Years ago,
remember that we're in Israel for over forty years, Book Week in Israel was a time when every town and city set up sales points, tables and tables and tables for book publishers to display and see volume after volume of books to the book-hungry public.
There never was a country or people so enamored or addicted to books like Israelis. Remember that Jews are known as the "people of the Book," so in the modern State of Israel books are a very popular item.
But even here, things have changed a bit and the book fairs now are more like carnivals with all sorts of entertainment for the kiddies of all ages, even the pre-readers.
That includes food, if you consider these sugary confections aka "cotton candy" to be "food." In Ofra, where I spent the afternoon with the grandkids, they even had real food grilled meat and sandwiches for sale. But my grandchildren insisted on the sugary stuff, something I never would have bought my own kids.
There were also clowns and magicians who entertained in the shade, thank G-d.
And there was also entertainment for those who "danced" to a
different drummer.
Considering that nowadays not all read their books from paper, it should be no surprise that the Jerusalem Municipality had a different sort of fair the very same week. I saw all sorts of handicrafts being set up for sale at Safra Square.
Israeli Book Week is party time. We celebrate books!
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