Kehillat Ma’arav Solidarity Mission

• Depart from the United States to Israel.

• Arrive at Ben Gurion International Airport, with assistance.
• Shehekhiyanu ceremony at Aliyah Bet Memorial at London Square overlooking seashore.
• Check-in to hotel on Tel Aviv’s Mediterranean Coast.
• Welcome dinner with guest speaker: Col (res.) Grisha Yaakobovitch, formerly of the IDF Civil Administration in Gaza on October 7: Israel and the Palestinians at hotel.
• Optional after dinner walk on beach.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Travel to the Western Negev (Gaza Envelope).
• Volunteer agricultural work in the Western Negev.
• Visit the site of the Nova Festival
• Lunch at a local restaurant – TBD.
• Visit a Kibbutz in the Western Negev (Gaza Envelope), on the frontline facing the Gaza Strip and hear testimony from a kibbutz member about their experiences on October 7, 2023.
• Why are you coming back? Conversation at nearby kibbutz with residents who were evacuated and by the army and are now returning to rebuild their communities.
• Return to Tel Aviv
• Dinner on own

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Volunteer at Galgal Hozer in Netivot which provides hundreds of food parcels to needy families in the Western Negev every month.
• Lunch in Netivot.
• Geopolitical Vista: Look out from Sderot at the northern Gaza Strip.
• Drive through Sderot to see the town which has been the target of Hamas rocket attacks for nearly 20 years and see the site of the former demolished Police Station, where a fierce battle with terrorists took place on October 7.
• Hear testimony from a survivor of the October 7^th attack in Sderot.
• Visit the Municipal Operations Center in Sderot, where emergency services are coordinated, including on October 7.
• Return to Tel Aviv
• Free time to shop and explore Tel Aviv on own or swim in the Mediterranean Sea and enjoy beachside promenade.
• Free evening, dinner on own

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Volunteering at Eran’s Angels in Tel Aviv packing provisions and equipment for IDF soldiers.
• Lunch on own
• Clal Yisrael: Jewish Unity and Peoplehood – A guided tour of the October 7^th Exhibit at Anu – The Museum of the Jewish People on the campus of Tel Aviv University.
• Visit Hostage Square, formerly Tel Aviv Art Museum Plaza, which has been the focal point of families and public campaigns to BRING THEM HOME!
• Travel to Jerusalem.
• Look out over the Temple Mount and Old City of Jerusalem from Haas Promenade.
• Check-in to the hotel in Jerusalem.
• Speaker: Where are we now:  Israel@June 2024 with Haviv Rettig Gur, Strategic Analyst and Political Correspondent at the Times of Israel.
• Free evening, dinner on own

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Special Program with
• The Silver Platter – Visit graves of soldiers who fell in the 2023-2024 Gaza War at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery.
• Free time to shop and explore in the Jewish Quarter.
• Lunch on own in the Jewish Quarter.
• Free time to relax and get ready for Shabbat.
• Friday night/Kabbalat Shabbat options:
• Light Shabbat candles at hotel.
• Attend the “Israeli Kabbalat Shabbat” service at the First Station Compound.
• 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.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Shabbat morning services – TBD with Rabbi Gotlieb.
• 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 neighborhood 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.
• AND/OR: Walking tour of the German Colony to discover little known chapters in modern history of Jerusalem.
• OR: Explore the Old City’s Christian Quarter, including Jaffa Gate, a section of the Via Dolorosa and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
• Havdalah with Rabbi Gotlieb.
• 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.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Guided tour of Yad Lakashish, a unique employment program serving elderly poor Jerusalemites, followed by time to browse in its gift shop, where shopping is a mitzvah.
• Volunteer at Pantry Packers or Yad Ezra Veshulamit preparing food parcel for some of Israel neediest people.
• Lunch at Schecter Institute or at a local restaurant.
• Study Session at the Schecter Institute in Jerusalem.
• Remainder of afternoon free to pack, relax and get in last minute shopping.
• Farewell dinner at a local restaurant.
• Transfer to Ben Gurion Airport for U.S. bound flight.

Program is subject to change, pending confirmations.