Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv Vegan Festival

Israel has been lauded as the most vegan nation on earth, winning accolades as a top tourism destination for vegans. The Tel Aviv Vegan Festival is the largest vegan festival in the world. Tel Aviv, consistently rated as one of the best cities for vegans and full of yummy vegan restaurants, brings paradise to vegans for two days. Vegans can enjoy over 100 stalls from the most delicious vegan restaurants and stores throughout Israel. Each year, the municipality of Tel Aviv, expects no less than 50,000 people to attend the event who indulge in a huge variety of vegan dishes and products.

Tel Aviv Dance Festival at the Suzanne Dellal Centre

The Tel Aviv Dance Festival at the Suzanne Dellal Centre in Tel Aviv is a vibrant celebration of contemporary dance that captivates audiences from around the world. Set against the backdrop of the city's artistic charm, this annual festival showcases a diverse array of cutting-edge performances by both renowned and emerging choreographers, offering a fusion of creativity, innovation, and raw talent. From powerful and emotive storytelling to mesmerizing displays of movement and expression, the festival creates an immersive experience that leaves spectators in awe. As dancers take the stage in the state-of-the-art facilities of the Suzanne Dellal Centre, the festival becomes a melting pot of cultures and artistry, truly reflecting Tel Aviv's position as a global hub for artistic brilliance. For more World Jewish Travel summer festival listings in Israel and around the world click here.

Israeli Animation Festival

Asif, the main annual event of Israeli Animation, was founded by ASIFA Israel in 2000, and is produced by Animix Festival, in collaboration with the Israeli animation community. Asif aims to celebrate the crop of creative works made in the past year, and promote the art of animation in Israel, with the collection, sorting, documentation and Israeli animated films screening . Asif features selected films and an awards ceremony. Image attribution: iIraeli Animation Festival Animix via TouristIsrael

International Hummus Day

The day that celebrates all things hummus was created by Ben Lang, a tech entrepreneur who got things started at a Tel Aviv hackathon in 2012.

Shavuot

Shavuot, the feast of weeks, is celebrated seven weeks after the second Passover seder. Although Shavuot began as an ancient grain harvest festival, the holiday has been identified since biblical times with the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. The word Shavuot means "weeks", and it marks the conclusion of the Counting of the Omer. Its date is directly linked to that of Passover; the Torah mandates the seven-week Counting of the Omer, beginning on the second day of Passover, to be immediately followed by Shavuot. This counting of days and weeks is understood to express anticipation and desire for the giving of the Torah. On Passover, the people of Israel were freed from their enslavement to Pharaoh; on Shavuot, they were given the Torah and became a nation committed to serving God. One of the biblically ordained Three Pilgrimage Festivals, Shavuot is traditionally celebrated in the Land of Israel for one day and for two days in the Diaspora. While there is more awareness of the festival in Israel among secular Jews, generally Shavuot is widely ignored by non-practicing Jews. The practice of staying up all Shavuot night to study Torah – known as Tiqun Leyl Shavuot – is linked to a Midrash which relates that the night before the Torah was given, the Israelites retired early to be well-rested for the momentous day ahead. They overslept and Moses had to wake them up because God was already waiting on the mountaintop. To rectify this perceived flaw in the national character, many religious Jews stay up all night to learn Torah. Any subject may be studied on Shavuot night, although Talmud, Mishnah, and Torah typically top the list. People may learn alone or with a chavruta (study partner), or attend late-night shiurim (lectures) and study groups. In keeping with the custom of engaging in all-night Torah study, leading 16th century kabbalist Isaac Luria arranged a recital consisting of excerpts from the beginning and end of each of the 24 books of Tanakh (including the reading in full of several key sections such as the account of the days of creation, the Exodus, the giving of the Ten Commandments and the Shema) and the 63 tractates of Mishnah, followed by the reading of Sefer Yetzirah, the 613 commandments as enumerated by Maimonides, and excerpts from the Zohar, with opening and concluding prayers. The whole reading is divided into thirteen parts, after each of which a Kaddish d-Rabbanan is recited when the Tiqun is studied with a minyan. Today, this service is held in many communities, with the notable exception of Spanish and Portuguese Jews. The service is printed in a book called Tiqun Leyl Shavuot. There exist similar books for the vigils before the seventh day of Pesach and Hosha'ana Rabbah.