The Temple Solidarity Mission: Sharing our Lives with Israel…Learning, Caring, Giving

• Departure
• See you tomorrow in Israel!

• Arrive at Ben Gurion International Airport, with assistance from the Makor/IGT team.
• Proceed to Tel Aviv.
• Check-in to the hotel (pending confirmation for early check-in).
• Free time for rest and relaxation.
• Welcome Dinner at a Tel Aviv restaurant (private room), followed by talk with journalist Haviv Rettig-Gur of the Times of Israel: “The State of the State: Israel After October 7^th.”

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Depart for the town of Ofakim in the Western Negev.
• Visit the home of Osnat Lankri, beginning with an introduction to the Moroccan kitchen and lunch preparation for IDF soldiers with Osnat, followed by lunch with Ravit Iluz, widow of police officer Yigal Iluz, who was killed on October 7 .
• Drive to the site of the Nova Festival, located next to Kibbutz Reim, where 364 people were killed and 40 were taken hostage by Hamas terrorists.
• Continue to the bomb shelter from which Hirsch Goldberg Polin was taken and where Aner Shapiro deflected numerous Hamas hand grenades, before being killed himself on Oct. 7^th.
• Visit a Kibbutz in the Western Negev (Gaza Envelope), on the frontline facing the Gaza Strip and hear testimony from a kibbutz member about their experiences on October 7, 2023.
• Return to Tel Aviv; time to freshen up.
• Dinner at a Tel Aviv restaurant with the Tshuvah Family from Kibbutz Zikim.

• Breakfast at the hotel and check-out.
• Begin the day at the Tel Aviv Museum Plaza, now renamed as Hostage Square, which is the focal point of the families’ efforts to BRING THEM HOME, possibly including a conversation with a hostage family*. (*such a visit depends on the real-time situation)
• Sort and pack rescued fruit and vegetables at Leket’s Logistics Center in Gan Haim (Central Israel) for distribution to Leket’s non-profit partners.
• Box Lunch en route.
• Travel to Haifa.
• Stop at the Louis Promenade overlooking the Haifa Bay and Bahai Gardens.
• Check-in to the hotel.
• Dinner at the hotel with people who had been evacuated from their homes in northern communities.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Full day exploring Israel’s North.
• Visits will be determined based on security considerations.
• Possibilities include:
  • Visits to hard-hit sites on the Northern border and speak with local residents and officials. (e.g. Rosh Hanikra, Metula, Kiryat Sh’mona)
  • Briefing at an IDF base or forward IDF position
  • Visit a Druze village to meet with local residents and learn about the war’s impact on this minority community
  • Volunteer options pending availability.

• With “Operation Feed the Troops” (or another organization), eat Dinner with IDF soldiers
• Return to Haifa.

• Breakfast at the hotel and check-out.
• Depart for Jerusalem via Ramla.
• Visit the Bernie Marcus Underground Blood Bank at Magen David Adom headquarters in Ramla.
• Continue to Jerusalem and go to the Machane Yehuda Open Air Market and mingle with Jerusalemites as they prepare for Shabbat, with free time for lunch on own and shopping.
• Proceed to the hotel and check-in to the hotel.
• Shabbat preparation at the hotel.
• Pre-Shabbat visit to the Kotel (Western Wall) and continue to Kol Haneshama for Shabbat services.
• Kabbalat Shabbat at Kol Haneshama.
• Festive Shabbat dinner at the hotel.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Shabbat morning Text Study and Tefilla with the Rabbi Berg and Cantor Scher.
• Shabbat Lunch at the hotel in the main dining room.
• Optional afternoon excursions:
  • The Poet and the Windmill – Guided walk through the Yemin Moshe neighborhood with the poetry of Yehudah Amichai.
  • The new Israel Museum (on own).
• Free evening and dinner on own.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• The Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC): Standing on Hope’s Side, with Executive Director, Orly Erez Lichovsky.
• Visit to the new National Library of Israel to experience some of its rare and unique collections and to gain an understanding of the library’s role in contemporary Israel. The library “is an inclusive, apolitical, and irreligious source of knowledge and learning (nliusa.org)”
• Continue to Mount Herzl National Cemetery and the new memorial to Israel’s fallen soldiers and pay respects to those who have been killed in the war with Hamas since October 7.
• Lunch on own in Beit Hakerem.
• Free time for last-minute shopping and relaxation.
• Return to the hotel for packing and late check-out.
• Israel @ 2025: Where are we Going? with author Yossi Klein Halevi, senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute.
• Wrap-up conversation and farewell dinner at a Jerusalem restaurant.
• Transfer to Ben Gurion International Airport for U.S. bound flight(s)

• Arrive in USA.

All program elements are subject to change, pending confirmations.