Sunday, 25 December – Depart USA

Monday, 26 December – Going up into the Land

• Arrive in Israel to be met and assisted by your ITC representative (today’s program depends on arrival time)
• 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.
• Shekhiyanu-Welcome ceremony on top of Tel Jaffa overlooking modern Tel Aviv.
• Check-in to the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Tel Aviv’s Mediterranean Coast.
• Welcome dinner at Meatos Restaurant.
• Overnight: Crowne Plaza Hotel, Tel Aviv

Tuesday, 27 December – The Hebrew City and the Jewish State

• ITC 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.
• Hear about the establishment of Tel Aviv at the Founders’ Monument then stroll down Rothschild Boulevard to view the Bauhaus architecture for which central Tel Aviv was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Visit the new Israeli Innovation Center located in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange to learn how Israel became the Start Up Nation.
• 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”.
• 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.
• Stop at Rabin Square, where late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated and hear about the nation’s shock and soul searching in its aftermath.
• Dinner on own
• Overnight:  Crowne Plaza Hotel, Tel Aviv

Wednesday, 28 December – Renewers of Jewish Life in Ancient an d Modern Times

• Depart for northern Israel.
• Tour the ruins of Caesarea, including its Roman Theater, Amphitheater, Hippodrome and Promontory Palace.
• ITC Touch:  Ponder a rabbinic debate over Jews attending gladiator games.
• ITC Touch: Hear the story of Hanna Senesh and her poem Walking to Caesarea, better known as the song Eli, Eli.
• 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.
• Look out at the Jezreel Valley from the Mukhraka Monastery on Mt. Carmel, where Elijah challenged with the Priests of Baal.
• Check–in to the Ramot Resort Hotel in the Galilee.
• Dinner at hotel
• Overnight:  Ramot

Thursday, 29 December – Ancient and Modern Geopolitics and Israel’s Finest

• Option:  Visit the Mt. of the Beatitudes, site of the Sermon on the Mount and see Barluzzi’s octagonal church with facets dedicated to each of the Beatitudes.
• 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.
• Lunch on own.
• Tour of the Golan Heights for a special perspective on Israel’s complex geopolitics as we “look down at Israel” the way the Syrian army once did and then look out at the border from strategic Mt. Bental.
• Chocolate making workshop at the De Karina Chocolate Factory.
• Then taste wines and liqueurs at the adjacent Bahat Winery.
• Dinner with young Israeli soldiers, who are giving some of the best years of their lives to the defense of Israel – Meet the human face of the Israeli army.
• Overnight:  Ramot

Friday, 30 December – Across Israel: Many Faces of the Jewish People

• Visit the ancient synagogue at Hamat Tiberias and ponder why its 1,500 year old mosaic floor features a wheel of the zodiac.
• 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
• Travel south through the Jordan Valley and ascend to Jerusalem.
• Shekhiyanu/Welcome ceremony overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem.
• Check in to the David Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem.
• Free time to relax and prepare for Shabbat.

Friday/Shabbat evening options 

• Light Shabbat candles at hotel.
• 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 “Masorati Kotel“, where men and women can stand together. (Bus to Kotel.  People can take taxi or walk back).

• OR:  Attend Friday night services at a local Jerusalem synagogue. 
• Festive Shabbat Dinner at hotel
• Overnight:  David Citadel, Jerusalem

Saturday, 31 December – And on the Seventh Day…in Jerusalem 

• Shabbat morning services at the synagogue of your choice (recommendations and directions will be provided).
• Shabbat Lunch at hotel.
• Afternoon walking tour to Jaffa Gate and the Christian Quarter, including the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, part of the Via Dolorosa and Deir Es-Sultan (the Ethiopian compound on the Church of the Holy Sepulcher’s roof).
• OR:  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 Yanoff
• Free evening
• Dinner on own
• Recommendation for the evening:  Check out the First Station Cempound – Jerusalem’s old Ottoman Train Station which has been converted into a restaurant- café area.  It’s a short walk from your hotel
• Overnight:  David Citadel, Jerusalem

Sunday, 1 January – Masada and the Dead Sea: Freedom Fighters or Fanatics?

• Set out early 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 decision did our ancesters make?  Masada or Yavne? What does that mean?
• 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.
• 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” for a Camel ride and biblical dinner before returning to Jerusalem. 
• Overnight:  David Citadel, Jerusalem

Monday, 2 January – The Old City of Jerusalem:  An Ancient Jewish Legacy

• B’nai Mitzvah ceremony on the Southern Wall Steps opposite Hulda Gates.  (Archaeological Park/Davidson Center) to connect a Jewish past with a Jewish future.
• While there hear about episodes of episodes of Jewish life in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago which took place on the steps where the Bar Mitzvah ceremony is being held.
• OR:  Explore the City of David, using the Bible and archaeology to reveal stories from Jerusalem’s past, including a visit to its ancient water system (without getting wet!). 
• Visit the traditional prayer area of the Western Wall.
• Walk through the Western Wall Tunnels to discover underground Jerusalem.
• Lunch on own 
• Tour of the rebuilt Jewish Quarter in the Old City, including the Broad Wall, Rooftops, Cardo and Western Wall Lookout and hear about the remarkable discoveries under the ruins of the Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue, followed bty free time to shop and explore on own.
• Free evening
• Dinner on own
• Overnight:  David Citadel, Jerusalem

Tuesday, 3 January – 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
• 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.
• Dinner on own
• Overnight:  David Citadel, Jerusalem

Wednesday, 4 January – 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 accompanied by an adult.  Zoo visit not included in the tour price).
• Lunch on own
• Multimedia tour of the Herzl Museum to discover the story of Zionism’s founding father, followed by a meaningful visit to Mt. Herzl Cemetery to discover chapters in the history of Israel while visiting the graves of Yitzhak Rabin, Golda Meir, Theodor Herzl and Hannah Senesch.
• Remainder of afternoon free to explore on own and get in last minute shopping.
• Farewell dinner at Medita Restaurant
• Transfer to Ben Gurion Airport – See you again soon!

Thursday, 5 January – Arrive in USA

• Begin planning your next Israel trip with Rabbi Yanoff and ITC Tours!

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