Temple Judea Palm Beach Gardens

• Arrive at Ben Gurion International Airport, with assistance from a Makor Educational Journeys representative.

• Proceed to Tel Aviv

• View from the Jaffa Slope Park with a view of Tel-Aviv’s shoreline, the Promenade and hotels located along the beach. 

• The Visitor’s Center of Old Jaffa: With a virtual performance that brings past heroes to life, the Center engages its visitors in experiencing five millennia in one of the most ancient port cities in the world.

• Check-in to the hotel

• Opening dinner at a Tel Aviv restaurant

• Breakfast at the hotel

• With social historian Paul Liptz, discuss “Dreams Imagined; Dreams Fulfilled” and     explore the Trumpeldor Cemetery, a “pantheon” of important figures from the Zionist movement, Hebrew literature, the arts and other fields, who left their mark during Tel Aviv’s founding and before the establishment of the state.

• Drive to the Ayalon Institute in Rehovot, a clandestine munitions factory from the War of Independence, for a look into some of the ingenuity used to create the State of Israel

• Return to Tel Aviv

• Stroll through the Levinsky Market for a tasting bonanza of foods from all over the Mediterranean Basin.

• Accompanied by texts and poetry, enjoy a guided walk along the Tel Aviv Independence Trail with brief stops at several off-the-beaten-track sites in and around Rothschild Blvd. that recreate the atmosphere of the revolutionary movement to create a Hebrew-speaking city, and end with a vision of the future.

• The final stop will be at Independence House*, where the Israeli Declaration of Independence was signed (*pending re-opening)

• (Optional) Self-guided tour through the Israeli Museum at the Yitzhak Rabin Center which explores the development of the State of Israel as a young democracy in two parallel stories:  the history of the State and Israeli society, and the biography of Yitzhak Rabin.

• Dinner and evening on own

• Breakfast at the hotel and check-out

• Travel north along the Trans-Israel Highway, with a security seminar along the Seam Zone between Israel and the Palestinian territories.

• Visit Caesarea, including the Roman theatre, hippodrome, promenade and palace, concluding at the remains of the Crusader city, exploring the relationship between Romans and Jews

• Proceed to Akko

• Lunch at Uri Buri seafood restaurant.

• Guided walk through the labyrinthine alleys and streets of the port city of Akko, to explore the remains of Crusader, Muslim and Ottoman construction along the massive city walls; the subterranean Crusader city; the Ottoman fortress; a uniquely decorated synagogue and a mosque that holds a hair of the Prophet Muhammed.

• Meet with members of the “Dror Israel” social movement in Akko, who believe that the Jewish-democratic state of Israel is meant to exemplify the Jewish principal of Tikkun Olam.  They have initiated dozens of educational projects that address Arab citizens with the goal to improve education in Arab communities and create a platform of Jewish-Arabic cooperation and partnerships.

• Proceed to Mitzpe HaYamim

• Check-in to the hotel

• Dinner at the hotel

• Breakfast at the hotel

• A Multitude of Narratives,  visit Tzippori, known as a city that housed many peoples in tolerance and goodwill during the Roman era in Palestine, where the Mishnah was codified, Mary’s parents Anna and Joachin came from, and where the Muslims developed a large center of education and commerce, and explore the site with Jewish, Christian and Muslim texts.

• Travel to Eschar

• Eschar was established as a joint secular-religious community in Israel.  In addition to harmonious relations between Jews of different observance levels, good relations with the adjacent hillside Bedouin village, Arab-al-Naim are based on a pragmatic arrangement that benefits both communities.   Meet with residents of both communities.

• Travel to Safed (Tzfat)

• Begin the time in Tzfat with a “food tour” that includes widely disparate tastings of Tunisian, Yemenite, dairy and vegan cuisines plus a winery located in a 16th-century building.

• Guided visit through Tzfat, exploring the alleyways, synagogues and stories that have made Tzfat the city of mysticism and secret.  Meet Rabbi Eyal Reiss for an introduction to Kabbalah, accompanied by wine and cheese, and Joe Buchanan’s music on the rooftop of the Safed Kabbalah Center

• Dinner at the hotel

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Kibbutz Misgav Am is the northernmost kibbutz in Israel, just meters away from the Lebanon-Israel border. The Kibbutz’s lookout point provides great panoramas of the Hula Valley, the Hermon, even the Mediterranean Sea, and especially of the Lebanese side of the border.  Begin the day at the Lookout to receive detailed explanations of the geopolitics of the area, a review of the history of northern Israel, and especially the current challenges to maintaining the northern border of Israel safe.

• The Politics of Water in the Middle East: Guided walk and discussion through the Tel Dan Nature Reserve, the largest and most important of the sources of the Jordan River.

• Lunch on own in Kiryat Shemona

• Accompanied by a security/intelligence expert, ascend the Golan Heights by jeeps for a security tour of Israel’s northern border. Continue to Mount Bental, for a view into Syria to gain an understanding of the Mideast’s delicate geopolitical situation which can affect and be affected by world events.

• Finish the day with a wine-tasting at one of the Golan’s many wineries.

• Dinner at the hotel
• –>Note: Daylight Saving Time begins tonight (Friday morning) at 2 AM 

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Expressions of Spirituality:  Stop at the grave of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness in Tiberias, followed by the Kinneret Cemetery, where Rachel, an early Zionist poet, and Naomi Shemer (Yerushalayim Shel Zahav) are buried.

• Drive through the Jordan Rift Valley

• Stop at Qasr El Yahud, located on the shores of the Jordan River and seen by Christians as the possible site of Jesus’ baptism and by Jews as the possible site where Joshua crossed into Canaan.

• Visit Qumran, the administrative center of an ascetic Jewish community that flourished between the 2^nd-century BCE and the 1^st-century CE, with members who were mostly scribes responsible for the copying and preservation of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

• Check-in to the hotel

• Swim/float in the Dead Sea

• Kabbalat Shabbat in the Judean Desert among the impressive geological formations at the foothills of Masada

• Shabbat dinner at the hotel

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Proceed to the Makhtesh HaKatan (The Small Crater)

• HaMakhtesh HaKatan is a makhtesh, a geological erosional landform, of which there are only 7 in the world, and 3 of those are in the Negev.

• Enjoy a ride atop a “ship of the desert”, as camels are known, along the northern Incense Route including a view of the Nabataean city of Mamshit and the Yamin Plain.

• Lunch en route

• Drive to Sde Boker

• Overlook the Valley of Zin, while visiting the graves of Paula and David Ben Gurion and exploring Ben Gurion’s fascination with the desert.  After the Jewish People’s two millennia in exile, the Third Commonwealth’s first prime minister lies overlooking Nahal Zin – which was the southern border of the land of Canaan promised to the Israelites.

• Return to the hotel

• Dinner at the hotel

• Program TBD

• Climb (or cable car) to King Herod’s fortress on Masada via the Snake Path for a guided visit through the site and an exploration of the symbolism and questions that arise from the Masada story and their implications for Jewish life today.

• Return to the hotel for breakfast and check-out

• Proceed north to Ein Gedi

• Nature walk through Nachal David at Ein Gedi Nature Reserve and explore King David’s stomping grounds, where David hid in a cave when running from Saul and may have composed several of his Psalms.

• Continue to Jerusalem

• Stop at Mount Scopus or the Mount of Olives for an introduction to Jerusalem and a celebratory moment to recite the traditional Shehecheyanu prayer upon arrival in Jerusalem.

• Check-in to the hotel

• Lunch on own

• Guided exploration through the City of David where King David captured the fortress of a Canaanite tribe, establishing his capital.  His son, King Solomon built the Temple above the city his father had established.  Visit some of the excavation’s new finds, tunnels and passageways, including the tunnel built by King Hezekiah.

• Understanding Israeli Politics: A comparative Study: Prof. Reuven Hazan, Political Science Dept., Hebrew University

• Dinner on own

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Guided visit to the Temple Mount/Haram al Sharif, the third holiest site in Islam, with the Al Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock and also the site of the First and Second Temples.

• Guided visit through the Old City of Jerusalem, exploring the unique weave of various religious and ethnic groups in one square kilometer, while walking through the Jewish, Christian and Muslim Quarters, including the Western Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

• Tastes of Jerusalem: During the time in the Old City, walk through the “suq” (market) to enjoy tastes of authentic coffee blends, local special herbs and spices, sweets such as Halva or kanafe, 4 variations of hummus, falafel in “laffa” and  “beigeleh Yerushalmi

• (Optional) Glide on Segways around the Old City walls beginning at the First Station and traveling past Mishkenot Sha’ananim, Mamilla, Jaffa Gate  and the Sultan’s Pool.

• The rest of the afternoon and evening on own.

• Meet with the Rabbi (s) of Modi’in’s Reform Kehilat Yozma followed by dinner in the homes of the community’s members.

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Guided visit through the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center complex, the Jewish National Memorial to the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust, including:
•     The Avenue of the Righteous
•     The Holocaust History Museum
•     The Children’s Memorial

• Guided walk through Nachlaot, a collection of 32 small neighborhoods (Lev – Heart in Gematria), which form the heart of the city, meandering through courtyards and alleyways with stories of Jews from all over the world.

• Lunch on own at Machane Yehuda, one of the most famous outdoor markets in the Middle East, and take in the scene: Jews from 102 countries speaking 82 different languages, busy shopping, eating, and celebrating life.

• Kiryat HaMemshala: Government Hill: Guided walk between the impressive Supreme Court building, the Bank of Israel and the Knesset in the Givat Ram section of Jerusalem to discuss the artistry and mechanics of Israeli democracy and governance.

• Ancient Jewish Governance:  Conclude at the Israel Museum to see the Shrine of the Book, which houses the Dead Sea Scrolls and the miniature model of Jerusalem, as it was during the Second Temple period. Free time at the museum for individual exploration in the unique collections of Judaica and Jewish Living, Archaeology, Fine Arts and the Sculpture Garden.

• Dinner on own

• Breakfast at the hotel.

• Visit the Underground Prisoners Museum. During the British Mandate in Palestine (1918-1948), the building was used as the central prison housing Jewish underground fighters from the Haganah, Irgun and Lechi (the Stern Group). The exhibits depict life in the prison, tell the stories of the underground groups and their members, and perpetuate the memory of those who were executed in the prison by the British.

• Travel to Ramle

• Take a row boat and enter a unique historical space, the Pool of the Arches, built 1200 years ago as a roofed water reservoir for the residents of Ramle by Abbasid caliphs.

• Lunch on own in Ramle

• Drive to Beit Guvrin /Tel Maresha to explore human-made caves from 2,200 years ago,  used by Romans, Jews and Christians.

• Return to Jerusalem for an afternoon on own.

• Check out of the hotel and proceed to a farewell dinner in Abu Ghosh

• Depart for Ben Gurion International Airport for return flight home.

Next year in Jerusalem!