Jewish Travel Guide

Forty-Eight Hours In Florence

Janet Hoffman — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:40:00 +0000

From the Great Synagogue to the Uffizi to the Gucci and Prada shops.

Masada Siegel

Special To The Jewish Week

Thursday, December 1, 2011

What would you see if you had 48 hours in Florence, had no guidebook and were relying on the advice of strangers? Perhaps not the most informed way of traveling, but word-of-mouth is always the best way to explore a new city. That said, relying on the kindness of locals and strangers, I hit the streets of Florence.

Where to Stay

Savoring Hummus (And More) In Abu Gosh

Janet Hoffman — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:36:00 +0000

In search of the best chickpea paste in Israel (along with a lot of history).

Ruth Eglash

Special To The Jewish Week

Thursday, December 1, 2011

When the hummus wars broke out between Israel and its northern neighbor Lebanon several years ago, the small Arab-Israeli town of Abu Gosh, not far from Jerusalem, made international headlines.

As part of the ongoing food war, which includes arguments ranging from who invented the popular chickpea paste to who should be allowed to claim it as a national dish, the most recent battle was between Abu Gosh restaurateurs and their counterparts in Lebanon over who could make the largest plate of the stuff and become a Guinness world record holder.

For Families, Suites Can Be Sweet

Janet Hoffman — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:34:00 +0000

Suite hotels, where there’s room to move, are catching on in Israel.

Michele Chabin

Israel Correspondent

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Jerusalem — In the United States it’s fairly easy to find hotels that invite kids under 18 to stay for free.

While virtually all Israeli hotels provide complimentary accommodations to infants and toddlers in a standard room (most spas don’t admit kids at all), most charge a hefty fee for even a slightly older child.

London’s Lower East Side

Janet Hoffman — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:32:00 +0000

Once 95 percent Jewish, the East End is rich in immigrant history.

Stephen Burstin

JointMedia News Servicet

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Could one of the most bloodthirsty of all serial murderers have been Jewish? Would it have been more accurate to have called London’s notorious 19th-century killer Jacob the Ripper and not Jack?

With all his murders taking place in the heart of London’s Jewish Whitechapel district some police and journalists thought so at the time. And many of London’s nervous populace agreed, staging anti-Semitic riots at the height of the killings.

Chanukah Season San Francisco Style

Janet Hoffman — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:29:00 +0000

The holiday, as only the hipster city can do it.

Hilary Larson

Travel Writer

Thursday, December 1, 2011

It’s Chanukah season in San Francisco — and in a city where every weekend features some one-of-a-kind festival, you can expect a lot more than candle lightings and latke parties. Try Yiddish drag queen caroling, a pop-up Jewish record store, Chinese-food comedy on Christmas, and a historic tribute to one of history’s wiliest Jews, Harry Houdini..

Traditionalists will still find menorahs and latkes. But San Francisco embraces the holidays with the same blend of hipster irony, earnest identity-probing and wacky originality that are its trademarks.

A New Angle On Israeli Art

Janet Hoffman — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:27:00 +0000

The Tel Aviv Museum of Art’s Herta and Paul Amir Building is part of a bid to upgradethe city’s global profile.

Joshua Mitnick

Israel Correspondent

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Tel Aviv — In recent years, Tel Aviv has gained international acclaim as a mecca for fans of Bauhaus architecture from the 1930s and 1940s. With the opening of the new Herta and Paul Amir Building of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, the city’s architecture is again helping to attracting global attention.

The $45-million building, which opened last month, is part ambitious architectural statement and part display window onto the world’s largest collection of Israeli art, which stretches back a century.

Jewish Travel Guide December 2011

Janet Hoffman — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:20:00 +0000

Read about - 48 Hours in Florence, London's Lower East Side, Architecturally Spectacular New Wing of Tel Aviv Museum of Art and much more...

Thursday, December 1, 2011