Explore Israel

Led by Rabbi Steven and Judy Moss

October 22 – November 2, 2023

 (Draft: April 25, 2022; Subject to change)

Sunday, 22 October – Depart USA

Monday, 23 October – Going up into the Land: The First Hebrew City in 2,000 Years

• Early morning arrival in Israel to be met and assisted by your ITC representative (today’s program depends on arrival time).
• Begin your visit to Israel at Neot Kedumim, a biblical botanical garden, to discover the agrarian landscape of ancient Israel and plant a tree to celebrate your visit to Israel.
• Tour the alleys of Old Jaffa, the ancient port city once known as Zion Gate.
• Shekhiyanu-Welcome ceremony on top of Tel Jaffa overlooking modern Tel Aviv.
• Then descend below the city’s streets to the Jaffa Tales – Old Jaffa Visitors Center to watch a multimedia presentation unravel over 5,000 years of local history.
• Lunch at Café Yafo near the Jaffa Flea Market which has become a hip dining and café area.
• Walking tour of the historic Neve Tzeddek neighbourhood, once home to Zionist cultural pioneers Eliezer Ben Yehuda, S. Y. Agnon and Rabbi Kook, which 25 years after its founding gave birth to Tel Aviv – The first Hebrew city in 2,000 years.
• Check-in to the Dan Panorama Hotel on Tel Aviv‘s Mediterranean Coast.
• Welcome dinner at Maganda Restaurant in Tel Aviv’s Yemenite Quarter.
• Overnight: Dan Panorama Hotel, Tel Aviv

Tuesday, 24 October – Tel Aviv and the Rebirth of Israel

• Visit the Palmach Museum in Ramat Aviv to learn about the elite  underground organization which played a critical role in the founding of the State of Israel.
• Hear about the establishment of Tel Aviv at the Founders’ Monument on Rothschild Boulevard, then view the Bauhaus architecture for which central Tel Aviv was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• ITC Touch: See City of Sand and Sea, a mosaic fountain created by artist and writer Nachum Gutman portraying scenes from the history of Jaffa-Tel Aviv.
• Lunch on your own and free time to explore the Nachalat Binyamin crafts fair. While there checkout the nearby Carmel Market and great street food.  Then have a look at bohemian Sheinkin Street – All Three of these Tel Aviv icons meet at the “Magen David Junction”.
• Guided tour of the Ayalon Institute in Rehovot – an underground bullet factory used by Jewish forces before the founding of the State of Israel.
• Free time to swim in the Mediterranean Sea and enjoy Beachside Promenade.
• Free evening
• Dinner on own
• Overnight: Dan Panorama Hotel, Tel Aviv

Wednesday, 25 October – Centers of Jewish Civilization

• Load bus and check out of hotel
• Visit Caesarea to tour the the ruins of the Roman City which King Herod built by the sea, including its Roman Theater, Amphitheater, Hippodrome and Promontory Palace.
• ITC Touch:  Ponder a rabbinic debate over Jews attending gladiator games.
• Visit with Lotem in Emek Hashalom near Yokneam.  Lotem is an organization that works to make nature and outings accessible to persons with diabilities and has created a number of trails in Emek Hashaom for special needs populations.
• 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 the Nof Ginosar Hotel on Kibbutz Ginosar or the Kfar Blum Pastoral Hotel.
• Dinner at hotel
• Overnight:  Kfar Blum

Thursday, 26 October – Sources of the Jordan 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.  
• Jeep tour in the Golan Heights – Look down at the Israeli communities below the way the Syrian army once did.
• Lunch on own
• Ascend to the peak of strategic Mt. Bental to look out at the border and gain  a special perspective on Israel’s complex geopolitics.

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:  Wine tasting at the boutique Pelter Winery (Kosher line to be requested) on Kibbutz Ein Zivan.
• ITC Touch:  Barbeque dinner with young Israeli soldiers who are giving some of the best years of their lives to the defense of Israel.  Meet the human side of the Israeli army!
• Overnight: Kfar Blum

Friday, 27 October – Across Israel: A Multicultural Jewish Society

• Visit the ancient synagogue in Capernaum (Kfar Nahum) on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, now a Christian holy site.
• Discover Ethiopian Jewish culture at the Germachin Center in Beit Shean.  Learn about this community’s modern day Exodus story and the challenges facing the Ethiopian Israeli community today.
• Lunch on own
• Continue south through the Jordan Valley and ascend to Jerusalem.
• Check out the bustling Machane Yehuda Market to take in a slice of local life as

you see Jerusalemites preparing for Shabbat.  Along the way, see the picturesque Nachalaot neighborhoods.

• Check in to the Dan Panorama Hotel in Jerusalem.

Friday/Shabbat evenings options:

• Join hundreds of other Jews from around the world to Greet the Sabbath at the

Western Wall. Option to pray together as a congregation at the “Egalitarian Kotel“, where men and women can stand together.

• OR:  Attend Friday night services at a local Reform synagogue.
• Festive Shabbat Dinner at hotel
• Overnight:  Dan Panorama Hotel, Jerusalem

Saturday, 28 October – And on the Seventh Day…in Jerusalem

• Shabbat morning services – To be determined with Rabbi Moss.
• Lunch on own
• Shabbat afternoon options:
• Late afternoon walking tour to the historic Montefiore Windmill to discover the first neighborhood built outside the walls of the Old City.
• AND/OR:  Walking tour to the First Temple period burial site at Ketef Hinnom – Where archaeologists discovered the oldest biblical text ever found.
• Havdalah with Rabbi Moss
• Dinner on own
• Overnight: Dan Panorama Hotel, Jerusalem

Sunday, 29 October –– The Old City of Jerusalem:  An Ancient Jewish Legacy

Choose one of the following Ancient Jerusalem touring options:

• Explore the City of David using the Bible and archaeology to make Jerusalem’s stones tell the story of the city’s ancient past, including the city’s ancient water systems without getting wet.  (Please note:  Touring the City of David requires walking down and up many stairs).
• AND/OR:  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.
• Visit the Western Wall’s traditional prayer area.
• Walk through the Western Wall Tunnels to discover underground Jerusalem.
• Lunch on own in Jewish Quarter.
• Tour of the Jewish Quarter, including the Cardo, Broad Wall and visits inside the

Hurva Synagogue and Four Sephardic Synaguoges, followed by free time to shop and explore on your own.

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

Monday, 30 October – 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: What decision did our ancesters make? Did they choose 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 bathe in waterfalls and hear how David hid there from King Saul.
• Stop off at “Abraham’s Tent” (Genesis Land) for a Camel ride and biblical dinner before returning to Jerusalem.
• Overnight:  Dan Panorama Hotel, Jerusalem

Tuesday, 31 November – Holocaust, Remembrance and Continuity 

• Briefing on Israeli and Middle East Politics by Steve Linde, editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Report (and former editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post).
• Tour of Yad Vashem Israel’s national Holocaust memorial, including tour of the Holocaust History Museum and a moving visit to the Children’s Memorial. 
• Meaningful visit to Mt Herzl Cemetery to discover chapters in the history of Israel while vidsiting the graves of Yitzhak Rabin, Golda Meir, Theodor Herzl and Hannah Senesch.
• Lunch on own
• Tasting tour of the bustling Machane Yehuda Market for a multicultural gastronomic experience.
• Dinner on own in Jerusalem’s Mamilla Quarter, if still hungry.
• Watch the Night Spectacular – Sound and Light Show at the Tower of David.
• Overnight:  Dan Panorama Hotel, Jerusalem

Wednesday, 1 November – Wrapping Up

• Visit Yad Lakashish, a unique employment project helping Jerusalem’s elderly, including a stop in its shop “where shopping is a mitzvah!”
• Drive along the former ceasefire lines which divided Jerusalem between 1948 – 1967 to Ammunition Hill, where we will see former Jordanian trenches and hear about the toughest battle of the Six Day War.
• Lunch on own
• 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, 2 November – Arrive in USA

• Begin planning your next Israel trip with Rabbi Moss and ITWT Tours!

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