Wednesday, 8 June – Depart USA

Thursday, 9 June – Entering the Land

• Arrive in Israel to be met and assisted by your Israel Tours representative (today’s program depends on arrival time).
• Tour the alleys of Old Jaffa, the ancient port city once known as the Gate of Zion. Shekhiyanu-Welcome ceremony on top of Tel Jaffa overlooking modern Tel Aviv.
• Welcome drink at the Milk & Honey Distillery in Jaffa.
• Check-in at the Dan Panorama Hotel on Tel Aviv‘s Mediterranean Coast.

• Welcome dinner and orientation at Maganda Yemenite Restaurant.
• Overnight:  Dan Panorama Hotel, Tel Aviv 

Friday, 10 June – The Hebrew City and the Jewish State

• Travel to Rehovot for a guided tour of the Ayalon Institute – An underground bullet factory used by Jewish forces before the founding of the State of Israel.
• Israel Tours Touch: Discover City of Sand and Sea, a mosaic fountain created by artist and writer Nachum Gutman portraying scenes from the history of Jaffa and Tel Aviv.
• Relive David Ben Gurion declaring the new State of Israel at Independence Hall.
• Hear about the establishment of Tel Aviv standing at the Founders’ Monument on Rothschild Boulevard and see the Bauhaus architecture for which central Tel Aviv was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Lunch on own and free time to explore the Nachalat Binyamin crafts fair. While there checkout the nearby Carmel Market and bohemian Sheinkin Street – All Three of these Tel Aviv icons meet at the same junction.  Recommendation:  Check out great local street food in the Carmel Market.
• Discover Tel Aviv’s remarkable street art on a graffiti tour of the hip  Florentine neighborhood – The Soho of Israel.

• Free time to swim in the Mediterranean Sea and get ready for Shabbat.
• Shabbat evening service on beach with Rabbi Sherwood
• Festive Shabbat Dinner at hotel

• Overnight:  Dan Panorama Hotel, Tel Aviv

Saturday, 11 June – Shabbat in Tel Aviv

• Shabbat morning services – To be determined with Rabbi Sherwood.
• Walking tour of the historic Neve Tzeddek neighborhood that would eventually give birth to Tel Aviv, the “first Hebrew city in 2,000 years” and hear about some of its illustrious former residents, such as Eliezer Ben Yehuda and S. Y. Agnon. Cool off from the summer heat at Anita, home of some of Israel’s best handmade ice cream (ice cream on your own).
• Lunch on own
• Walking tour along the coast to the Aliyah Bet Memorial in London Square to hear about the daring “illegal immigration” operations which smuggled Jewish refugees into Israel during the British Mandate period.

• Free time to enjoy the beach and watch Tel Aviv’s residents folkdance, play raquetball, walk the promenade and enjoy Shabbat afternoon by the sea.

• Free time to enjoy the beach and swim in the Mediterranean Sea.
• Havdallah with Rabbi Sherwood

• Free evening
• Dinner on own
• Overnight: Dan Panorama Hotel, Tel Aviv

Sunday, 12 June – Making the Desert Bloom and Visiting Desert Dwellers

• See the fulfillment of David Ben-Gurion’s dream to “make the desert bloom” by discovering hi-tech agriculture on the Salad Trail on Moshav Talmei Yosef
• Encounter/workshop at Moshav Yoted with local sculptor Yaron Bob, who has created works of art out of Kassam rockets that have fallen in the region.
• Travel east across the Negev Desert.
• Enjoy Lunch, Bedouin hospitality and camel riding at Sfinat Hamidbar (“Desert Ship”).
• Pay tribute to Israel’s first Prime Minister at the Tomb of David & Paula Ben-Gurion near Sde Boker, with a breathtaking view of the Tzin Valley.
• Travel to Dead Sea region.
• Check-in to Isrotel Dead Sea Hotel
• Dinner at hotel
• Overnight:  Isrotel, Dead Sea

Monday, 13 June – Masada and the Dead Sea:  Freedom Fighters or Fanatics

• Ascend Masada by cable car to tour the ruins of Herod’s palace and the last outpost of Jewish independence 2,000 years ago: Discussion: Which Jewish Legacy – Masada or Yavne? (Option for early morning hike – extra expense for transportation)

• Lunch on own

• Walk in Ein Gedi Nature Reserve opportunity to bathe in waterfalls and hear how David hid there from King Saul.

• Swim in the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth.  The hotel also has a fresh water pool and spa facilities.  Massage and spa treatments available by prior reservation at own expense.
• Free time to relax and enjoy hotel’s facilities.
• Dinner at hotel

• Overnight:  Isrotel, Dead Sea

Tuesday, 14 June – Northward along the Great Rift Valley

• Drive past Qumran and see from the road some of the caves, where some of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.  Then continue through the Jordan Valley.

• Discover Ethiopian Jewish culture at the Germachin Center in Beit Shean. Hear a personal account of this community’s modern day Exodus story and about the challenges facing the Ethiopian Israeli community today.
• Traditional Ethiopian Jewish lunch at the Germachin Center.

• Visit the Kinneret Cemetery, final of resting place of early Zionist thinkers and pioneers, to discover their stories and the poetry of Naomi Shemer and Rachel the Poetess.

• Time permitting: Visit the ancient synagogue at Hamat Tiberias and discover why its 1,500 year mosaic floor features a wheel of the zodiac.
• Boat ride on the Sea of Galilee.
• Dinner on the coast of the Sea of Galilee at Decks Restaurant.
• Check-in to Nof Ginosar Hotel in the Galilee.
• Rabbi Jay Sherwood presents a Moonlight Concert of classic Israeli folk music while you relax on the beach of the Sea of Galilee – located at the hotel.
• Overnight:  Nof Ginosar Hotel, Sea of Galilee.

 Wednesday, 15 June – Mystical Tzfat, Jordan Waters and the Strategic Golan Heights

• Tour the old synagogues and picturesque alleys of the city of Tzfat, that was the cradle of Kabbalah in the 16^th century – Discover the origins of our Friday night service where Lecha Dodi was written. Enjoy the beautiful creations of Tzfat’s artists, from the precision of the famous micrography painters to the wonders of the artisans at the Tzfat Candle Factory.
• Lunch on own in Tzfat.
• Kayak down the Jordan River – Great way to cool off on a hot day.

• Tour the Golan Heights for a perspective on Israel’s complex geopolitics as we see former Syrian bunkers overlooking Israel and strategic Bental.
• Guided tour of the boutique Bahat Winery including wine tasting.
• Barbeque dinner with young Israeli soldiers who are giving some of the best years of their lives to the defense of Israel.
• Overnight: Nof Ginosar Hotel, Sea of Galilee

Thursday, 16 June  – Galilee to Jerusalem: Diverse and Delicious

• Encounter with Arab women through a Zaatar making workshop run by the Sindiana of the Galilee fair trade organization in the village of Kfar Cana.  Great opportunity to sample some local olive oil.
• Lunch on own in Zichron Yaakov, an early Zionist pioneering community and free time ot browse its pedestrian mall.
• Visit the ruins of Caesarea, including its Roman Theater, Amphitheater, Hippodrome and Promontory Palace.  Ponder a rabbinic debate over Jews attending gladiator games.  Then hear the story of Hanna Senesh and her poem Walking to Caesarea, better known as the song Eli, Eli.
• Travel to Jerusalem on Trans Israel Highway – View and discuss Israel’s Security Fence en route.
• Hear about the struggle for the road to Jerusalem in the War of Independence as you drive on the highway through the gorge of Shaar Hagai/Bab El Wad, and see the remains of convoys that tried to break the siege on Jerusalem.

• Look out over the Old City of Jerusalem and Temple Mount.
• Check-in to Dan Panorama Hotel, Jerusalem

• Free evening
• Dinner on own
• Overnight: Dan Panorama Hotel, Jerusalem 

Friday, 17 June – The Old City of Jerusalem: An Ancient Jewish Legacy

• Explore the City of David using the Bible and archaeology to make Jerusalem’s stones tell the story of the city’s ancient past.  Wade through Hezekiah’s Tunnel – A still flowing ancient water system that saved the city of Jerusalem 2,700 years ago (dry option available).
• Visit the Western Wall to connect with an ancient Jewish legacy.

• Tour of Jewish Quarter including the Cardo, Broad Wall and Rooftops followed by free time to shop and explore on own.

• Free time to relax and prepare for Shabbat.
• Shabbat evening services at Kol Haneshama – A local Reform synagogue.
• Festive Shabbat Dinner at hotel
• Overnight:  Dan Panorama Hotel, Jerusalem

Saturday, 18 June – And on the Seventh Day… in Jerusalem

• Shabbat morning services at your choice of local synagogues or Western Wall (directions and recommendations will be provided).

• Traditional Shabbat Lunch at hotel.
• Visit to the Israel Museum to see the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Shrine of the Book and the Model of Jerusalem in the first century.  Free time to explore additional exhibitions on own – Recommendations:  Modern Israeli art, Synagogue interiors in the Judaica section and the Archaeology Wing.
• Free time to relax, enjoy hotel pool or explore on your own.
• Havdallah with Rabbi Sherwood at the historic Montefiore Windmill in Mishkenot
• Shaananim, the first neighbourhood built outside the walls of the Old City.
• Free evening
• Dinner on own
• Recommendation for the evening: Visit the First Station Compound, Jerusalem’s restored Ottoman railway station turned restaurant – cafe area.
• Overnight:  Dan Panorama Hotel, Jerusalem

Sunday, 19 June – Holocaust, Remembrance and Continuity

• Tour of Yad Vashem Israel’s national Holocaust memorial and museum, including the Historical Museum and Children’s Memorial. (Children under age 10 are not permitted in Yad Vashem’s historical museum).
• Alternate program for younger children: Visit Jerusalem’s Biblical Zoo, where you’ll see animals which lived in Israel during biblical times. (Children must be ac companied by an adult. Zoo visit is not included in the tour price).
• Lunch on own
• Meaningful visit to Mt Herzl Cemetery to discover chapters in the history of Israel while vidsiting the graves of Yitzhak Rabin, Golda Meir, Theordore Herzl and Hannah Senesch.
• Explore the bustling Machane Yehuda Market to take in a slice of local life and discover Yehuda Amichai’s poem tourists.
• Walk through the Western Wall Tunnels to discover underground Jerusalem.

• Farewell Dinner at Medita Restaurant.

• Transfer to Ben Gurion Airport – See you again soon!

Monday, 20 June – Arrive in USA

• Begin planning next Israel trip with Rabbi Sherwood and Israel Tours and World Travel!

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