Israel614 JewishColumbus Mission

• Next stop: Tel Aviv!

• The first day’s itinerary is subject to change depending on the flight arrival.
• Arrive at Ben Gurion International Airport, with assistance by a Makor Educational Journeys representative.
• Mission Arrival Ceremony on ancient Tel Jaffa overlooking modern Tel Aviv.
• Walking tour of Jaffa, ancient port, contemporary mixed Arab-Jewish city
• Lunch on own in Jaffa
• Ascend to top of Azrieli Tower for a panoramic view of expansive modern Tel Aviv
• Check in to the Kempinski Hotel in Tel Aviv.
• Festive opening cocktails and dinner, location TBD
• Return to hotel.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Israel @ 2023: Special VIP visit to the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation, including a visit to late President Shimon Peres’ office and a conversation with his son Hemi Peres, chair of the center and one of Israel’s leading venture capitalists.
• Drive to the Tel Hashomer Hospital for a visit to the Israel Center for Medical Simulation, a world-leading medical training facility, based on Israeli air force pilot training simulator methodology.
• Return to Tel Aviv, lunch on own.

Afternoon Options:

• Visit the Nachalat Binyamin Crafts Fair, with over 100 artists and street musicians.
• Special curated visit to the Tel Aviv Art Museum.
• Graffiti tour of the hip Florentine neighbourhood.
• Tasting tour of the Carmel Market and/or the Levinsky Market.

• Time for personal exploration or return to the hotel.
• Dinner with Chef Yossi Elad, one of the founders of Machaneyuda Group of restaurants.

• Breakfast at the hotel with Zohar Raviv, International Vice President of Educational Strategy, Taglit-Birthright Israel.
• Check out of the hotel.
• Israel, the Abraham Accords and the Arab World, special seminar at the Institute for National Security Studies, Tel Aviv University – possibly with Palestinian guests.
• Lunch with Partnership 2Gether Leaders.
• Depart for the Carmel Mountains.
• Jeep Excursion through the Carmel Mountains with a stop at one of the great wineries of the Carmel Mountains and a visit to the Ein Hod Artists’ Colony.
• Visit the Border Police Training Base outside Jerusalem for an opportunity to engage in a dialogue with elite anti-terror officers who have been at the forefront of Israel’s defense. (Pending Kfar Saba programming)
• Drive to Jerusalem along the Trans Israel Highway.
• Check in to the Orient Hotel in Jerusalem.
• Free time for rest and relaxation.
• Dine-Around at a three of Jerusalem’s leading restaurants, possibilities include:
  • Machaneyuda, Zemach, Chakra, Satia, Mona, Jak0, 1868, Angelica.

• Breakfast at the Hotel
• Jerusalem: Where do we Stand, with journalist and author Mati Friedman.
• JDC Site Visit: Visit Susan’s House, a special workshop where youth at risk find both professional training as well as a warm and supportive atmosphere.
• Visit the Machane Yehudah Open Air Market for free time to experience the multi-sensory environment with its multitude of tastes, scents and colors; lunch on your own.
• Special guided visit (in small groups) in the Old City, exploring some of the hidden alleyways and courtyards with tastings in the markets and conversations with Jewish, Christian and Muslim Jerusalemites.
• Free time in the Old City.
• Return to the hotel.
• Conversation at the hotel with Tom Nides, the United States Ambassador to Israel.
• Group dinner at the Eucalyptus restaurant with chef Moseh Bason who focuses on bringing the culinary traditions of the land of Israel to life.

• Breakfast at the Hotel

Morning Option 1

• Visit the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center
  • First Timers – Guided visit through the Avenue of the Righteous Among the Nations, the Holocaust History Musuem 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
  • Concluding memorial service

Morning Option 2

• Visit the Jerusalem artists neighborhood of Ein Kerem, for an opportunity to explore the Jewish ethnic and artistic diversity of the neighborhood through home and studio visits.

• Free time to visit the Bezalel Arts and Crafts Market in downtown Jerusalem, with lunch on own.
• Pre-Shabbat Kabbalat for the mission community to welcome in Shabbat together.
• Optional Shabbat Services at the Kotel or in a Jerusalem synagogue (Reform, Conservative, Orthodox)
• Festive Shabbat Dinner at the hotel or at a private room in a restaurant in the Old City.

• Breakfast at hotel
• Morning at leisure, Optional Shabbat services.
• Lunch on own.
• Shabbat Options

Shabbat Touring Options   

Two of the following options will be chosen for the group

• Agnon in Jerusalem – Walk through the streets of Central Jerusalem, using the writings of Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Israel’s first Nobel Laureate as a guide
• The Poet and the Windmill – Guided walk-through Yemin Moshe with the poetry of Yehudah Amichai.
• A Historic Weave of Jerusalem – Walk through the Valley of Hinnom, using the Bible as guide to the top of Mount Zion and continuing to the Jewish Quarter
• The New Israel Museum on own
• The German Colony of Jerusalem – Walk through the German Colony, built by the German Templars in the late 1800s’s, with their unique buildings and stories that have become part of Jerusalem’s lore
• Jerusalem: A City of Many Traditions – Visit the Old City, beginning with a guided walk-through Mount Zion, and continue with a 0walk along the Ramparts and free time in the Old City Market – The Shuk
• Christian Jerusalem – Guided visit through the Christian Quarter, including part of the Via Dolorosa and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

• Free time for rest and relaxation.

• Havdallah overlooking the Old City.
• Check out of the hotel.
• Wrap up conversation followed by a Festive Farewell Dinner.
• Transfer to Ben Gurion Airport.

“Be shana ha-ba’ah Birushalayim ~~ Next year in Jerusalem!”