New Jersey Federations

• Departure from the United States.

• Arrival and assistance at Ben Gurion International Airport for the group flight.
• Depart for Northern Israel.
• From the Four Corners of the World, stop at the Caesarea Aqueduct for a festive Welcome Ceremony.
• Understanding Jewish Peoplehood, continue to Atlit, site of a pre-state detention camp established by the authorities of the British Mandate for Palestine at the end of the 1930s to prevent Jewish refugees from entering Palestine, with Murray S. Greenfield, who was one of the US volunteers on the illegal immigration boats in the Pre-State days.
• Travel by bus across the Galilee and along the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), with select stops and overlooks while traveling.
• Lunch on own en route.
• Check in to the hotel.
• Group dinner at the hotel.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Israel’s Northern Borders @2018, a geopolitical update with  Sarit Zehavi.

Option 1: Recommended for First-Timers

• Visit the Tel Dan Nature Reserve for a walk along the Dan River, one of Israel’s major sources of water and the site of the famous Biblical city of Dan.
• Ascend to the Golan Heights.
• Drive along the Syrian border on Jeeps, exploring the complex relationship between Israel and Syria.
• Lunch on your own en route in Katzrin.
• Conclude the day with a visit to Tzfat and explore the quaint alleyways, art galleries, and synagogues of the mystical city, including a dialogue with a Kabbalistic artist.

Option 2: Recommended for Returnees

• In-depth geopolitical seminar and culinary experience atop the Golan Plateau, with overlooks into Syria and the Israeli Hula Valley and wine tasting with other treats – a unique experience for Israel insiders.

All

• SPECIAL EVENT: Welcome to Israel @70: The Triumph and the Mystery of Jewish Independence, an Evening Celebration at a Tel Hazor, replete with interactive bus activities, music and a festive dinner.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Heart of New Jersey on the Ground: Individual bus experiences traveling from northern Israel to the heart of the country, including an array of interactive programs with some of our Israeli partners and the people we touch, for example:
  • A visit to a special program for Youth at Risk in Nazareth Illit, where kids learn trust and leadership through parkour, urban gymnastics.
  • Hands-on spice picking at a local spice farm, made possible through an innovative loan program supported by the Jewish Federation.
  • Visit one of Israel’s unique Youth Villages, through which youth from all over the world have been integrated into Israeli society.
  • Tech Career, a groundbreaking project to help Ethiopian Israelis train for positions in Israel’s High Tech market.
  • Additional HONJ projects.
• Lunch on own en route.
• Stop at Neot Kedumim for a special tree planting ceremony.
• Drive to Jerusalem and stop at the Haas Promenade for Shehechianu ceremony overlooking Jerusalem, with the traditional bread and wine.
• Check in to the hotel, with time to freshen up.
• Enjoy a dinner of Biblical cuisine at Eucalyptus Restaurant, including a meeting with chef Moshe Basson, who specializes in preparing foods based on ingredients native to the Land of Israel.

Evening Options:

• Late night visit to Machane Yehudah Market, Jerusalem’s after-hours center of great people, food, music and fun.
• Shopping and dessert on the Ben Yehuda Pedestrian Mall
• A private Boutique Shopping Experience, with select jewelry and fashions from Israeli designers

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Explore the multi-ethnic weave of the Old City, beginning with the Ramparts Walk along the rooftops from Jaffa Gate to Zion Gate, through the Jewish Quarter, including the Cardo, Hurva Square and the Herodian Mansions, concluding at the Davidson Archeological Park (special route and visits for Israel returnees).
• Lunch on your own.
• Special tzedek project and site visit showing how all Jews are responsible for one another, with Jewish Federation partners and grantees in Jerusalem.

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE

Customize your boutique Jerusalem experience (advance sign-up will be required)

• Visit one of the museums of Jerusalem, with a choice of the Israel Museum, the Menachem Begin Heritage Center, the Museum on the Seam, the Islamic Museum, the Bible Lands Museum, or the Herzl Museum. (admission included)
• A nature hike at the Sataf, one of Israel’s many parks outside Jerusalem.
• A hands-on security training experience with Caliber 3. (additional fee required)
• A visit to the ancient city of Hebron. (additional fee required, pending security clearance)
• A visit to Shorshim and Bethlehem. (additional fee required, pending security clearance)
• A Machane Yehuda culinary tour. (additional fee required)

• Dinner on your own at Mamilla Mall or the First Station.

HONJ in the Old City…After Hours (choice of one of the following)

• View the Jerusalem Night Spectacular music and light show on the walls of the Tower of David, telling the story of Jerusalem in animation and music. (additional cost)
• Night guided visit through the Western Wall Tunnels. (additional cost)
• A private Boutique Shopping Experience, with select jewelry and fashions from Israeli designers

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Israel and the Memory of the Holocaust, with scholar Rachel Korazim.
• Visit Yad Vashem, Israel’s National Memorial to the Holocaust, with its museum, education center and memorials.
• Returnees: Option for a guided visit to Mount Herzl, Israel’s main national cemetery, where many of the State’s leaders are buried, with guest Israeli soldiers.
• Special Ceremony after these visits, marking our visit to Israel.
• Free time at Machane Yehudah, with lunch on your own, followed by free time to explore Jerusalem as it prepares for Shabbat, and your own Shabbat preparations.
• Kabbalat Shabbat as a community at the Kotel.
• Festive Shabbat dinner at the hotel
• Optional evening walk through the streets of Meah Shearim to experience an Ultra-Orthodox Tisch.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Free morning with an optional Synagogue Hop or services at one of Jerusalem’s Synagogues (map and recommendations provided).
• Lunch on your own with an optional opportunity for Home Hospitality Lunch at additional expense (sign up in advance required).
• Free afternoon to explore Jerusalem on your own or through guided walks.

Options Include:

• The winding alleyways of Yemin Moshe, the first neighborhood built outside of the walls of the Old City, using the poetry of Yehudah Amichai as a guide.
• The German Colony, built by the German Templars in the late 1800s, with their unique buildings and stories that have become part of Jerusalem’s lore.
• The upscale neighborhood of Rechavia, originally modeled after the “garden cities” of Europe.
• A guided walk through the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem.
• The winding alleyways of eclectic
• The Valley of Hinnom to the top of Mount Zion and continuing to the Jewish Quarter, using the Bible and ancient archaeological remains as guides.
• Mount Zion, the Hill of Three Religions, guided with poetry and Midrash.
• Bus Group “chavurah” conversations in different locations.

• SPECIAL EVENT: A farewell to Shabbat and with the mayor of New Jersey.

Option 1:

• Early morning departure for the Dead Sea Basin.
• Morning relaxation and float in the Dead Sea.
• Ascend Herod’s mountain fortress of Masada for a guided visit through the last stronghold of the Zealots against the Romans and study the texts of “Elazar Ben Yair and the Zealots of Masada” and “Yochanan Ben Zakai and the Rabbis of Yavneh” for an exploration of the questions that arise from the story and their symbolism in modern Israeli society.
• Descend via the Roman Ramp.

Option 2:

• Early breakfast at the hotel.
• Depart for the south.
• Rebuilding the Zionist Dream in the Negev—socio-ethnic challenges facing the northern Negev, tensions with the Bedouin, balancing tradition and modernity.
• Meet Hura mayor Dr Muhammad al Nabari and learn about the extraordinary successes of his small city, the unfinished business that still beckons, and the serious challenges he and his community face, with representatives of Desert Stars to hear the story of how they are working together to promote a better, more just and equal, Israeli society in the Negev.

All:​

• A Special Army experience with the IDF: Visit Palmachim Airforce Baseto meet with air force soldiers and “soldiers” from the Special in Uniform project.
• Drive to Tel Aviv and check in to the hotel.

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE

No-host night out with dinner on own in Tel Aviv. Sign-up for reservations in advance and our buses will drop participants off at locations throughout the city. Options include:

• Dinner and singing wait staff at
• Spatziring and sampling cuisine at Sarona Market, the equivalent of Israel’s Chelsea Market
• Shopping and dinner at the Tel Aviv Port
• Wandering through the hip Train Station market
• An introduction to Tel Aviv Nightlife 

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• A Look at Israel 70 Years Young, with scholar Paul Liptz.
• Tel Aviv: the First Hebrew City: Begin with a walk through Neve Zedek, one of the first Jewish neighborhoods outside of Jaffa and today a re-gentrified neighborhood replete with galleries, cafes and trendy shops and continue along Rothschild Blvd, exploring the once small community of Ahuzat Bayit where Tel Aviv began, and its development into both the UNESCO World Heritage White Citycollection of Bauhaus buildings and one of the great global innovation hubs, concluding with a visit to the Taglit Innovation Center, which showcases Israeli innovation.
• Visit Independence Hall, where the State of Israel was declared.
• GA meeting
• Lunch on your own on Shenkin Street, at Nachalat Binyamin Pedestrian Mall or the Carmel Market.
• Continue to the Florentine neighborhood for a Graffiti Tour, unveiling some of Tel Aviv’s urban secrets and trends.
• Time for shopping and relaxing by the sea before dinner.
• Wrap-up discussion by bus groups, overlooking the Mediterranean.
• SPECIAL EVENT: Conclusions and New Beginnings, festive Farewell Dinner and Party, with music and special guests.
• Depart for Ben Gurion Airport for flights to Petra or the United States.

• Return flight to the United States.

*Program is subject to change.

An optional add-on for the

General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America

Information available upon request