Elevator courtesy of the Time Elevator.