Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom

• Departure from Canada.

• Arrive at Ben Gurion International Airport, with assistance by a Makor Educational Journeys representative.
• Proceed to Tel Aviv.
• Check in to the hotel.
• Guided tour through the Old City of Jaffa, tracing its story from the days of the Bible through the Jaffa Port.
• Kabbalat Shabbat at Kehilat Halev.
• Festive welcome Shabbat dinner at Yulia restaurant in Tel Aviv.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Morning at leisure/Shabbat services.
• Walking tour of Tel Aviv.
• Lunch on own in the city center.
• Guided tour in the Florentine neighborhood, Tel Aviv’s most bohemian and upbeat neighborhood, and learn about contemporary Israeli culture through urban art: writing on the wall, graffiti, bumper stickers and even painted garbage bins.
• Visit Rabin Square and the memorial to assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
• Dinner and evening on own.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Check out of the hotel.
• Travel south to Be’er Sheva.
• SodaStream visit.
• Lunch on own.
• Special program in Be’er Sheva exploring some of the new directions the city is taking, based on the ancient origins, with Gabe Axler of Pnima.
• Encounter in the Bedouin village of Lakiya, in the home Amal El-Sana.
• Home hospitality dinner.

• Breakfast in Lakiya.
• Drive to Sde Boker and walk through the tiny residence of founding father David Ben Gurion and his wife Paula, and the Ben Gurion Museum to learn about Ben Gurion’s “shopping list” for how to start a country, including what a state needs to defend itself and be secure. Visit the graves of the Ben Gurions and reflect on their mission to focus the nation’s attention toward the Negev.
• Afternoon options:
  • Wine tasting and tour at Nana Winery, with lunch.
  • Camel riding at Ben Midbar, with lunch.
• Short hike in the Ramon Crater (time permitting).
• Check in to the kibbutz.
• Dinner at the kibbutz.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Those joining the Petra tour will depart to the Yitzchak Rabin border crossing.
• Tour of Kibbutz Lotan with a kibbutz resident, including a conversation about the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism and the current state of Reform Judaism in Israel. Kibbutz Lotan was founded by a group of young American and Israeli Reform Jews in 1983 as the second Reform kibbutz in the Arava region of Israel.  They built a profit-sharing community based on pluralistic, egalitarian and creative Jewish values while protecting the environment.  The collective economy derives income from a dairy farm, cheese-making and a date grove, and Lotan is also the home of the Center for Creative Ecology, which engages in eco-tourism and environmental education.  The kibbutz is home to about 200 people.
• Travel to Eilat.
• Eilat options include:
  • Snorkel at Coral beach
  • Hike with Noam to Mount Tzfachot (2.5 hours)
  • free time in Eilat
• Lunch on own.
• Return to kibbutz for dinner.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Check out of the kibbutz hotel.
• Proceed to the Dead Sea basin.
• Ascend Masada via cable car 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.
• Continue to Neve Midbar Beach for a chance to float in the waters of the Dead Sea.
• Lunch on own.
• Proceed to Jericho.
• Tour the city centre of this Palestinian city and take the cable-car up to the Monastery of the Temptation.
• Experience the desserts at the famous Nablus Knafe bakery.
• Drive to Jerusalem.
• Stop at Mount of Olives for an overview of the city and an opportunity to recite the traditional Shehecheyanu prayer said upon entering Jerusalem, with traditional bread and wine.
• Check in to the hotel.
• Dinner and evening on own.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Ascend the Temple Mount through Mugrabi gate.
• Visit Yad Lakashish, a nonprofit organization that empowers low income elderly through meaningful work opportunities, and essential social and financial benefits. The NGO also promotes positive attitudes towards seniors through inter-generational connections.
• Lunch on own.
• Meet with Rabbi Uri Regev.
• Guided visit to the Old City, beginning at Jaffa Gate and walking along the rooftops of the Old City for a glimpse at its multi-ethnic weave, followed by a guided visit through the Jewish Quarter, including the Cardo, Hurva Square and the Herodian mansions.
• Visit the Western Wall, which has become the focal point of Jewish prayer since the destruction of the Second Temple 2000 years ago, and then continue to the Western Wall Tunnels.
• Dinner and evening on own.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Visit Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center
  • First Timers: Guided visit through the Avenue of the Righteous Among the Nations, the Holocaust History Museum and the Children’s Memorial
  • Returnees: Special visit to the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center Archives, with a focus on archival material from Germany, followed by a guided visit through the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center Art Museum
  • Youth: parallel programming
  • Special concluding program in the Valley of Communities
• Lunch on own in Beit HaKerem.
• Explore Machane Yehuda, one of the most colourful and famous markets in the Middle East, with the opportunity to experience first-hand the special energy as Jerusalemites prepare for Shabbat.
• Kabbalat Shabbat and Shabbat dinner at Kehillat Kol HaNeshama.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• The Poet and the Windmill – Guided walk through Yemin Moshe, with the poetry of Yehudah Amichai as a guide. Amichai, z”l,  is considered to be Israel’s greatest modern poet.
• Lunch on own in the Old City.
• Guided visit through the Christian Quarter, including part of the Via Dolorosa and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
• Wrap-up discussion and festive farewell dinner at La Guta restaurant.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Check out of the hotel.
• Depart for Ben Gurion Airport for return flight home.

*Program is subject to change, pending confirmations.