Shir Tikvah

• Various arrivals in the afternoon.
  • 5:25 pm                 Main Arrival on Delta flight 468, with arrival assistance and transfer to Tel Aviv.  The guide, Noam Rumack will meet this flight at the airport.
  • The bus will depart from Ben Gurion Airport for Tel Aviv one hour after the actual landing. For those on other flights who would like to join the group transfer, please let Efrat Oppenhimer know at [email protected].  The meeting place for the transfer will be at the Steimatzky bookstore in the arrival hall.
• Drive through the Ayalon Valley to Tel Aviv.
• Check in to the hotel.
• Walking tour along the Tel Aviv Promenade to Jaffa, concluding with an overlook from the Jaffa Promontory: The Zionist Infancy.
• 8:30 pm        Opening dinner at Abrage Restaurant in Old Jaffa.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Kavanah.
• 9:00 am Addressing Public Space in Israel, a guided walk exploring the Urban Art in the Florentine neighborhood, with artist Shirel Horowitz. (3 hours)

• Continue to central Tel Aviv for an opportunity to walk around the famous Carmel Market and the Nachalat Binyamin Pedestrian Mall, with lunch on own.
• 2:30 pm Guided visit through the Israeli Museum at the Yitzhak Rabin Center, which explores the development of the State of Israel as a young democracy, through the life and times of assassinated Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin.
• Brief stop at Rabin Square, the site of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination on Nov. 4, 1995.
• Return to the hotel.
• Debrief and processing session.
• Free time in Tel Aviv and dinner on your own.
• Optional evening cultural event focused on social justice issues, possibly at the Arab Hebrew Theater in Jaffa, on own. http://www.arab-hebrew-theatre.org.il/en/show.php?id=2807

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Kavanah.
• 9:00 am Visit BINA, the Jewish movement for social change, for a guided visit through the Neve Sha’anan neighborhood, including meetings with asylum seekers and visits to  businesses & important landmarks of the African community in south Tel Aviv, to shed light on the lives and the stories of this community. Learn how their presence has affected the neighborhoods of southern Tel Aviv and how the State of Israel is dealing with the African community, including a meeting with Julie Fisher, one of Israel’s leading advocates for the Asylum Seeker community in Israel. (3 hours)

• Lunch at own expense (as a group) on Rothschild Blvd., possibly with Julie Fisher.
• 2:30 pm Meet with LGBTQ activists, followed by an LGBTQ Rainbow Tour through central Tel Aviv, in conjunction with the Aguda, the Israeli LGBTQ umbrella organization.
• Debrief and processing session.
• Dinner on your own, followed by a free evening.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Kavanah.
• 9:00 am Visit The Orchard of Abraham’s Children nursery school, where Jewish and Arab children learn together, hosted by Ihab and Ora Balha, an interfaith couple who founded the project, for  a glimpse at the complexities and triumphs of Jewish-Muslim joint education.

• Proceed to Lod.
• Creating Pride with Tolerance, guided visit around Lod, a mixed Arab-Jewish city, concluding at the infamous Railway Neighborhood to meet with Shirin Natur Hafi, founding principal of the Arab ORT School for Science and Engineering.
• Drive to the nearby mixed town of Ramle for lunch on own at a local Humusiya (hummus joint).
• 2:30 pm Proceed to Rahat, a Bedouin city in the northern Negev, to meet with Jamal Alkirnawi of A New Dawn in the Negev, a Bedouin-Jewish co-existence NGO that provides programming for Bedouin youth-at-risk.
• Drive to Jerusalem.
• Check in to the hotel.
• Debrief and processing session.
• Dinner and evening on own.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Kavanah.
• 8:30 am         Understanding the Six Day War and its Aftermath: Conscientious Politics and Moral Dilemmas, with Paul Liptz, of the Hebrew Union College and Tel Aviv University.

• Depart for Hebron.
• 9:30 am Guided walk through Hebron with members of Breaking the Silence, in conjunction with T’ruah.
• Proceed to Gush Etzion, with lunch on your own in Efrat.
• 3:00 pm My Life in Judea, as Part of the State of Israel, with community activist and former Deputy Chief of Mission at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, Lenny Ben David.
• 4:30 pm Conclude the day with Jewish and Palestinian co-existence activists at the Shorashim – Roots – Judour Center, a project of dialogue and solution-building between Settlers and Palestinians who live in the Bethlehem area.
• Return to Jerusalem.
• Debrief and processing session.
• Dinner and evening on own.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Kavanah.
• 9:00 am An Insider’s Look into Palestinian Society, with journalist and guide Rami Nazal.

• Drive to Ramallah to discuss Palestinian suffering, the effect of occupation on Palestinian West Bank communities and also to explore snippets of Palestinian culture and society, with lunch.
• 1:00 pm Continue to the town of Taybeh for a visit to the Taybeh Brewery, a family-run brewery established by a Palestinian family who returned to Taybeh after the 1994 Oslo Accords.
• Geopolitical drive along the boundaries of Jerusalem and Ramallah for a glimpse at some of the complex realities along the Seam Zone between the two cities.
• Debrief and processing session.
• Free time to enjoy Jerusalem as residents prepare for Shabbat.
• Depart hotel for Kabbalat Shabbat at Kehilat Kol Haneshama, followed by home hospitality dinner.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Morning at leisure or attend Shabbat morning services.
• Kavanah.
• Optional afternoon walking tour, possibilities include The German Colony, Rehavia, Mount Zion, and the Christian Quarter of the Old City.
• Havdallah.
• Dinner on your own and free evening in Jerusalem.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Kavanah.
• 8:45 am Meet with educator Racheli Frenkel, whose son, Naftali, was murdered by terrorists in 2014, and who has taken on significant roles of community leadership in an effort to bring various aspects of Israeli society to dialogue with one another.
• 11:00 am Visit the headquarters of Kids4Peace, an interfaith youth movement, for a special program with participants and staff on the challenges and triumphs of creating a community of communication and understanding in Jerusalem.
• Free time for personal exploration.
• Wrap-up conversation.
• 6:30 pm Farewell dinner with “Chefs4Peace” at Eucalyptus restaurant.
• Depart for Ben Gurion Airport.

*Program is subject to change, pending confirmations.