Beth Shalom Dunwoody

• Depart Atlanta for Israel.

• Arrival at Ben Gurion Airport with assistance from a Makor Educational Journeys representative.
• Tour Old Jaffa, the ancient port city once known as Zion Gate from which Jonah tried to flee and where Solomon brought the Cedars of Lebanon on the way to Jerusalem. Today paintings and sculptures have been installed in its ancient alleys.
• Shehekhiyanu-Welcome ceremony overlooking the Tel Aviv seashore.
• Check-in to the beachfront Crowne Plaza Hotel on Tel Aviv’s Mediterranean Coast.
• Welcome dinner at local restaurant.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Walking tour of the historic the quaint Neve Tzedek neighborhood (Little Tel Aviv), once home to Zionist cultural pioneers such as Eliezer Ben Yehuda, S. Y. Agnon, Nachum Gutman and Rabbi Kook.
• Hear about the establishment of Tel Aviv, the first Hebrew city in 2,000 years at the Monument to its Founding Families on Rothschild Boulevard and see the Bauhaus architecture for which central Tel Aviv was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Free time to explore the Nachalat Binyamin crafts fair.
• Tasting tour lunch in the adjacent Carmel Market.
• Travel to Rehovot for a guided tour of the Ayalon Institute – An underground bullet factory used by Jewish forces before the founding of the State of Israel.
• Return to Tel Aviv.
• Dinner and evening on own.

• Breakfast at the hotel and check out.
• Travel to the Western Negev (Gaza Envelope).
• Guided walk in a Kibbutz facing the Gaza Strip and hear testimony from a kibbutz member about their experiences on October 7, 2023.
• Visit the Nova Festival Site, where young revelers were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists, with testimony from a Nova survivor.
• Lunch in Kibbutz Alumim’s communal dining room.
• Guided drive through Sderot to see the town which was the target of Hamas rocket attacks for nearly 20 years and see the site of the demolished former Police Station, where a fierce battle with terrorists took place on October 7, and look out at the Gaza Strip from Kobi Hill.
• Meet with Ayelet Shmuel, Director of the Resilience Center in Sderot to hear about training teams to administer psychological first aid in times of strife.
• Travel to Jerusalem
• Check in to the Dan Panorama Hotel, Jerusalem.
• Dinner and evening on own.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Explore the archaeological story of the Western Wall and episodes of Jewish life 2,000 years ago at Robinson’s Arch and the Southern Wall Excavations.
• Visit the traditional prayer area of the Western Wall.
• Walk through the Western Wall Tunnels to discover underground Jerusalem.
• Exit the Western Wall Tunnels onto the Via Dolorosa and continue to the Austrian Hospice for a panoramic view of the Old City and Temple Mount from its roof, and the possibility of a break in Jerusalem’s most authentic Viennese coffee house.
• Then experience more Jerusalem multiculturism weaving through the Arab Markets on the Via Dolorosa enroute to the Jewish Quarter.
• Lunch on own in the Jewish Quarter
• Guided tour of Jewish Quarter including the Broad Wall, Rooftops, Cardo and the biblical Israelite Tower, which will be opened especially for your visit, followed by free time to shop and explore on own.
• Dinner and evening on own.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Tour of Yad Vashem – Israel’s national Holocaust memorial and museum, including the Holocaust History Museum and Children’s Memorial.
• Visit graves of soldiers and police officers, who fell in the October 7 Gaza War at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery, including the grave of Atlanta native Staff Seargent Rose Lubin.
• Lunch on own and free time to explore the bustling Machane Yehuda Market.
• Free time to relax and get ready for Shabbat.
• Light Shabbat candles at hotel.
• Kabbalat Shabbat.
• Festive Shabbat dinner at the hotel.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Shabbat morning services – TBD with Rabbi Zimmerman.
• Shabbat Lunch at hotel
• Afternoon walking tour.
• Havdallah with Rabbi Zimmerman.
• Dinner and evening on own.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Travel across the Judean Desert to the Dead Sea Valley.
• Guided tour of Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered.
• Ascend Masada by cable car for a guided exploration of King Herod’s mountain-top Palace and the last outpost of Jewish independence 2,000 years ago, including a conversation about the significance of the Masada story in modern Israeli culture.
• Continue to a nearby resort to float in the Dead Sea.
• Lunch at the Dead Sea resort
• Return to Jerusalem
• Dinner and evening on own.

• Breakfast at the hotel and check out.
• Visit the Qasr El Yahud Baptismal Site on the banks of the Jordan River east of Jericho, which his also associated with where the Children of Israel crossed into the Promised Land and where the Prophet Elijah ascended to heaven in a chariot of fire for an up-close look at part of the Jordanian border.
• Drive north through the Jordan Valley.
• Ascend to the Golan Heights and look down at Israel the way the Jordanian army once did.
• Lunch on own
• Tour and wine tasting at the boutique Pelter Winery on Kibbutz Ein Zivan.
• Look out at Syrian border region from Bental, or other strategic promontory, and meet with Lt. Col. Eyal Dror, former commander of the IDF’s ‘Good Neighbor’ program for a conversation about the Syrian border and the implications of the regime change in Syria.
• Check in to Nof Ginosar Hotel on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.
• Dinner at the hotel.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Guided tour in Tzfat, cradle of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) in the 16^th century, to visit historic old synagogues and picturesque alleyways, then discover the origins of our Friday night service in the city where Lecha Dodi was written.
• Free time to shop in galleries and explore Tzfat’s Artist Colony on your own.
• Lunch on own
• Walk in the Tel Dan Nature Reserve, a source of the Jordan River, which was used to determine Israel’s northern border, and the site of biblical intrigue and one of the oldest arches in the world.
• Visit Agmon Hahuleh, described as a “paradise for birds and people”, riding in a bird-blind wagon to see thousands of migrating birds coming to roost for the night.
• Gourmet dinner at the home of Gadi Elias on Yesod Hama’ala.
• Return to the hotel.

• Breakfast at the hotel and check out.
• Explore Tzippori National Park, the ruins of the city where Rabbi Judah Hanasi sealed the Mishna, and see its remarkable ancient mosaic pavements, including Mona Lisa of the Galilee, Nile Flood Festival and ancient synagogue.
• Lunch on own
• Guided tour of the former Atlit Illegal Immigrant Detention Camp where the British held Holocaust refugees, who tried to enter the country despite their ban on Jewish immigration, then board an “illegal immigration ship” to watch a multimedia presentation about the heroic clandestine immigration activities.
• Travel to Caesarea Port with free time to explore on own and get in last minute shopping.
• Farewell dinner at Aristo Restaurant in Caesarea Port.
• Transfer to Ben Gurion Airport for U.S. bound flight

Program is subject to change, pending confirmations.