Temple Emunah – Family Journey to Israel & the UAE

• Departure from the U.S. to Israel.

• Arrive at Ben Gurion International Airport, with assistance from a Makor Educational Journeys representative and COVID testing procedures
• Drive to Tel Aviv.
• Check in to hotel. 
  • Sim Cards will be delivered to those who ordered them
  • Money Changing will be available
• Welcome dinner at the hotel. 
• Opportunity to explore Tel Aviv by night.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Optional run

GROUP OPTIONS

OPTION 1

• Graffiti tour in Florentine.

OPTION 2

• Bike along the Tel Aviv Promenade.

EVERYONE TOGETHER

• Lunch on your own in Tel Aviv
• Drive to the Judean Lowlands and participate in an Active Excavation  at Tel Maresha, followed by an opportunity to go Spelunking through the Maresha caves. (with a less active route for those who prefer)
• Return to Tel Aviv.
• Free time and dinner on own.Evening options – cultural program or optional Tel Aviv by Night tour

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Visit the newly re-opened ANU Museum, the Museum of the Jewish People (formerly the Diaspora Museum).
• Depart for northern Israel.

FRIDAY OPTIONS

• Option 1: Drive to Tel Mond, near Netanya for an active visit to the Theraputic Riding Center,  followed by lunch on own en route.
• Option 2: Visit Zichron Yaakov for an opportunity to join Israelis from near and far who flock to Zichron’s pedestrian Mall on Fridays to enjoy the art, food, music and shops.
• Continue to Haifa.
• Check in to the hotel and prepare for Shabbat.
• Shabbat candle lighting at 5:00 pm with group photo.
• Kabbalat Shabbat with Kehilat Moriah and Rabbi David Arias Weill.
• Festive Shabbat dinner with Kehilat Moriah.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Opportunity for morning massage, morning run, yoga, meditation (7:00-10:00 am)
• Creative Shabbat Morning Tfilah on Mount Carmel.
• Kiddush.
• Festive Shabbat lunch at the hotel.
• Free time — optional walking tour of Haifa, including Baha’i Gardens.
• Afternoon learning session with Me’ir Sherer.
• Havdalah at 6:080 pm.
• Melavah Malka with invited Partnership guests.

• Breakfast at the hotel and check out.
• Full morning Partnership program with the Boston Haifa Connection – TBD.
• Lunch on own.
• Guided visit through the once-thriving city of Zippori, where Jews and non-Jews lived side by side and where the Mishna was codified some 1700 years ago, with parallel programming for adults and kids/youth (including mosaic making and pottery repair for kids/youth)
• Drive to the Leonardo Plaza Hotel in Tiberias, located on the Sea of Galilee.
• Check in to the hotel.
• Dinner at the Decks Restaurant, followed by a boat ride.
• Group evening activity in the hotel  speaker for adults.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Drive to the northern Galilee.
• Visit Kibbutz Malkia for a glimpse into some of the challenges facing Israeli northern border residents, including time with soldiers serving at one of the IDF forward outposts.
• Drive across the Galil to Safed.
• Guided visit through Safed—the alleyways, ancient synagogues, market, and artist colony, using the stories of the mystics as a guide, followed by a special visit to the Livnot Ulehbanot 16^th century Kahal complex, with a choice of workshops:
  • Bread in Jewish Life, Take part in a Challah Baking workshop using the ancient stone oven found on the site, while exploring the symbolic meaning of bread and baking in the Jewish tradition.
  • Music and Meditation – learn about the various meditation traditions, inspired by Kaballah, while using music to dive into the world of Jewish meditation.
  • Youth: The Israel Lens 1 — an exploration of Safed with camera/smartphone in hand as the kick-off of the Jewish Lens Photographic Program.
• Lunch on own in Safed.
• Afternoon jeep ride into the Biryah Forest, a favorite place of Safed’s mystics for “hitbodedut – personal meditation”  as well as the site of the grave of Yonatan Ben Uziel, which has become a focul point of prayer for healing and partnership.
• Drive through the forest to the 1,800 year old Nevoriah synagogue, to conclude the day with the MInha service.
• Return to hotel to relax and change.
• Dinner at the hotel.
• Israel’s Northern Neighbors, a briefing with an IDF (res.) analyst  from the Alma Center, at the hotel.

• Breakfast at the hotel and check out.

Out and About in the Land of Israel 

• Visit Mount Arbel.
• Option 1: Hike down the Arbel Cliff, which overlooks the Sea of Galilee and was a Jewish stronghold before being conquered by the Roman armies 2,000 years ago.
• Option 2: Guided visit 4th century village and synagogue, found atop Mount Arbel, followed by a drive to the base of the mountain to meet the other group.
• Stop at Kibbutz Degania, the first Kibbutz,
  • Option 1: Visit the Galita Chocolate Factory for a glimpse into the lives of the early Zionist pioneers and a chocolate-making workshop.
  • Option 2: Visit the Kinneret Cemetery, where poet Rachel Blaustien (poet of the early Zionist pioneers) and Naomi Shemer (author of Jerusalem of Gold – Yerushalayim Shel Zahav) are buried for a glimpse into the hopes and dreams of those who dreamt of and built the modern state of Israel.
• Lunch on own en route.
• Drive to Jerusalem.
• Shehecheyanu atop the Haas Promenade overlooking the lights of Old City of Jerusalem, with an overview of Jerusalem and a welcome ceremony.
• Check in to the hotel.
• Dinner and evening on own.

• Breakfast at hotel.
• Depart for the Dead Sea Basin.

OPTION I –  Masada 

• Ascend Masada (by cable car or the snake path), once Herod’s Mountain Fortress and later a stronghold of Jewish Zealots who fought the Romans 2000 years ago, for an exploration of its meaning in modern Israel, as well as some of the outstanding efforts in recent years to renew the Roman mosaics and frescos, with a historo-drama by the youth and children.
• Descend Masada and drive to Ein Bokek

OPTION II –The Dead Sea and Spa with optional Nature Hike

• After Masada group is dropped off at Masada, continue to Ein Boked for an opportunity to use the hotel Spa and Pool, with massages available (at own expense.)
  • Optional nature walk into the Ein Bokek Spring.

 Entire Group After  Options 

• Float in the Dead Sea and use the spa facilities, with lunch.
• On the way back to Jerusalem, stop at Eretz Beresheet (Genesis Land), with the mountains of Jordan as the backdrop, and be invited into Abraham’s tent for a chance to “catch up,” followed by a camel ride through the desert.
• Dinner and evening on own.

Additional Full Day Option

• Drive into the Judean Hills, with an opportunity to visit one of the outstanding area boutique wineries, a cheese farm and an artists studio.
• Return to Jerusalem, followed by dinner and evening on own.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Tfilat Shaharit and B’nai Mitzvah service at the Egalitarian Kotel – Robinson’s Arch, followed by a guided visit through the Davidson Archaeological Garden, led by the B’nai Mitzvah.
• Stop at the Kotel (Western Wall) for a reflection by Rabbi Lerner, followed by time for meditation and prayer.
• Guided visit through the Western Wall Tunnel, including the as yet unopened Roman Theater that was covered for almost 2000 years.
• Lunch on own.
• Afternoon Program:
• • Adults: The Responsibility of Jewish Sovereignty, a mini seminar, beginning with a presentation by a scholar from the Shalom Hartman Institute, followed by a conversation with members of the Parents Circle a group of Jews and Palestinians who lost love ones in the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians and that works to end the cycle of bloodshed and towards achieving a diplomatic arrangement agreed upon by both sides
  • Youth: Special visit to the Israel Museum with an opportunity to explore the numerous pavilions and exhibits on your own or participate in a special family program at the, focusing on the Jewish Life, Archaeology and Contemporary Design exhibits, in conjunction with the chief curator and the youth wing.
• Return to the hotel with free time for rest and relaxation and dinner on your own at the Machane Yehudah Open Air Market.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Adults: The Memory of the Holocaust in contemporary State of Israel, dialogue with Rachel Korazim.
  • Youth: The Israeli Lens II, in the vicinity of the hotel.
• Visit Yad Vashem, the national memorial to the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust, including the Avenue of the Righteous, with parallel programming for adults and youth, as well as an opportunity for return visitors to visit the Archives, Art Museum, Room of Great Questions and Not Child’s Play.
• Children: Special program in Jerusalem Forrest beneath Yad Vashem .

OR

• Visit the Ein Kerem Artists Colony.

ALL OPTIONS

• Continue to Machane Yehudah open air market as Jerusalemites prepare for Shabbat, with Israel Lens III, followed by a walk through Israel’s most pluralistic neighborhood, Nachlaot, with lunch on own.
• Shabbat candle lighting at 4:49 p.m.
• Kabbalat Shabbat overlooking the Kotel in the Old City.
• Shabbat dinner at the hotel.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Shabbat morning services.
• Lunch at the hotel.
• Depart for the Old City of Jerusalem for a guided walk from Jaffa Gate along the rooftops of the Old City for a bird’s eye view of the Temple Mount and continue into the Jewish Quarter for a scavenger hunt through Hurva Square, exploring Jewish life 2000 years ago and today, followed by      an optional tour of the Christian Quarter.

Additional Adult Options:

• Christian Jerusalem – Guided visit through the Christian Quarter, including part of the Via Dolorosa and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

OR

• Free time to walk through some of  Jerusalem’s more Picturesque Neighborhoods.

OR

• Visit The Israel Museum , with its model of Jerusalem during the days of the Second Temple and the Dead Sea Scrolls, followed by an opportunity to visit the Jewish Life and Living, Archaeology, Israeli Art and Design exhibits and much more, on your own

 Youth Option

•  Shabbat treasure hunt in the Old City.

 Entire Group

• Free time for rest and relaxation.
• Concluding program and sharing: What this Experience has Meant to Me.
• Havdalah overlooking the Old City (6:04 pm).
• Festive Farewell Dinner.
• Depart for Ben Gurion Airport or return to hotel for those departing for the UAE the following day.

• Arrive in the United States.

*Program is subject to change, pending confirmations.