Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple Multigenerational Israel Adventure

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

• Proceed to Neot Kedumim

• Step back in time with an interactive visit at Ne’ot Kedumim, the world’s only biblical landscape reserve.  Draw water from a 2000-year-old cistern.

• Continue to Tel Aviv

• Check-in to the hotel.

• Welcome dinner and introduction to the Journey

• Breakfast at the hotel

• The Visitors Center of Old Jaffa introduces visitors to 5,000 years of history in one of the oldest ports in the world, with a virtual performance that brings past heroes to life.

• Independence Trail: Accompanied by texts and poetry, the guided walk begins in the heart of Old Tel Aviv with brief stops that recreate the excitement of the project to create a Hebrew-speaking city, and ends with a vision of the future.

• “Tasting tour/lunch” through the Carmel or the Levinsky markets.

• Time to explore Tel Aviv on own

or

• Tel Aviv = beach – even in the winter!  Be an Israeli and learn to play “matkot,” Israel’s unofficial national beach-sport.

• Group dinner* at a local Tel Aviv restaurant (*hosted by Fairmount Temple).

• Breakfast at the hotel and check-out

• Adults: “Putting Today’s Headlines in Context” with Prof. Jeremy Leigh, Hebrew Union College
• Youth: Visit the Palmach Museum and follow the trials and triumphs of the pre-state fighting organization, which, in many ways, formed the standards of the current-day Israel Defense Force.

• Travel north along the Trans-Israel Highway, with an on-the-bus  security discussion along the
  Seam Zone between Israel and the Palestinian territories.

• Stop in Haifa for a visit in the Bahai Temple Gardens; Group Lunch* in Haifa (*hosted by Fairmount Temple)

• Continue to Akko, for a guided tour through its labyrinthine alleys and streets that date to the Crusader, Muslim and Ottoman periods. Stroll along its massive city walls; explore the subterranean Crusader city and the Ottoman fortress.

• Travel north to the dramatic white cliffs of Rosh Hanikra, on the border near Lebanon, and ride down the cable car to the naturally-hewn grottos by the water.

• Continue to the hotel and check-in.

• Dinner at the hotel.

• Breakfast at the hotel

• In 4×4 vehicles, tour the Golan Heights, a dormant volcanic plateau with spectacular landscapes, green valleys, grazing land. Take a peek into Syria, with a brief orientation to regional geo-political issues.

• Lunch on own in Kibbutz Ein Zivan

• Adults: Wine Tasting
• Youth: De Karina chocolate-making workshop

• Proceed to Safed

• Continue to Safed for a guided walking tour of this, one of Israel’s “Four Holy Cities,” starting at its highest point, the strategically placed 12^th century Crusader Citadel. Interwoven with tales of the Israeli War of Independence, Kabbalists and mysticism, descend by foot to the Old City to explore Safed’s development as the center of Kabbalah since its 16^th century revival in Israel.

• Dinner at the hotel

• Breakfast at the hotel and check-out

• Visit the Hula Lake Reflooding Project, one of Israel’s most innovative environmental undertakings, for an opportunity to ride bikes around the lake (single, dual, triple, quad and family bikes available)

• Travel south toward Jerusalem

• Guided exploration of Tel Beit She’an, archeological site of a large Biblical city and the Byzantine Scythopolis .

• Partnership Together (P2G) programming in Beit She’an

• Continue through the Syrian-African Rift Valley to Jerusalem, with a stop for a sneak preview of Jerusalem and a “Shehecheyanu moment” to appreciate your arrival to Jerusalem.

• Check-in to the hotel

• Dinner and evening on own in one of Jerusalem’s neighborhoods with “restaurant clusters,” e.g. First Station, Mamilla, downtown.

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Proceed to the Dead Sea

• Ascend Masada via cable car or on foot 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.

• Ride the cable car down and continue to Ein Bokek for an opportunity to float in the Dead Sea and swim in the hotel pool, followed by lunch.

• (Time permitting) Hike up to the pools and waterfalls in the Nahal David (David’s Stream) of the Ein Gedi Nature Reserve, a unique ecosystem of springs, waterfalls and pools surrounded by lush greenery in a desolate desert setting.

• Return to Jerusalem

• Shabbat services and dinner with Kamatz, the Reform congregation in Mevasseret Zion.

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Morning at leisure/Shabbat services

• Tastes of Jerusalem: Walk through the Old City “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 and “beigeleh Yerushalmi.”
• In the Christian Quarter, visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and note the proximity of many faith traditons’ places of worship.

• Tradition and Identity:  Mount Zion is a microcosm of Jerusalem – sacred, complex and multicultural, with spaces that are holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims.  Exploration and discussion of how tradition can blur or even change historical realities.

• Afternoon on own.

• Havdalah, followed by evening and dinner on own.

• 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

• Conclude with a memorial and life affirming ceremony in that Valley of the Communities.

• Participate in a mitzvah project

• Lunch on own en route to Beit Guvrin.

• Become an archaeologist for a day and take part in the ongoing dig at Beit Guvrin, where hundreds of caves that served as storerooms, burial crypts and safe havens date back to the time of the Phoenicians and then to the Maccabees.

–>Parallel program for those who do not want to dig

• Return to Jerusalem

• Dinner and evening on own.

• Breakfast at the hotel

• B’nai Mitzvah ceremony at HUC/Beit Shmuel/WUPJ complex

• Enter the Old City through Jaffa Gate and walk along the Rooftops of the Old City for a
  glimpse into the Christian, Jewish and Armenian Quarters.

• Guided walk and Family Scavenger Hunt through the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, including the Broad Wall from the First Temple, Batei Machase Square with its Memorial to the War of Independence, and the Hurva Synagogue
• Celebratory lunch at the Culinarium

• Guided visit through the Western Wall Tunnel, followed by a visit to the Kotel (Western Wall)

• Dinner on own in the Mamilla Pedestrian Mall

• View the Night Spectacular at the Tower of David Museum

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Guided visit at the Hebrew Music Museum, which houses an impressive collection of musical instruments and interactive exhibits that explore the history of Hebrew music through the ages.

• “Map the Journey” with Kol HaOt educators, who will creatively guide you through a “visual midrash” of your Israel adventure.

• Rest of the afternoon on own.

• Festive Farewell Dinner 

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