Last month, over a thousand graduates gathered on the central lawn of Gymnasia Herzliya, their voices mixing Hebrew and laughter under the late afternoon sun. The school was celebrating its 120th anniversary, marking more than a century since it became the first educational institution in the Land of Israel to teach entirely in Hebrew.

The gathering stretched across the grass where current students normally spend their breaks. Gray-haired men in pressed shirts stood beside middle-aged women checking their phones, while younger graduates in their thirties and forties moved through the crowd with the easy familiarity of people returning to a place that shaped them. Name tags revealed graduation years with alumni from classes spanning seven decades - including some who graduated in the late 1940s, even before the establishment of the State of Israel.

The school's origin story begins in 1905 in Jaffa. Dr. Yehuda Leib Metman-Cohen and his wife Fanya established a school where Jewish children would learn mathematics, literature, and science not in German, Russian, or French, but in Hebrew, a language that had barely been spoken in daily life for almost two thousand years. The building stood in the narrow streets of old Jaffa, close enough to the port that students could hear ships arriving from European cities carrying more Jewish immigrants.

In 1909, as Tel Aviv was established north of Jaffa, the school moved to Herzl Street in the new city. The building for the new school was designed to mimic the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, a cultural cornerstone and a national symbol.

The First School. Some of the children of Tel Aviv stand in front of Gymnasia Herzliya at the end of Herzl Street in Tel Aviv in its early days — The first school. Gymnasia Herzliya at the end of Herzl Street in Tel Aviv in its early days

The elaborate building stood for almost fifty years at the end of Herzl Street until it was demolished and replaced by the first skyscraper in Tel Aviv - Shalom tower. The school moved to a simply-designed building in another part of town, on Jabotinsky Street, with its metal gate designed in the shape of the former building.

Albert Einstein visited the school in 1923, walking through its corridors with Tel Aviv's first mayor, Meir Dizengoff. The archival photograph shows Einstein in his characteristic disheveled hair and formal coat, surrounded by students and teachers in the school's courtyard. By then, the experimental idea of Hebrew education had proven itself - the school had become a magnet for Jewish families throughout the region who wanted their children educated in what they saw as the language of the future.

Visiting Gymnasia Herzliya in 1923. Albert Einstein with mayor Meir Dizengoff on his right hand side

The school’s 120th anniversary booklet lists the school's remarkable track record: two Prime Ministers, two Chiefs of Staff including the current one, and over eighty Israel Prize winners. Students at the school pass through hallways flanked with photographs showing famous faces from different eras - politicians, writers, judges, and military leaders, all sharing the common experience of being a student at the Gymnasia Herzliya. The incumbent mayor of Tel Aviv was also the headmaster of the school before he was elected.

During the anniversary ceremony, speakers noted how the school's emphasis on Hebrew culture and liberal values had rippled outward, influencing the character of Israeli society. Performances by the school’s band and the choir of Tel Aviv scouts, as well as a standup comedy show, were not only entertaining, but further solidified the realization that graduates sitting on the lawn represented generations who had witnessed the transformation of Hebrew from a sacred language into the living tongue of a modern nation.

The language that began in a rented building in Jaffa now fills the air of an entire city, heard in coffee shops, construction sites, tech offices and playgrounds. Walking through Tel Aviv today, passing by countless schools and cultural institutions that now take Hebrew for granted, I can’t help but feel at awe. Perhaps the most remarkable achievement of the Gymnasia Herzliya isn't the individual success of its graduates, but the society that they created.

My name is Tomer Chelouche and I've been guiding tours in Tel Aviv since 2008. I started out of fascination with my family history - the Chelouche family was one of the founding families of Tel Aviv. My ancestors built this city - and I'm telling its story.

The best way to get to know Tel Aviv better is by purchasing one of my audio tours. Here's one way to experience that -

Casa Suzanna opened its doors only a few months ago as Tel Aviv's newest boutique hotel. The property's defining feature is its naturally lit patio courtyard, in which guests can enjoy tranquility despite the central location. Guests can also indulge themselves in complimentary wine from leading Israeli wineries. The hotel bar is open until the late hours of the night. It’s a kind of adults-only get away, centrally-located yet calmly intimate.

The hotel's spa includes a treatment room, offering massages of up to one hour, and will soon expand to more wellness amenities including yoga space, sauna and jacuzzi. Future developments include a street-level restaurant and rooftop terrace with panoramic city views. Breakfast takes place in a nearby coffee place. The proximity to Carmel Market, Nahalat Binyamin, Neve Tzedek, and the Mediterranean coastline provides immediate access to the city's essential experiences, but the price you pay for this prime location is quite affordable in comparison to other hotels in the area.

Staying the night at Casa Suzanna, you’re ideally located to take my Trail of Independence audio tour, which traces the footsteps of Tel Aviv's founders along Herzl Street and Rothschild Boulevard. This historical walking experience reveals the incredible transformation from the world's first modern Jewish city, founded in 1909, into today's startup nation capital. The tour explores preserved houses, the Hall of Independence where Israel's statehood was declared, the Hagana Museum, and the Great Synagogue of Tel Aviv - uncovering the secrets behind the architectural landmarks that witnessed the birth of a nation.

Of course, this tour also includes the place where the Gymnasiya Herzliya once stood. Embark on this audio experience to better understand the revolution that the first school in Tel Aviv was part of. I’ll also share with you why this important city landmark was regrettably bulldozed and what we have learned since its demolition.

You can make sure you've downloaded my Trail of Independence audio tour before you head out, or you can download it on the go if you're set with a data package allowing for uninterrupted internet access. There's a link in the show notes to purchase my audio tour -

The Trail of Independence: Tracing the origins of modern Tel Aviv

If you have any questions - you’ll find all the ways to contact me on telaviv.tours (telaviv as one word, no space, no hyphen) and there’s a link in the show notes for your digital convenience.

Visitors to Tel Aviv this November 2025 will be able to catch the concert simply titled "Bach". Marking 340 years since the birth of famous composer Johann Sebastian Bach, this is a contemporary interpretation put together by the local Revolution Orchestra. Rather than presenting traditional baroque performances, the production transforms Bach's compositions into new creations, arrangements, variations, and improvisations performed by a choir and three virtuoso soloists playing unexpected instruments. Under conductor Roy Oppenheim's direction, the performance promises to be "more rock than baroque," exemplifying Tel Aviv's tendency to reimagine classical culture through a distinctly modern lens.

The Bach concert will take place at the Israeli Opera House in Tel Aviv and I find this to be a great opportunity to list the major cultural institutions of the city. These institutions, arranged chronologically by their founding, tell the story of how a young city became a mature cultural metropolis.

Habima Theatre, founded in 1917, represents the oldest Hebrew-language theater institution. Surprisingly, it wasn’t established in Tel Aviv, but in Moscow, on the backdrop of the Communist Revolution. Actors, directors and stage workers finally immigrated to the Land of Israel only in the late 1920’s and settled in Tel Aviv, where Habima struggled with other local theaters until it came triumphant with its expressionist theater productions mostly dealing with the Jewish experience in modern times and the dilemmas it presents. After the establishment of the State of Israel, the theater was viewed as the national theater, and the prestige of its status was also evident in the building in which it was housed. With four halls totalling more than a thousand seats, Habima draws culture fans from across the entire country with some performances translated to English for non-Hebrew speaking spectators.

Literally a stone’s throw away from Habima is the Charles Bronfman Auditorium, known locally as Heichal HaTarbut (meaning “the Hall of Culture”). In this brutalistic gem of concrete and glass resides the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra. Founded in 1936 by Polish-Jewish violinist Bronisław Huberman, its inaugural concert was conducted by Italian Maestro Arturo Toscanini - nearby streets now bear their names. The orchestra provided refuge for Jewish musicians dismissed from European orchestras during the Nazi era. I’m also proud to note that one of the key players in the foundation of the orchestra was Moshe Chelouche, my grandfather’s uncle. In his deeds, he saved Jews from Europe right before the outbreak of the Second World War and laid the base for this cultural bedrock here in Tel Aviv. If you’re a fan of classical music - you’ll feel here right at home.

Unlike Habima Theater, the Cameri Theatre was already founded in Tel Aviv, not abroad. Instead of depicting Jewish life in the diaspora, the Cameri presented Israelis a mirror of their lives here, in the Land of Israel. Founded in 1944, a few years before Israeli independence was declared, it rejected the expressionist style to provide a more realistic depiction of Israeli life and social issues. Since 2003, the theater has operated from the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center, sharing the same modernist building with the Israeli Opera House. The opera also has its roots in pre-state Israel, but its current reincarnation began in the 1990s. Since then, it presents productions sung in original languages with Hebrew and English subtitles to a loyal fan base.

The Batsheva Dance Company started back in the 1960s, but only in 1989 did it receive a house adequate to its seminal impact on Israeli culture. Famous Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin developed the revolutionary "Gaga" dance style within the dance halls of the Suzanne Dellal Centre for the Performing Arts, at the heart of the Neve Tzedek neighbourhood. This movement language has influenced dance education worldwide and the Suzanne Dellal Centre became a cultural magnet. The local Batsheva dance group has achieved international recognition as one of the world's leading contemporary dance ensembles.

Halfway between Habima Theater and the Cameri Theatre, film fans founded in 1973 the Tel Aviv Cinemateque. The post-modernist architecture of the building makes it stand out. Films from all over the world are screened in the numerous halls, but its uniqueness lies in showcasing the local film industry. Though international film festivals take place here quite often, specifically the film festival for students, TLVFest for LGBTQ+ movies and the DocAviv documentary film festival, it’s mostly seen as the bedrock of Israeli cinematography. Here you can appreciate the mostly Hebrew-speaking cinema with English subtitles, including Oscar winning Israeli director Moshe Mizrachi, for example, who created one of the most influential movies in Israel - the House on Chelouche Street. Yes, this one is titled after the street in Neve Tzedek that bears the name of my family. I also studied cinema at the Tel Aviv University, so I’m also a fan and rarely miss a visit to the Tel Aviv Cinemateque.

“Gesher” was founded in 1991 by a group of actors who left Russia in the time that the USSR was falling apart. About a million Jews made Aliyaa and found themselves leaving the USSR to Israel in the 1990s. The name “Gesher” (bridge, in Hebrew) is seen as the newcomers' wish to bridge over the cultural gap with longtime Israelis. The theater company found its permanent home at Noga Theater in Jaffa. Many shows are local productions of classic Russian plays, played in Hebrew with subtitles for Russian-speaking Israelis.

Gone are the days in which a Hebrew school was considered a novelty. The language of the bible grew to be the national language of Israel. Mother tongue for millions of speakers, Hebrew has based itself in the cultural network of Tel Aviv.

Thanks for listening and you’ll hear from me again when the next episode comes out next week.Until then - I am Tel Aviv tour guide Tomer Chelouche, signing off and hoping to see you soon in Tel Aviv.