Day 1: Sunday, June 16

• Depart USA for Israel.

Overnight: In- Flight

Day 2: Monday, June 17

Arrival

• Arrive at Ben Gurion International Airport, with assistance.
• 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 overlooking at hotel overlooking Tel Aviv seashore.
• Check-in to the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Tel Aviv’s Mediterranean Coast.
• Welcome dinner at Maganda Restaurant in Tel Aviv’s old Yemenite Quarter.

Overnight: Tel Aviv

Day 3: Tuesday, June 18

Tel Aviv: The First Hebrew City in 2,000 Years

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Visit the Palmach Museum in Ramat Aviv to learn about the elite underground organization which played a critical role in founding the State of Israel.
• Hear about the establishment of Tel Aviv, the first Hebrew city in 2,000 years at the Founders’ Monument on Rothschild Boulevard and see the Bauhaus architecture for which central Tel Aviv was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Free time to explore the Nachalat Binyamin crafts fair. While there, checkout the nearby Carmel Market and try great street food.  Then have a look at bohemian Sheinkin Street – All Three of these Tel Aviv icons meet at the “Magen David Junction”.
• Lunch on own
• 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.
• Free time to swim in the Mediterranean Sea and enjoy beachside promenade.
• Free evening, dinner on own

Overnight: Tel Aviv

Day 4: Wednesday, June 19

Digging Up the Past, Camel Rides and the Dead Sea

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Travel to the western Negev.
• Visit Kibbutz Alumim to meet with a local kibbutznik and hear first-hand about living on the Gaza border, pioneering in the Negev and kibbutz as a community.
• Lunch in Kibbutz Alumim’s communal dining room.
• Travel to the Negev Highlands.
• Look out at the majestic cliffs of the Zin Valley from Ben Gurion’s Gravesite.
• Check-in to the Ramon Suites Hotel in Mitzpe Ramon.
• Dinner at hotel

Overnight: Mitzpe Ramon

Day 5: Thursday, June 20

Primeval Desert Beauty

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Explore Makhtesh Ramon (Ramon Crater) on foot and by jeep to discover magnificant desert landscapes and a fascinating window into the earth’s past.
• Guided tour of David Ben Gurion’s House on Kibbutz Sde Boker to learn about Ben Gurion’s vision for developing the Negev.
• Check in to the hotel at the Dead Sea.
• Swim in the Dead Sea at the hotel’s private beach and experience its remarkable buoyancy.
• The hotel also has a freshwater pool and spa facilities.  Massage and spa treatments available at an additional cost.  A spa menu will be available before the trip.
• Dinner at hotel

Overnight: Dead Sea

Day 6: Friday, June 21

Masada and the Dead Sea

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Ascend Masada by cable car to tour the ruins of Herod’s palace and the last outpost of Jewish independence.  Discussion: Which decision did our ancesters make?  Masada or Yavne? What does that mean?
• Lunch on own
• Walk in Ein Gedi Nature Reserve opportunity to bathe in waterfalls and hear how David hid there from King Saul.
• Travel to Jerusalem.  En route pass Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered.
• Look out over the Temple Mount and Old City of Jerusalem.
• Check-in to the hotel in Jerusalem.
• Friday night/Kabbalat Shabbat options:
• Light Shabbat candles at hotel.
• Attend the “Israeli Kabbalat Shabbat” service at the First Station Compound (begins at 5:00 pm, so it is also possible to continue to one of the other kabbalat options listed below).
• OR:  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 “Masorti Kotel”, where men and women can stand together.
• OR:  Attend Friday night services at a local Jerusalem synagogue.
• Festive Shabbat Dinner at hotel.

Overnight: Jerusalem

Day 7: Saturday, June 22

And on the Seventh Day in Jerusalem

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Shabbat morning services – TBD with Rabbi Zimmerman.
• Shabbat Lunch at hotel.
• Free time to relax, explore the city on own and enjoy hotel pool.
• Walking tour to the historic Montefiore Windmill to discover the first neighbourhood built outside the walls of the Old City.  Then continue to nearby Ketef Hinnom, a First Temple period burial site where archaeologists discovered the oldest biblical text ever found.
• Havdallah with Rabbi Zimmerman.
• Free evening
• Dinner on own
• Recommendation for the evening:  Check out the First Station Compound – Jerusalem’s old Ottoman Train Station which has been converted into a restaurant- café area.  It’s a short walk from your hotel.

Overnight: Jerusalem

Day 8: Sunday, June 23

Holocaust, Memory and Continuation

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• 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 accompanied by an adult).
• Lunch on own
• Tour Jerusalem’s quaint Nachlaot neighborhoods to discover a world of Jewish folklore and history just blocks from downtown Jerusalem.
• Tasting tour of the bustling Machane Yehuda Market for a multicultural gastronomic experience.
• Dinner on own if still hungry.
• Watch the Night Spectacular – Sound and light show at the Tower of David.

Overnight: Jerusalem

Day 9: Monday, June 24

Ancient Jerusalem

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Possibility of Bar/Bat Mitzvah ceremony at Egalitarian section of Kotel.
• Discover the archaeological story of the Western Wall and episodes of Jewish life 2,000 years ago at Robinson’s Arch and the Southern Wall Excavations.
• Visit the traditional prayer area of the Western Wall.
• Walk through the Western Wall Tunnels to discover underground Jerusalem.
• Lunch on own in the Jewish Quarter
• Tour of Jewish Quarter including the Broad Wall, Rooftops and Cardo followed by free time to shop and explore on own.
• Free evening, dinner on own

Overnight: Jerusalem

Day 10: Tuesday, June 25

North to Mystical Tzfat

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Travel north through the Jordan Valley.
• 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
• Explore mystical Tzfat, cradle of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) in the 16^th century.  Visit its old synagogues and picturesque alleyways.  Then discover the origins of our Friday night service in the city where Lecha Dodi was written.
• Free time to shop in galleries and explore Tzfat’s Artist Colony on your own.
• Check-in to the hotel in the north.
• Dinner at hotel

Overnight: North

Day 11: Wednesday, June 26

The Sources of the Jordan and the Strategic Golan Heights

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Kayak down the Jordan River – Great way to cool off on a hot day.
• Hike in the Banias Nature Reserve, one of the sources of the Jordan River, to see its magnificent waterfall.
• Lunch on own.
• Tour to the Golan Heights for a perspective on Israel’s complex geopolitics as we visit former Syrian bunkers overlooking Israel and strategic Mt. 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:  Wine tasting at the boutique Pelter Winery (Kosher line to be requested) on Kibbutz Ein Zivan.
• Return to hotel, time permitting, swim in the Sea of Galilee at the hotel’s beach.
• Dinner at hotel

Overnight:  North

Day 12: Thursday, June 27

Renewers of Jewish Life and Lasting Memories

• Breakfast at the hotel and check out.
• Explore the ruins of Tzippori, the city where Rabbi Judah Hanasi sealed the Mishna.  Discover Tzippori’s remarkable ancient mosaic pavements, including Mona Lisa of the Galilee, Nile Flood Festival and Orpheus, who looks like King David (?). What do the ruins of Tzippori reveal about Jews and Hellenism?  Then ponder why an ancient synagogue floor features a wheel of the zodiac.
• Lunch on own
• Guided tour of the former Atlit Illegal Immigrant Detention Camp where the British held Holocaust refugees, who tried to enter the country “illegally”. Then board an “illegal immigration ship” to watch a multimedia presentation about the heroic pre-State immigration.
• Travel to Caesarea Port with free time to explore on own and get in last minute shopping.
• Farewell dinner at Aresto Restaurant in Caesarea Port.
• Transfer to Ben Gurion Airport for U.S. bound flight

Overnight:  In-Flight

Day 13: Friday, June 28

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