Israel Celebration Tours: Tel Aviv – A Jewish City or a City of Jews

We at ICT (Israel Celebration Tours) want to share our passion for Tel Aviv with you.

Some think of Tel Aviv as the secular city of Israel and even describe it as a city of Jews and not a Jewish city. But Tel Aviv is a Jewish city through and through.

Tel Aviv has Myriad Identities

The Hill of Spring; Alteneue Land/Old-New Land, the White City; the Big Orange; a World Heritage site; the City That Never Sleeps; the first all Jewish city in modern times; the Financial Capital of Israel; the Theater Capital of Israel; the musical capital of Israel; the cutting edge of Jewish creativity; a city attracting Israel’s young and dynamic...It is said that just as Jerusalem prays, and Haifa works, so Tel Aviv dances.

Tel Aviv is often called the Big Orange

Israel Celebration Tours is proud to “tel” you about this “tale” of Tel Aviv:

When Herzl wrote his opus entitled “Alteneuland” he envisioned a modern Jewish State built upon the foundations of ancient Israel. His book was translated into Hebrew as “Tel Aviv” and ultimately was the name chosen for this old-new city. A century after its founding, Tel Aviv is indeed the fulfillment of Herzl’s dream. It is second-to-none in Israel because Tel Aviv is unique unto itself and first in so many ways!
The city was founded in 1909 through a lottery (using sea-shells) for plots on the sand dunes just north of ancient port of Jaffa. It was originally called “Ahuzat Bayit” – literally meaning “Estate”.

The lottery on the sand dunes of Tel Viv, 1909

In the words of Akiva Weiss, one of Tel Aviv founding fathers:
“I have a plan as to how we may build 100 percent Israeli cities… The streets will be broad, the homes will have running water and be surrounded by gardens, electric lights will blaze in the streets and houses and industry will have electrical power day and night. A comprehensive sewage system will be established and everything required for a modern city will be installed.”
While Jerusalem will always be the spiritual capital of Israel, Tel Aviv captures the new and developing Jewish soul. Witness the Tel Aviv of our today, the Tel Aviv of our youth, the Tel Aviv of our future and the Tel Aviv of our creativity:
Population of more than 390,000 residents, around 50% of whom are aged 15-40. Tel-Aviv today is a young and vibrant city.
Corin Rotary, International Marketing and Business Development Consultant wrote of Tel Aviv: (http://www.telaviv-insider.co.il/culture-1.php)
"Tel Avivian’s say what they think..."
“In contrast to many other citizens of various nations around the globe, Israelis and Tel Avivian’s in particular tend to give their opinions freely and openly. This applies in basic situations such as saying yes or no when offered a drink, as well as when discussing complex political issues (very common) over dinner with friends or with the taxi driver… Nevertheless, Tel Avivian’s are normally very friendly and hospitable towards tourists. Therefore, don’t be surprised if you will get a dinner or a party invitation from a Tel Avivian’s you’ve just met!”
The Show must go on – Theatre in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv is the ultimate city for theatre. From its early days, Tel Aviv was a great cultural center with an outstanding Hebrew theatre. Moreover, 18 out of Israel's 35 performing arts centers are located in Tel Aviv-Yafo.
Habima Theatre
Israel's national theatre, established in Moscow in 1918, re-established in Tel Aviv in 1931.
The Cameri Theatre
Established in 1944, was the first theatre to produce plays in Hebrew. More than 20,000,000 people have seen more than 400 plays in the past 50 years.
Beit Lessin Theatre
Founded in 1980, it enjoys and has developed a unique and high quality reputation for original drama.
Gesher Theatre - Tel Aviv's youngest theatre
Established in 1991 by new Russian immigrants, it offers plays in Hebrew and Russian.
Other Theatres in Tel-Aviv
While the above are more mainstream theatres, others include the Yiddish Theatre, the Puppet Theatre at Yarkon Park, Hasimta in Yafo, and the Orna Porat National Theatre for Children and Youth.
Music and Dance Centers in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv offers a wide range of music styles and is the home of the famous Israel Philharmonic and of Israel's leading dance companies, Bat Sheva, Bat Dor and Inbal. Suzanne Dalal Center for Dance and Theatre consists of dancing, musical and cultural events with a special atmosphere in Neve Tzedek and the Enav Cultural Center which hosts lectures, concerts and plays, is a cultural center and the new seat of the Tel Aviv City Council.
If opera is your favorite entertainment the new Israel Opera is your perfect show in town. The new high quality venture was relocated in 1994 at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center located next to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and Beit Ariela (Sha'ar Tzion) public library.

A performance at the Suzanne Dalal Dance Center

Tel Aviv Museum of Art
As art nourishes the roots of culture, the city of Tel Aviv assists artists to express themselves by being a source of inspiration. Art is an inseparable part of Te Aviv’s culture. Some of the leading museums in Israel are located in Tel Aviv and visitors have the unique opportunity to explore and enjoy both classic and modern art.
The Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel's main art museum, shows permanent and changing exhibitions in the home site of the museum at Shaul Hamelech Boulevard and in the Helena Rubenstein Pavilion, adjacent to the Mann Auditorium. Among the permanent collections, it is possible to find the best of Israeli painting and sculpture, beginning from creations from the twenties to modern works, European art from the 16th-19th centuries, impressionism and post-impressionism and European and American art of the 20th century.
Eretz Israel Museum
The Eretz Israel Museum, situated in Ramat Aviv, near Tel Aviv University, exhibits a wide range of art collections in the fields of Archaeology, Judaica, Ethnography, Material Culture and the Applied Arts of the Land of Israel.
Diaspora Museum
Beth Hatefutsoth, the Nahum Goldmann Museum of the Jewish Diaspora, located in the grounds of the University of Tel Aviv, exists to convey the story of the Jewish people for more than two thousand years as we lived our life in the Diaspora.
Our Favorites Museums
Palmach Museum – Bet Ha'Palmach
Not to be missed, this excellent museum tells the story of Israel’s acceptance of Jewish responsibility—not to be a nation of fighters but a nation of defenders. Never to tremble, never to hide or cower again! Here is the Palmach House we engage in the story of the new Jew and the new sons and daughters of the Macabees defending our freedom while holding out the olive branch of Shalom.
The Yitzhak Rabin Museum—Ramat Aviv

The Yitzahk Rabin Museum

“Shalom Chaver” were the words declared by former U.S. president Bill Clinton after the tragic assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. Indeed Clinton’s words captured the feelings of Israelis, Jews and peoples of all faiths world wide. It was Shalom that Rabin struggled for and it was with the word Shalom on his lips that he died.
This is a museum featuring Rabin's life, in the presence of the turbulence and changes which occurred in the Israeli society in the background, while presenting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – with all its complexity and explosiveness, socially, politically and publicly. All artifacts are arranged around a large cylindrical space, located inside the Yitzhak Rabin center for Israeli studies. Not to be missed!!
Tel Aviv: The New Spiritual Jewish Search
Bet Tefillah Yisraelit—the Israeli House of Prayer
Perhaps the best example of Tel Aviv as a thoroughly Jewish city is Bet Tefillah Yisraelit. Not a Reform Temple, nor a Conservative or Reconstructionist synagogue imported from the Diaspora and indeed not Orthodox. This is uniquely “new Israel.” This is an authentic expression of 21st century Israelis, rooted in their land and seeking to connect with God; seeking to connect to their traditions and history and values. It is based upon the natural link of Israelis to their past, their heritage and their holidays while maintaining the firm footing in modernity that Israel represents today.

Erev Shabbat on Tel Aviv's beachfront with Bet Tefillah Yisraelit

Walk along the boardwalk or deck of the northern port of Tel Aviv on a Friday evening at sunset and you will encounter hundreds of young Israelis welcoming the Shabbat with prayer, song and instrumental music. Families with young children; singles and the best of our youth; passer-bys just stopping in for a few moments to join in Lecha Dodi and then to continue on their “shpatzir”; clapping and dancing; a brief “Dvar Torah” or sermonette; contemporary Israeli songs; sunset as Shabbat enters over the Mediterranean; colors galore in the sky – reds and yellows mixed with blue and then darkness and the moon. Shabbat arrives and embraces Tel Aviv and Tel Avivians. Arrive early as the seats are quickly occupied although standing room is always available.