Temple Beth Am, Jupiter, FL

Today’s program depends on arrival time

• Arrive at Ben Gurion International Airport, with assistance from a Makor Educational Journeys representative.
• Proceed to Tel Aviv
• From atop the Azrieli Tower, see how the dream and vision of the Jewish State meet today’s reality and view the expansive metropolis of Tel Aviv-Jaffa.
• Check-in to the hotel
• Dinner at a Tel Aviv restaurant TBD

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Hardly a day goes by that Israel isn’t mentioned in the international media. What is really happening here?  Social historian, Paul Liptz will brief us on Israel @75 – the issues that concern Israelis from an Israeli viewpoint.
• The Visitors’ Center in Old Jaffa enables the visitor to experience 5,000 years of history in one of the most ancient port cities in the world with a virtual performance that brings past heroes to life.
• Lunch tasting tour at the Levinsky Balkan Spice Market which specializes in spices and delicatessen products, such as pickles, herring, cheeses, smoked fish, wines, Turkish burekas and many other regional delights from Balkan/Mediterranean countries.
• Free time for rest, beach, walking, or exploring the Nachalat Binyami Art Fair (open Tuesdays and Fridays only).
• Dinner on own

• Breakfast at the hotel and check-out.
• Guided visit through Caesarea, with its Roman theater, hippodrome and palace.
• Continue to Nazareth.
  • Lunch on own in Nazareth
• Guided visit through Nazareth, including visits to the Church of the Annunciation and Jacob’s Well, followed by a discussion with a leading Israeli-Arab activist on Finding A Path: Arab and Jewish Society in Israel
• Check-in to hotel
• Dinner at hotel

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Begin the day at the Kibbutz Misgav Am Lookout, with an explanation of the geopolitics of the area, a review of the history of northern Israel, and especially the current challenges of maintaining a safe northern border.
• Walk through the Tel Dan Nature Reserve, along one of the tributaries of the Jordan River, exploring a combination of geopolitics, nature and archaeology.
• Lunch on own en route.
• Ascend the Golan Heights for a security tour and briefing along Israel’s northern border with intelligence expert, Lt. Col (res.) Sarit Zehavi, beginning with an overlook of the Hula Valley and continuing to Mount Bental. Peek into Syria and the abandoned town of Quneitra.
• Wine Tasting at a Golan Heights winery.
• Dinner at hotel

• Breakfast at the hotel and check-out
• Morning at the hotel/spa
• 11:00 am Depart hotel
• Visit the sixth-century Beit Alpha synagogue famous for its mosaic floor that features a Zodiac, Jewish ritual objects, an ark, inscriptions in Greek and Aramaic, animals, plants, and a scene from the Bible—together, they tell a story that challenges standard notions of Jewish culture in the Byzantine period (and/or visit IDF post)
• Lunch on own in Beit She’an
• Drive through the Great Rift Valley, the “Bik’a”
• Stop at the Jordan Valley Monument, which serves as a memorial to the Israeli soldiers who died in this area, particularly during the post-1967 Six Day War. The site also commands an impressive view over the Jordan Valley and into Jordan itself.
• Check-in hotel
• Kabbalat Shabbat in the desert or on the shores of the Dead Sea
• Shabbat dinner at the hotel

• Ascend Masada via cable car (or by foot) 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
• Breakfast at the hotel
• Dead Sea and Spa time
• Lunch on own at the Ein Bokek commercial center
• Afternoon at the hotel for relaxation and spa.
• Havdalah
• Dinner at the hotel

• Breakfast at the hotel and check-out.
• Enjoy a ride atop a “ship of the desert,” as camels are known, along the northern Incense Route, including a view of the Nabataean city of Mamshit and the Yamin Plain.
• Lunch at Kornmehl Goat Cheese Farm or packed lunches.
• Circular route hike in Ein Avdat canyon with stories about ancient trade routes, Nabateans, and Catholic monks, with a view of the springs, Poplar trees, and waterfalls along the way.
• Reflections at the Sde Boker gravesite of the first prime minister of the State of Israel, David Ben Gurion, a shrewd political and military leader, and the embodiment of the Zionist vision.
• Travel to Jerusalem
• Check-in to hotel
• Dinner on own

• Breakfast at the hotel
• Guided visit to the Temple Mount/Haram al Sharif
• Speaker: Issues of the “Sacred Esplanade”
• Lunch in Jewish Quarter on own
• Old City tour of selected sites in Jewish Quarter, Armenian and Christian Quarters
• Summation overview from the Haas Promenade
• Dinner on own

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Guided visit through the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center complex, the Jewish National Memorial to the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust, including:
  • The Avenue of the Righteous
  • The Holocaust History Museum
  • The Children’s Memorial
• Kiryat HaMemshala: Government Hill:Guided walk between the impressive Supreme Court building, the Bank of Israel and the Knesset and the Menorah (tour of Knesset)
• Continue to Machane Yehudah open air market to visit the old bastas (stalls) alongside new businesses, and hear the story of the market from its inception to the present day. Smell and taste the best of it all.
  • Lunch on own in Machane Yehuda
• Guided walk through Nachla’ot, a collection of 32 small neighborhoods, which form the heart (Lev – Heart-32- in numerology) of the city, meandering though courtyards and alleyways with stories of Jews from all over the world.
• Time at leisure
• Dinner on own
• (optional) Israel Museum

• Breakfast at the hotel and check-out
• Proceed to Ramla
• Take a row boat and enter the unique historical Pool of the Arches, built 1200 years ago as a roofed water reservoir for the residents of Ramla by Abbasid caliphs.
• Continue to Rehovot and visit the Ayalon Institute, a pre-state hidden munitions plant and one of Israel’s earliest startups, for a glimpse into the origins of the Israeli drive for innovation
• Lunch on own in Ramla or Rehovot
• Travel to Netiv HaAsara, the closest community in Israel to the Gaza Strip. Hear how residents live normally in an abnormal situation and why the transformation of the gray concrete security barrier to a colorful mosaic mural, The Path to Peace, is a remarkable feat of hope.
• Check-in to day use rooms
• Farewell Dinner TBD
• Depart for Ben Gurion International Airport for return flight home.

Arrival to United States…“Next Year in Jerusalem!”