Negative Income Tax (2014 update)

Just a friendly reminder about the negative income tax for 2013. 

**October UPDATE: the deadline has been extended to December 26, 2014**

All the information is available in Hebrew on the official income tax website, but I'll summarize it in English for you.

This is basically a tax refund for working families. There are various qualifications to meet - basically someone who works and is age 23+ with children under the age of 18, or age 55+, even without children. This program is open to people who earned, on average, no less than 2050 shekels per month and no more than 6109 shekels per month for families with one or two children, and no more than 6717 shekels per month for families with 3 children and up.

The deadline to file based upon your 2013 earnings is September 30, 2014 It's easy. Just go into the post office (not all post offices do all tasks, please verify which branch to use), with your Teudat Zehut and your bank account information (take a check, everything they need is on there, or get a letter from your bank, the banker will have a form to fill out and stamp if you don't have a check. Just knowing your account # and branch # isn't enough, it needs to be "official".). Let the clerk know that you want to apply for "mas shleelee". Answer a few questions, and then go home. Your approval may take a few weeks, and you'll be given instructions for checking the status online.

Even if some months you earned more, if you were unemployed or under-employed for part of the time, you may qualify. In some cases, people who are (legally) self-employed qualify as well... If you were employed by a relative, you are not allowed to claim this benefit. If you have questions about this program, please call the tax authority at *4954. Check it out and see if you qualify! Some people will get a nice big "refund" and others will just get a token amount. Still many others will not qualify, because they are decently employed.

B'hatzlacha. 

Please share this information with all of your English speaking friends, so those who qualify won't miss out.

And if you find me on Facebook, you'll be sure to stay up to date!

Books on Sale (with free worldwide shipping, of course!)

I am addicted to books, and always checking for sales.

I have no idea how I let this one slip past me till now!

Save 15% off 4 or more used books when you shop the Better World Books Memorial Day Sale all with Free Shipping Worldwide!

Be sure to enter code MEMORIALDAY at checkout!

Sale ends Wednesday, May 28, 2014 at 11:00:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time.

Enjoy your books!

Click here to go to Better World Books! 





 

Lunch!

I don't usually bother to post lunches but  we are having our first watermelon of the season and I just wanted to share it.

Lunch today is grilled cheese sandwiches, cherry tomatoes (got some for 2.90/kg), and watermelon. Simple stuff, but everyone is happy to have them!

THIS is what summer feels like! I love when we can just cut open a watermelon and enjoy its sweet juiciness...

What's your favorite summer treat?

I'm waiting for grapes to come into season! I love summer fruits. And smoothies made with them...

Reminder: Free Museums Today!

Reminder: The Lag Baomer Bonfires are all over (and yes, I made it thru without leaving the house and without an asthma attack - an amazing first for me!), and the kids are all wondering what to do.

So quick, pack a lunch, and pick a museum - there are more than 70 museums offering free admission today!

Check out the list in English HERE

What I'm making for Shabbat

I say the same thing every week - how did the week slip by so quickly?!

We've been super busy around here and we are sooo looking forward to a quiet, restful Shabbat. (And then maybe, maybe, a free museum on Monday?)

But we'll probably be a little nutty and do a Friday tiyul first.

So the plan is to do some cooking (not a lot) tonight, and then most of the work between 4 pm Friday and candlelighting time.

Focusing on getting everything into the oven and hardly using the stovetop, it is just too hot for an open flame in my kitchen these days (no, we have not begun using the A/C yet, you'll hear about it when we do. Not using the A/C should hopefully help keep our electric bills under control...)

Fresh Whole Wheat and Oat Bran Challot
Vegetarian Pate (instead of soup) - haven't written up this recipe, if I have time, I will.
Black Bean Cholent because my family doesn't think there's a problem eating cholent in the summer
Chicken in honey-mustard marinade (I never blog my chicken recipes because I only make them immediately prior to shabbat!)
Oven-baked rice
Roasted Kishuim
Potato Kugel
Purple Cabbage Salad
Make-your-own-salad with whatever other vegetables we have

Baking: Brownies, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Banana Cake

Seudah Shlishit will be sandwiches, spreads, salads, and corn bread cake

Free Museum Admission May 19, 2014

This year May 19th (2014) - which seems to be a day off of school for many of the kids in this country - is International Museum Day, and there are 70 museums around Israel open to the public for free!

Many museums on this list are usually quite pricey for a family to visit, but i will warn you now - get there early or risk having the doors closed due to overcrowding.



Here's the list (the full list in Hebrew is available here)


North

The Kupferman Collection, Lochamei HaGeta'ot
The Fisher House, Kiryat Ata.   04-8440207
Ein-Dor Museum of Archaeology, Kibbutz Ein-Dor
The National Maritime Museum. 04-853662 
The Open Museum in Tefen
The Open Museum in Tel-Hai
Memorial Museum of Hungarian Speaking Jewry, Tsfat 

MadaTech in Haifa

The Underground Prisoners' Museum, Acco

Uri and Rami Nehoshtan Museum,  Ashdot Yaakov

The Galilee Nature Center - Ussishkin House, Kibbutz Dan

HaShomer House Museum - Kfar Giladi 04-6941565  

The Ghetto Fighters' House Museum,  Kibbutz Lochamei HaGetaot 

The Chaim Shturman House - at Kibbutz Ein Harud.  04-6486337 |  04-6486328

The Goara Museum of the Hagana. 04-9597402

The Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum in Haifa - 04-8536249

The Hecht Museum, University of Haifa
The Museum of the First Aliyah in Zichron, 04-6294777 

The Pioneer Settlers Museum - Kibbutz Yifat 04-6548974  

Wilfrid Israel Museum, Kibbutz HaZorea 

The Haifa City Museum. 04-9115888

The Herman Struk Museum 04-6359962  

The Haifa Museum of Art

The Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art 

The Janco-Dada Museum, Ein Hod

Museum of Art, Ein Hod

Mane Katz Museum, Haifa

{And of course, the Maimonides Heritage Center, Tiberias, is always free for individuals. Groups must make advance reservations }

Center

The Weizmann House, Rechovot 08-9344499/4500

Clore Garden of Science, Rechovot 

Kfar Saba Archaeology Museum, Kfar Saba 09-7640867/8 

The Israeli Cartoon Museum, Holon

The Museum of Israeli Art, Ramat Gan

The Israel Puppet Center, Holon

Museums of Bat Yam, Bat Yam

Ilana Goor Museum, Tel Aviv

Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv

Krinitzi House, Ramat Gan

HaGedudim Museum, Moshav Avichail

The Rubin Museum, Tel Aviv

Toldot Tzahal Museum, Tel Aviv

Man and the Living World Museum, Ramat Gan

Museum of People and the Environment, Petach Tikvah

Etzel Museum, Tel Aviv

The Etzel 1948 Museum , Tel Aviv 03-5177180 , 03-5172044 

The Hagana Museum -  03-560862 

The Khan Museum, Hadera. 04-6322330 , 04-6324562   

Design Museum, Holon 

Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Herzliya 

The Jabotinsky Museum  03-5287320 

The Hosmasa Museum - Holon -  03-5050425

Museum and Archives of the History of Holon, Holon 
The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center, Or Yehuda  
Massuah Institute for Holocaust Studies, Kibbutz Tel Yitzchak 
Nahum Gutman Museum of Art, Tel Aviv
The Rishon L'Tzion Museum  03-9598862,  03-9598890  
The Ramla Museum, Ramla  
Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv

Jerusalem Area

Yad Vashem 
The Underground Prisoners Museum in Jerusalem   02-6233166 
The Bible Lands Museum, Jerusalem  
The Shai Agnon House - open 9 am - 4 pm -02-6716498  
The Nature Museum, Jerusalem
Hechal Shlomo, Jerusalem   
Bloomfield Science Museum, Jerusalem 
The Old Yishuv Court Museum, 02-6276319, 052-4002478
U. Nahon Museum of Italian Jewish Art The Israel Museum, Jerusalem 
The Museum for Islamic Art in Jerusalem 
Tower of David Museum 
The Israel Museum

South

The Museum of Philistine Culture
The Open Museum, Omer
The Negev Museum of Art, Beer Sheva
From Holocaust to Revival Museum in Yad Mordechai - 08-6720599 , 052-3923

Let me know where you decide to go!

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"Quick Bread" Breadsticks or Pizza Crust (vegan)

I am always looking for shortcuts. I like simple, easy, no fuss recipes I can throw together at the last second, because I often don't plan ahead (I roll with my days)...

Here's our latest favorite - breadsticks! We like them with garlic but you can do whatever you want with them.

I wanted a super easy, whole grain, pourable batter.... but of course, if you want to use white flour, it will work fine too. I really wanted something pourable because it just seemed so much simpler!

Quick Breadsticks (Basic)

3 cups whole wheat flour (sifted)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp coarse salt
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups water + 1.5 tsp apple cider vinegar

Toppings:
olive oi
crushed garlic or granulated garlic
sesame seeds
coarse salt
anything else you like

 
Mix together dry ingredients, then make a well in the middle and add wet ingredients. Stir with a large spoon. Combine thoroughly. 









The mixture will be batter, not dough.





 



Pour half the batter onto a lined cookie sheet. 






 


Spread it out with your mixing spoon. Sprinkle the top with olive oil, then top as desired.



 


Bake at 200 C for about 20 min (but check it because my oven is acting a little funny, it may not be heating up enough!)
Cut and serve. These come out pretty thin and flat, but tasty. If you want them thicker, experiment with making this recipe in just ONE cookie sheet instead of two.

Enjoy!


You can also use this as pizza crust, by the way. Just bake for half the time, then top with your favorite pizza toppings and bake for another 8-10 min.

Let me know if you give it a try!

Banking In Israel - my experiences

Banking in Israel seems to be one of the major things that confounds olim from Western countries. I get banking questions a LOT.

I've banked in Israel at several banks. I've used Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, and Bank Yahav.

By far, the one I have paid the least to hold my money for me is Bank Yahav.

When we first returned to Israel in 2010, we had planned to open a Bank HaDoar account for our sal klitah money to go into. It seemed the most portable and inexpensive option, but I was tired and worn out and I let the merkaz klitah social worker tell me I was wrong. I listened to her and we opened a Bank Hapoalim account upon her insistence (makes me wonder if she was actually getting some sort of kickback from them, but I digress). Which turned into a BIG mistake, since we ended up being charged up and down with all manner of fees, despite being told we'd gotten special olim rates, and we could not change dollars efficiently if need be, and it was in a different city than we'd ended up living in, so it was a REAL pain in the neck.

We found out about Bank Yahav from our then-landlord, opened an account, and went through the half-day arduous, wrist-exhausting ("sign on this line" about a thousand times) process of closing our Bank Hapoalim account. If only I hadn't let the social worker convince me in my post-flight traumatic state that I didn't know what I was talking about! At least if we'd opened a Bank Hadoar account we would have been able to close the account at any post office in the country!

Moral of the story: don't let social workers convince you that all your hard work researching options was futile and THEY know best (and yes, by the way, I'm a social worker so I can complain about other social workers). Oh, and open a bank account at Bank Yahav. Free checking. Almost no fees. Very good service (at least we've had a decent experience with the Tiberias branch). 

The one major issue we've encountered is the Bank Yahav website has some technical problems for people using any browser other than IE. In our house, we use Firefox or Chrome, so we've had to learn how to read the banking menus backwards. I've spoken to a nice tech named Josh over at Bank Yahav, who told me the problem really belongs to Bank Hapoalim, since Yahav uses Hapoalim's internet banking interface. See - I told you to stay away from Bank Hapoalim!

But to tell you the truth, it's kind of useful to read Hebrew backwards. Or I will get my kid to make a patch for my computer so I don't have to. If he does, I'll try to get him to publish it somewhere so all of you can have it too!

Check out the list of branches to see where there's one near you! And switch and start to save money on banking!

(This post was not a sponsored post, but if you do go to open an account at Yahav, you are most certainly encouraged to mention my website when they ask who referred you! Thanks!)

Update: Bank Yahav has fixed the backwards Hebrew problem! I first saw this on motsaei shabbat of May 17. Not sure exactly when it was fixed, but it was such a nice surprise to see it back to normal again.

Healthifying my Pasta nights

Pasta has been my go-to solution to the constant "what should we have for supper" that comes up when there's hardly any time to think or prepare food.

Way back when, we bought the cheapest white pasta we could find (think Stop & Shop pasta on sale for the now unheard of 5 boxes for $1!! I still remember lugging that pasta home from the supermarket every time that sale came up, a young wife and mother and full time student just trying to stay afloat and keep everyone fed...) Now, we live in Israel, where even cheap white pasta is not so cheap, and we've long since moved on to whole wheat pastas. We've taste tested a lot of whole wheat pastas, focusing on finding the best one among the affordable options. In America, I tended to buy the Whole Foods brand pastas (stocked up when they were on sale) and one or two shapes from Target, but WF was far better. Now, we've tried lots of kinds here in Israel, the cheapest being the Taaman brand, but it's not so good. So now, I buy mine from Nizat HaDuvdevan for about 6.50 shekels for a 500g bag (roughly 1 lb), which is not bad for a relatively high quality pasta (and it's organic even though I didn't need it be).

In the past, I'd opted to make my own sauce using tomato paste or crushed tomatoes and spices over buying prepared sauce (although in America, I'd buy good sauces on sale and with coupons. I still miss that convenience). Lately I've decided to kick the sauce up a notch. It can be made in advance and stored in the fridge to be heated as necessary. Mine never sits in the fridge more than a few days, so I can't say how long it lasts, but I'd freeze it if I wasn't using in the next 3 days.

Homemade chunky tomato sauce

olive oil
cut vegetables - whatever you have that you have or what you think will work: onions, celery, peppers, eggplant, summer squash (kishuim), tomatoes, mushrooms, etc
tomato paste or crushed tomatoes (packaged or homemade)
water
fresh or dried basil (fresh is best!)
chopped garlic (fresh is best!)
seasonings to taste - salt, black pepper, and any others you want to add like oregano or rosemary or thyme...

Heat olive oil is a large sauce pot. Add vegetables and stir till they are soft and fragrant. Add garlic and continue stirring for a few minutes. Add tomato paste/crushed tomatoes, water, fresh basil and seasonings, and stir well. Continue to stir occasionally while you bring it all to a boil, then lower the flame and simmer for a while. Serve over pasta and garnish with your favorite cheese if you like.

I will admit that this has not come without objections from my family. They prefer when I don't do anything "funny" to their food, but I figured they'd get used to it and eventually come to appreciate it.

This was the first week that only one child objected to all the vegetables in the pasta, so that is major progress, in my opinion!

I serve this supper with a make-your own salad, as well. 

What's your go-to quick, sort of healthy supper?

Physician's Formula on sale at iherb

Usually, I talk about food or other kitchen type products I order from iherb.

You see, iherb has made my life so much easier since making aliyah. I can't actually afford to order very much from them, but I DO order some select items. Most months I spend $20 or so on an iherb order, including the $4 shipping charge for a 4 lb order (I try to get as close to 4 lbs as possible, and usually end up ordering between 3.96lbs and 4lbs).

Today, though, makeup wearers out there can rejoice!

 
Right now,
 
Physician's Formula products are ALL 20% off right now!
No coupon code is necessary, but if you've never ordered from iherb and you click thru my link, you'll find another great discount pre-loaded into your cart!

Sale ends May 14, at 10 am Pacific Time, so get it while you can. Some products may already be temporarily out of stock...

Shabbat!

Wow, these weeks just keep flying by!

I have no idea how it is already Thursday night. Or how I will muster up the energy to cook.

But, setting that aside, here's the plan:

Challot from the freezer
Split pea soup (I have a bag of split peas to use up!) (at night)
Black Bean Cholent at lunch
Spicy Roast Chicken 
Potato Kugel
Roasted Peppers, Summer Squash and Garlic
Salad - lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, basil
Apple Kugel or Apple Crisp
Chocolate Chip Cookies

Seudah Shlishit: Challah and spreads, grapefruit, banana muffins

And that's the plan. Now, I might just go to sleep, I'm so tired.

Weekday Suppers

Recently I've gotten into a cooking rut. Either it's too hot or I got busy or something came up and I just haven't planned ahead or I haven't done the shopping... (Do you ever just get into a rut like that?) 




And we've been eating a lot of pasta.

Too much pasta.

So, we had a little family meeting so we could come up with a supper plan for the next 2 weeks (then my mother in law is gracing us with a short visit and I promise it will be a little too crazy around here!).

And without further ado, here's the plan:

Wednesday: Mushroom Barley crock pot stew and fresh rolls with butter/cream cheese, carrot, cucumber and celery sticks with hummus and other dips
Thursday: Pita Pizzas, salad
(Shabbat is a separate post, skipping to Sunday!)
Sunday: Shabbat leftovers
Monday: Pasta of some sort, salad
Tuesday: Felafel!
Wednesday: Omelettes for the egg eaters, fish for the non egg eaters, baked potatoes, salad
Thursday: pitta pizzas, salad
(Shabbat is a separate post)
Sunday: Shabbat leftovers
Monday: Rice, Stir fried veggies, ??
Tuesday: Sloppy Sams with fresh rolls, carrot, cucumber, and celery sticks

And that takes us right up to my mother in law's visit. We'll probably have a really different routine while she's here!

How's your meal planning going? 

Maadanei Miki Hummus Recall

"Maadanei Miki" and The Ministry of Health announced a recall of the following product, due to possible listeria contamination:

Hummus 800g expiration dates 7/5/14 and 28/5/14

The affected products are being removed from store shelves.

Consumers who have purchased this product are advised NOT to eat it. Please contact Maadanei Miki to arrange a refund or replacement: Tel: 1-700-50-5540 or email: services@mikideli.co.il

Be sure to find me on Facebook and stay up to date about recalls, deals, and other important things!

Sloppy Sams Recipe

I've mentioned "Sloppy Sams" (a.k.a vegan sloppy joes) numerous times on this blog, but I've never actually devoted a post to the recipe for them!

I originally got my inspiration for Sloppy Sams from Recipes for a Small Planet, one of the first vegetarian cookbooks I'd ever owned. (In case you didn't know, I was a vegetarian for about 12 yrs - from 1993-2005, and when I started out I had NO idea what vegetarians ate. I just ate dairy. But after a while, I knew I had to expand. That's when Recipes for a Small Planet and The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest entered my life - and changed it forever!)

Over time, I've adapted the old sloppy sams recipe to fit my family's preferences better.

Here's my recipe:

Sloppy Sams

olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1-2 celery stalks, diced
1 small summer squash, diced or shredded (this can be omitted or replaced with any vegetable you like)
1-2 red/orange/yellow peppers, diced or chopped coarsely
4 cloves garlic
500g red lentils, sorted and rinsed
4 (or so) cups water
300g tomato paste
1/8 cup maple syrup or sugar, or more or less, depends how sweet you want it!
apple cider vinegar, to taste
pinch of cinnamon
salt, pepper, to taste

Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and vegetables, stirring occasionally. Add garlic after a few minutes. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, till everything just begins to brown. Add water to pot, then add lentils. Stir well, and raise the heat. Bring mixture to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer for 10 min or so (until the lentils soften). Add water as needed. When the lentils are soft and the mixture is still liquidy, add tomato paste, maple syrup/sugar, vinegar, and seasonings. Mix well. Simmer for another 5 minutes or so. Serve warm on rolls or in pitot.

This recipe is really versatile, you can leave out or replace vegetables with others you prefer. You can add shredded carrots and omit the summer squash. You can leave out the peppers if you don't like them... the possibilities are endless. Enjoy!

Update: I started eating the leftovers, cold, as a dip with crackers or tortilla chips, and it's a big hit!

Let me know if you decide to make my Sloppy Sams for your family!

Shabbat Menu

Oh my, it's Thursday night and I have not spent more than 3 seconds thinking about Shabbat food!

I'm out of potatoes and kishuim and bananas and I haven't baked challot.



I have a bunch of basics here so I should be able to pull it together...

(Just took a big break in the middle of writing this blog to check what I've got in the house!)
Since I have 2 butternut squashes and granny smith apples galore, I'm going to have to make Butternut Squash and Apple soup, which thankfully can be served cold (garnished with fresh basil might work!) because someone just told me it's supposed to be VERY hot here over Shabbat (leaning against running the A/C, though. I haven't decided. Will you be running yours?)...

So here's the plan:

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
Honey Teriyaki Chicken Wings (Friday night)
Baked Shnitzel for lunch
Brown Rice
Snap Peas (got some fresh ones this week!)
Roasted Cauliflower (I've had one in the fridge that if I do not use NOW will be no good)
Salad - lettuce, roasted orange peppers, craisins and cucumbers
Tomato-Basil salad


Baking: Apple Cake with cinnamon crumb topping (for seudah shlishit treat), chocolate chip cake, gingerbread cookies, and whole wheat and oat bran challot.

What are you making for Shabbat?

10 shekel deal

Do you have a baby in diapers?

My youngest is LONG out of diapers, but when she was little, she reacted to diapers. she'd get these terrible red, angry, broken skin, awful rashes anywhere the diaper touched.

I finally discovered eco-friendly diapers (I used Seventh Generation diapers, which are readily available in the US and Canada, but here in Israel would need to be ordered from overseas), and they were a lifesaver. (No, I did not cloth diaper, I just could not manage at that stage in my life)

So there are now a few brands of eco-friendly diapers making inroads in the disposable diaper market in Israel, and right now you can get a sample pack for a nominal charge of 10 shekels (which more or less covers the shipping to your home!).

Click here for the deal.

Free museums and attractions for Yom Ha'Atzmaut 2014

This coming Tuesdy, May 6, 2014, is Yom Ha'Atzmaut (celebrated), and this year, in honor of 66 yrs of the State of Israel, more than 66 attractions around the country will be open to the public at no charge. These are sponsored by Misrad HaTarbut V'HaSport and the Mo'etza L'Shimur Atarey Moreshet.

--- Retrieved from http://www.kosherfrugal.com/2012/04/free-museums-and-attractions.html ---

Check it out and find a place you've never gone to, and go have fun! In past years we've gone to museums that were free on Yom Haatzmaut, and they was almost completely empty. I think Israelis prefer their mangal in the park and sitting in traffic. I prefer free admission!

I'm sure there are other places that are offering free programs or free admission.
Please add information for other places in the comments, or send a note to ester@kosherfrugal.com and I'll add it in! Thank you.

I have tried, wherever possible, to link to websites in English. There were some museums/historical sites that only had Hebrew websites, though. My apologies in advance.

Have a wonderful Yom Ha'atzmaut. May it bring us closer to the Geulah Sh'laymah! 

So, let me know where you'll be going! Just leave a comment below this post.

Be sure to find me on Facebook and stay up to date about great Israeli free and frugal living ideas!

 Tel Aviv and the Center

Independence Hall -03-5106426,  03-5173942 
The Israeli Museum at the Rabin Center - with advance reservations only.*4585
Ben-Gurion House - 03-5221010
The Jabotinsky Museum - open 8 am - 4 pm. 03-5287320
The Joseph Bau House - 054-4301499
Rokach House - for more info: 03-5168042 or email  info@rokach-house.co.il
IDF Historical Collection Museum - (Toldot Tzahal) -03-5172913 , 03-5161346
The Hagana Museum -  03-560862
The Lechi Museum - guided tours at 10:30, 12:00. 1:30. 3:00. Trivia contest at 1 pm. Reservations required. For more info: 03-6820288 or email lehi_museum@mod.gov.il
The Etzel 1948 Museum - open 8:30am - 4pm. 03-5177180 , 03-5172044
The Nachum Gutman Museum of Art - 03-5161970
The Hosmasa Museum - Holon -  03-5050425
The Mikveh Israel Visitors Center - with advance reservations.  03-5030489
The Rishon L'Tzion Museum - open 10 am - 3 pm. 03-9598862,  03-9598890
The Eran Shamir Moshava Museum in Mazkeret Batya. Open 10 am - 4 pm. 08-9349525
Ayalon Institute, Rechovot. Open 9 am - 4 pm. Last guided tour at 3 pm. 08-9406552
The Minkov Orchard Center - open 10 am - 4 pm, with advance reservations. 08-9469197 

Jerusalem Area

The Old Yishuv Court Museum, 10 am - 3 pm. Guided tours available 02-6276319, 052-4002478
Ammunition Hill Memorial Site - 02-5829392/3, ext 115,
The Yellin House - in Motza -  052-4257345
The Gush Etzion Visitors' Center - in Kfar Etzion. 02-9935160
The Tower of David Museum - 02-626533
The Underground Prisoners Museum in Jerusalem - interactive programs 11 am - 4 pm, open from 9 am - 6pm. For more info:   02-6233166 

The Shai Agnon House - open 9 am - 4 pm -02-6716498
The Bank of Israel Visitor's Center - with advance reservations 02-6552828,0 2-6552520, 02-6552718
Alone on the Walls of Jerusalem - open 9 am - 5 pm - for more info: 02-6265906
Menachem Begin Heritage Center - free tours, fee for the movie. 02-5652020 02-5652011
Yad LaShiryon at Latrun - for more info: 08-9784321 

 
The North and Northern Coast

The Sliqim at  Kfar Giladi - Guided Tours every hour from 9 am - 3 pm. 052-2512915
HaShomer House Museum - Kfar Giladi. open 8 am - 4 pm.  04-6941565
Tel Hai Courtyard - 10 am - 2 pm -  04-6951333 

HaReut Museum - 04-6432810  open 9am-4pm

The Birya Fortress - open 9 am - 4 pm. 04-6922433
The Restored Pioneer Village at Rosh Pinah, open 10 am - 2 pm. 04-6936913

Beit HaMeiri, Tsfat 04-6921939 
The Kinneret Courtyard - guided tours at 10, 12, and 2.  04-6709117
Naharayim Experience in Gesher. Guided tours at 12:30 and 1:30. Open 9 am - 4 pm.  04-6752685
The Palmach Cave - guided tours on the hour between 9 and 5.  04-9898946 ,052-4471109
The Pioneer Settlers Museum - Kibbutz Yifat. Open 11 am - 4 pm. 04-6548974  
The Historic Nahalal Police Station - guided tours every hour from 10 am to 1 pm.  04-6415073 The Nahalal "Sliq" - guided tours every hour from 9 am to 3 pm.  052-3347194

The Jezreel Valley Train Museum - Kfar Yehoshua. 04-9534226  

The Chaim Shturman House - at Kibbutz Ein Harud.  04-6486337 |  04-6486328
The Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum in Haifa - 04-8536249
The Tower and Stockade Museum at Hanita.  04-9859677 

The Treasures in the Walls Museum, Akko. Open 10 am - 4 pm.  04-9911004

The Haifa City Museum. 04-9115888  

The Herman Struk Museum 04-6359962 
The National Maritime Museum. 04-853662  

The Fisher House, Kiryat Ata. Open 11 am - 6 pm.  04-8440207

The Museum of the First Aliyah in Zichron. Open 10 am - 4 pm. 04-6294777     
Clandestine Immigration Boat Tour, Atlit. For more info and reservations: 04-9841980
The Goara Museum of the Hagana. 04-9597402
The Underground Prisoners Museum, Akko.  04-9911375 
The Chanah Senesh House, Kibbutz Sdot Yam.  04-6364366   052-8795366   
The Gdudim House Museum. Open 9 am - 4 pm. 09-8822212  
The Khan Museum, Hadera. Open 9 am - 3 pm.  04-6322330 , 04-6324562

 
South:

Yad LaIsha HaLochemet in Nitzanim - guided tours 9 am - 1 pm. 08-6727895
The Open Museum in Negba -  050-55605540 

Maoz across from Gaza in Kibbutz Saad 052-3726644
From Holocaust to Revival Museum in Yad Mordechai - 08-6720599 , 052-3923104
The Water and Security Museum in Nir Am - 050-5709042
Mitzpe Gvulot - Kibbutz Gvulot - 054-7919000
Ben Gurion's Desert Home (Sde Boker) - open 10 am to 4 pm. Last admission at 3 pm 08-6560469
The Joe Alon Center for Bedouin Culture at Kibbutz Lahav 08-9913322
The Museum Revivim Museum named for Yosef Weitz. 10 am - 2 pm  08-6562570 \ 08-656263
Metzudat Yoav, The Givati Museum  08-6611316 

B'erot BaNegev Visitors' Center - Kibbutz Alumim 08-9937300


Other FREE attractions and activities:
 

MadaTech in Haifa

The Open Museum in Omer

The Open Museum in Tefen

The Open Museum in Tel-Hai

Yad Moredechai "Chavaya Metuka" 08-672055

Ramat HaNadiv in Zichron
The Israel Museum, free admission. Herod Exhibition will cost 20 shekels 

Future Train, with advance reservations. (Reader Aliza says registration is closed for this event, as it is full to capacity)

Neve Tzuf Forest - family celebration, 10 am - 4 pm - 02-9977101
The Pinat Chai in Katzrin (always free) has some special activities for families 
The Lavi Forest (Lower Galilee) has activities from 10:30-4