Rabbinic Leadership Familiarization Trip to Israel

• Depart USA for Israel.

• Arrive at Ben Gurion Airport.
• Travel through the Judean Hills to Jerusalem.
• Check in to the hotel.
• Dinner at the hotel.
• Orientation and opening program.
• “Deeper than the Headlines,” from a Journalist’s Eye, with Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel’s culture and lifestyles editor.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Interfaith and Dialogue-building in the post-Oct 7 Reality, with Sarah Bernstein, Executive Director of the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue, a Jerusalem-based interreligious, peacebuilding organization. It is one of a few organizations in the region carrying out both shared society and cross-border activities.
• Special audience with Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Theophilos III.
• Afternoon walk through the alleyways and markets of the Old City, visiting Artisans and Merchants who maintain age-old family trades, with visits to some of the following: ceramicists, jewelers, tinsmiths, spice mavens, textile merchants and more, with conversations about their crafts, their lives, and living in Jerusalem.
• Lunch on own.
• Visit to the Kotel/Azarat Yisrael.
• Visit the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a frank and honest discussion about the relationship between Israel and the diverse American Jewish community and possible strategies for bridging the growing divide.
• Meet with social activist Adir Schwarz at City Hall for a tour and to hear about his efforts to better Israeli society.
• Dinner

• Breakfast at the hotel and checkout.
• Drive to the Western Negev.
• Visit Nir Oz with Yossi Yichyas, member of the rapid response team that fought to defend the kibbutz on October 7.
• Visit the newly-defined Nova Memorial Park, for an in-depth look at how the site of the Nova massacre has evolved into the central memorial site for the horrific events of October 7^th, with a Nova survivor and/or representative of the Jewish National Fund.
• Defining Memorial Space, at the Sderot Police Station Memorial, located on what was once the Sderot Police Station, which for years symbolized the steadfastness of the Sderot community and whose memorial has now become a beacon for memory and the future.
• Continue to the Nahal Oz Memorial to the Female Soldier Observers (תצפיתניות) who were killed on October 7^th, with a conversation about military vs. civilian memorial commemoration.
• Drive to Tel Aviv.
• Check in to hotel.
• Processing conversation.
• Dinner on own and free time in Tel Aviv.

• Optional morning walk/run along the Tel Aviv Promenade.
• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Visit TOM Tikkun Olam Makers headquarters for a tour and presentation to find out how this Israeli-turned-global venture is improving the lives of 250,000,000 people around the world.
• What are Israelis Saying and Creating Today, a walk through some of Israel’s most intriguing and dynamic public art.
• Lunch on own.
• Israeli society post-October 7, with Shacharit, a synergistic mix of thinktank, leadership incubator, and community organizing hub that is nurturing a new social partnership among all of Israel’s communities, building a future rooted in the common good, with the participation of Shacharit founder and director Eilon Schwartz, staff and fellows.
• Concluding Dinner and Wrap-Up Conversation.
• Depart for Ben Gurion Airport.

!טיסה נעימה

Note: All elements of the program are subject to change