Shorashim v’Tikvah – Roots and Hope: An Intergenerational Volunteer Mission in Israel

• Departure from the United States.

This day’s schedule will be determined by arrival time

• Arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport, with assistance by a Makor Educational Journeys representative.
• Proceed to Tel Aviv.
• A brief walk to visit Cafe Otef, a cafe and gifts shop featuring products of Western Negev communities. The pop-up, now permanent store was created as a source of income, employment and succor for displaced members of southern communities in the wake of October 7th. Meet manager Reut Karp, ex-wife and partner of chocolatier Dvir Karp, who was killed on October 7. In his memory, Café Otef continues to use Dvir’s recipes.
• Check in to the hotel.
• Unwind with free time to stretch your legs, or rest or explore on your own.
• 2025: Where Is Israel? Where are We? Welcome Dinner and introduction with Dr. Eilon Schwartz, CEO of Shacharit, a think-and-do tank dedicated to the common good of all of the diverse communities of Israeli society.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Drive to a Leket Field for a full morning of volunteering (or at a food distribution center), followed by a lunch meeting with with founder Joseph Gitler, and a discussion on why he founded Leket and how the non-profit and his family have been effected by the October 7th War.
• Continue to Emek Hefer for an afternoon of volunteering with Hazit Habait (The Home Front), a project of the Emek Hefer Regional Council. The Home Front initiative extends care to families of hostages, the bereaved, wounded soldiers, families from Southern and Northern border-communities whose homes were destroyed, and those whose communities are sealed off and evacuated because of the continuing war.
• Return to Tel Aviv.
• Visit and enjoy dinner with Ashager Arraro, of the Batae Center for Ethiopian Jewish Heritage. Hear her Zionist story and learn about her sense of belonging amidst the challenges of Israeli society.

• Breakfast at the hotel and check-out.
• Depart for the Western Negev.
• Full day Volunteering Program with an initiative involved in rebuilding the Western Negev. Possibilities include:

• • Kibbutz Beeri temporary relocation at Hatzerim
  • Kibbutz Kfar Azza temporary relocation at Ruhama
  • Kibbutz Beeri rebuilding efforts
  • Kibbutz Kfar Azza rebuilding efforts
  • Agricultural volunteering at one of the Kibbutzim or Moshavim in the area
• Lunch with Kibbutz members, including focused conversations about their connection to the land, their dilemmas over returning and their choices for their families.

• Drive to Jerusalem and check in to hotel.
• Group processing conversation.
• Dinner on your own and free evening in Jerusalem.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Living Together and Separately in the Same Land. Begin the day with a special learning experience on Shared Society at the Shalom Hartman Institute.
• Continue the day with volunteering at Latet, the largest NGO combating poverty and food insecurity in Israel.
• Late afternoon workshop with Muslala, a nonprofit organization that aspires to a new model, blending artistic activity, social orientation and ecological focus.
• Dinner on your own in Jerusalem.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Volunteering workshop with the Jerusalem Green Fund, followed by a conversation with board members of various political backgrounds who have organized to maintain a sustainable Jerusalem.
• Free afternoon to explore Jerusalem and prepare for Shabbat.
• Kabbalat Shabbat as a Synagogue group or at one of the Batei Knesset in Jerusalem.
• Festive Shabbat Dinner.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• OptionalShabbat services and free morning.
• Shabbat lunch at the hotel.
• Optional Guided Walk into the Old City or in the environs of the hotel. Route will be chosen based on interest and experience of participants.
• Seudah Shlishit and concluding group conversation.
• Depart for Ben Gurion Airport.

• Arrival to the U.S.

Program is subject to change, pending confirmations.