Monday, 20 June – Depart USA on over night flight

Tuesday, 21 June – The Hebrew City and the Jewish State

• Morning arrival in Israel to be met and assisted by your Israel Tours representative (today’s program depends on arrival time).
• 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.

• Tour Old Jaffa, the ancient port city once known as Zion Gate from which Jonah tried to flee and where Solomon brought the Cedars of Lebanon on the way to Jerusalem.  Today paintings and sculptures have been installed in its ancient alleys.
• Shehekhiyanu/Welcome ceremony on top of Tel Jaffa overlooking modern Tel Aviv.

• 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 “Magen David Junction”.
• Check-in to the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Tel Aviv‘s Mediterranean Coast.
• Free time to swim in the Mediterranean Sea and enjoy beachside promenade.
• Welcome dinner and orientation at Maganda Yemenite Restuarant.
• Overnight:  Crowne Plaza Hotel, Tel Aviv

Wednesday, 22 June – Centers of Jewish Civilization

• Depart for northern Israel.
• Visit the ruins of Caesarea, including its Roman Theater, Amphitheater, Hippodrome and Promontory Palace.
• Israel Tours Touch:  Ponder a rabbinic debate over Jews attending gladiator games.
• Lunch on own
• Tour mystical Tzfat’s old synagogues and picturesque alleyways. Tzfat was the cradle of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) in the 16^th century.  Judaism’s Friday night service, Kabbalat Shabbat, and the hymn Lecha Dodi originated in Tzfat a that time.

• Check–in to the Leonardo Plaza Hotel in Tiberias overlooking the Sea of Galilee.
• Dinner at hotel
• Overnight:  Leonardo Plaza, Tiberias

 

Thursday, 23 June – The Jordan River and the Strategic Golan Heights

• Walk in the lush Tel Dan Nature Reserve, one of the sources of the Jordan River, where you’ll discover biblical intrigue and one of the oldest arches in the world.
• Raft or Kayak down the Jordan River – Great way to cool off on a hot day.
• Lunch on own

• Jeep tour of the Golan Heights for a perspective on Israel’s complex geopolitics as we visit bunkers where the Syrian army “looked down” at Israel. Then look out at the border region from strategic Bental.

Please choose one of the following two “touring and tasting” options.  Both located on nearby Kibbutz Ein Zivan (Possibility of splitting the group):

• Chocolate making workshop at the De Karina Chocolate Factory.
• OR:  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:  Leonardo Plaza, Tiberias

Friday, 24 June – Across Israel: Ancient, Modern and Distinctly Jewish

• See the ancient synagogue of Hamat Tiberias and discover why a wheel of the zodiac appears on its 1,500 year old mosaic floor.
• Visit Bio-Bee on Kibbutz Sde Eliahu, world leaders in organic agriculture to hear

how they are using very effectively biological pest control, rather than toxic pesticides  to protect their crops.

• Lunch at Kibbutz Sde Eliahu
• Continue south through the Jordan Valley and ascend to Jerusalem.
• Shekhiyanu/Welcome ceremony overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem.
• Explore the bustling Machane Yehuda Market and take in a slice of local life as you see Jerusalemites prepare for Shabbat. On the way, see the nearby picturesque Nachalaot
• Check-in to Leonardo Plaza Hotel, Jerusalem.
• Free time to relax and prepare for Shabbat.

Friday evening/Kabbalat Shabbat options:

• Join hundreds of other Jews from around the world to Greet the Sabbath at the Western Wall. Option to join the new egalitarian Kabbalat Shabbat minyan run by the Masorti Movement at the Masorti Kotel, where men and women can pray together (begins at 6:00 pm).
• OR: Attend the “Israeli Kabbalat Shabbat” service at the First Station Compound (begins at 5:00 pm).
• OR: Attend Friday night services at a local Jerusalem synagogue.

• Festive Shabbat Dinner at hotel

• Overnight: Leonardo Plaza Hotel, Jerusalem

Saturday, 25 June – And on the Seventh Day… in Jerusalem

• Shabbat morning services at a the synagogue of your choice (Recommendations and directions will be provied).
• Shabbat Lunch at hotel.
• Free time to relax and enjoy hotel pool.
• Late afternoon walking tour to the historic Montefiore Windmill to discover the first neighbourhood built outside the walls of the Old City.
• AND/OR:  Walking tour to First Temple period burial site at Ketef Hinnom – Where archaeologists discovered the oldest biblical text ever found.
• Havdalah with Rabbi Dorsch
• 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: Leonardo Plaza Hotel, Jerusalem

Sunday, 26 June – The Old City of Jerusalem – An Ancient Jewish Legacy

• Discover the archaeological story of the Western Wall and episodes from rabbinic texts while standing where Jewish pilgrims walked 2,000 years ago at Robinson’s Arch and the Southern Wall Excavations.

• Walk through the the Western Wall Tunnels to discover underground Jerusalem.

• Lunch on own in Jewish Quarter.
• Guided tour of Jewish Quarter including the Cardo, Broad Wall and Rooftops followed by free time to shop and explore on own.
• 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).
• Free evening
• Dinner on own in Jerusalem’s Mamilla Quarter.
• Watch the Night Spectacular – Sound and light show at the Tower of David.
• Overnight: Leonardo Plaza Hotel, Jerusalem

Monday, 27 June – Masada and the Dead Sea: Freedom Fighters or Fanatics?

• Set out across the Judean Desert and ascend Masada by cable car to tour the ruins of Herod’s palace and the last outpost of Jewish independence. Discussion: Which Jewish Legacy – Masada or Yavne?

• Swim in the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth, at a local resort.  The resort also has a fresh water pool and spa facilities.  Massage and spa treatments available by prior reservation at own expense.
• Lunch at Dead Sea resort.
• Time permitting:  Walk in Ein Gedi Nature Reserve opportunity to bath in waterfalls and hear how David hid there from King Saul.
• Stop off at “Abraham’s Tent” for a Camel ride and biblical dinner.

• Overnight: Leonardo Plaza Hotel, Jerusalem

 

Tuesday, 28 June – Holocaust, Remembrance and Continuity

• Visit Yad Lakashish – A unique employment and Tzedakah project serving Jerusalem’s elderly citizens and stop off its store where shopping is a mitzvah.

• Guided tour of Yad Vashem Israel’s national Holocaust memorial and museum, including the Holocaust History 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 accompanied by an adult.  Zoo visit not included in the tour price).

• Lunch on own.

• See the world renown Chagall Windows at Hadassah Hospital.
• At the multimedia Herzl Museum, experience the story of Theodore Herzl, followed by a meaningful visit to Herzl Cemetery to find chapters in the history of Israel at the graves of Yitzhak Rabin, Golda Meir, Theordore Herzl, Hannah Senesch and Mike Levine.
• Free evening
• Dinner on own
• Overnight: Leonardo Plaza Hotel, Jerusalem

Wednesday, June 29 – Digging Up the Past:  An Underground Adventure

• Travel to Beit Guvrin in the Judean Lowlands, crossing enroute the biblical Elah Valley, where David and Goliath fought.
• Dig up Israel’s past by participating in a hands on archaeological excavation with Dig for a Day in Beit Guvrin National Park.
• Lunch on own
• 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. Recommendation:  Stay at the Israel Museum to explore additional exhibitions, such as Modern Israeli Art, Synagogue Interiors in the Judaica Section or the Archaeology Wing.

• Remainder of afternoon free to explore on own and get in last minute shopping.
• Late check out

• Farewell dinner at Medita Restaurant
• Transfer to Ben Gurion Airport – See you again soon! 

Thursday, June 30 – Arrive in U.S.A.

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

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