Temple Judea Journey to Israel

• Depart USA for Israel.

• Individual arrivals and check in.
• Meet with journalist Haviv Rettig-Gur of the Times of Israel “The Lay of the Land in Israel After October 7th”
• Introduction to Jaffa-Tel Aviv from the outlook from the Jaffa Slope Park with a view of Tel-Aviv’s shoreline, the Promenade and hotels located along the beach.
• Lunch at Shuk HaPishpishim.
• Guided visit to the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation to learn about Israel as the ‘Start Up Nation’ and late President Shimon Peres’ vision for a ‘new Middle East’.
• Return to the hotel.
• Welcome dinner at a Jaffa restaurant.

• Minyan on the Mediterranean.
• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Visit ANU – the new Museum of the Jewish People on the campus of Tel Aviv University for a special program: using the creativity of the present, explore the story of the Jewish People, with our past as a map toward the future.
• “Tasting tour” lunch in the Carmel Market, including some free time for shopping.
• Visit the Nachalat Binyamin Arts and Crafts Market, with its many street artists and entertainers.
• October 7^th’s Public Art – A guided walk to see how Tel Aviv’s remarkable street artists responded to events of October 7 and its aftermath (in Kiryat Hamelacha or Florentine).
• Walk through Hostage Square (Tel Aviv Art Museum Plaza), which has been the focal point of the public efforts to BRING THEM HOME.
• Return to the hotel for rest and relaxation.
• Free evening and dinner on own.

• Breakfast at the hotel and check out.
• Travel North along the Trans-Israel Highway.
• Visit Caesarea, including:
  • Option 1 for First-timers: the Roman theatre, hippodrome, promenade and palace, concluding at the remains of the Crusader city, exploring the relationship between Romans and Jews.
  • Option 2 for Returnees: see Caesarea’s ancient synagogue at the beachfront, the Byzantine Street, the Aquaduct and the “bird museum.”
• Continue to Daliyat El-Carmel.
• Participate in an authentic Druze cooking workshop that affords a hands-on, cultural immersion that’s not just about good eating but also about exploring foreign cultures through taste, smell and experience, with lunch.
• Continue to Akko (Acre)
  • Option 1 for First-timers: Guided walk through the labyrinthine alleys and streets of the port city of Akko, to explore the remains of Crusader, Muslim and Ottoman construction along the massive city walls; the subterranean Crusader city; the Ottoman fortress; a uniquely decorated synagogue and a mosque that holds a hair of the Prophet Muhammed.
  • Option 2 for Returnees: visit the newly renovated Museum in Kibbutz Lochamei Ha’getaot (Ghetto Fighters’ Kibbutz) or  visit with Dror Israel, a non-profit organization that works in the field of education with Israeli Arabs and Jews in Acco – learn about the fragile and special co-existance in this mixed Arab-Jewish city.
• Proceed to Mitzpe HaYamim Hotel.
• Check in to the hotel.
• Dinner at the hotel.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Drive to Yesod Mama’alah.
• Board Jeeps for a guided Jeep ride along the Ramim Ridge and forest, stopping at Moshav Margaliot and Kibbutz Misgav Am, to hear about the realities in the area since October 7, continuing to Israel’s border barrier with Lebanon and a view into Southern Lebanon, concluding with a drive through the town of Metula and the city of Kiryat Shmona.
• Lunch at the home of Gadi Elias in Yesod Hama’alah.
• Conclude the day with wine tasting at the Dalton Winery.
• Return to the hotel.
• Dinner at the hotel.

• Breakfast at the hotel and check out.
• Ascend to the Golan Heights and stop at Kibbutz Mevo Hama, for a view overlooking the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) and the Lower Galilee.
• Drive down from the Golan Plateau and continue to Beit Shean.
• Guided visit through parts of the monumental Beit Shean excavation, exploring this city which has layers dating back to the days of the Bible, with the most significant from the Byzantine city of Scytopolis.
• Drive through the Jordan Valley to Qasr el Yahud.
• Visit Qasr el Yahud, believed by some Jewish traditions to be the place where Joshua and the Children of Israel crossed the Jordan River, and -according to some Christian traditions- to be the site where John baptized Jesus; walk down to the river to look across into Jordan 40 feet away.
• Enter Jerusalem through the Eastern Gate and stop at Mount Scopus or the Mount of Olives for an introduction to Jerusalem and a celebratory moment to recite the traditional Shehecheyanu prayer upon arrival in Jerusalem.
• Visit Machane Yehuda Open Air Marketas residents prepare for Shabbat, with free time for shopping (time-permitting).
• Proceed to the hotel and check in to the hotel.
• Free time for rest, relaxation and Shabbat preparation.
• Kabbalat Shabbat overlooking the Old City, with Rabbi Yaron.
• Festive Shabbat Dinner at the hotel.

• Breakfast at the hotel.

Option 1

• Drive South to the Dead Sea region, the lowest point on earth.
• Ascend Masada via Cable Car for a guided visit through the site, exploring the heroic story and its meaning for us today.
• Ride the Cable Car down and continue to Ein Bokek for an opportunity to float in the Dead Sea and swim in the hotel pool, followed by lunch.
• Return to the hotel.

Option 2

• Visit the Islamic Museum, with its unique collection of Islamic art and the Clore Clock Collection, followed by a visit to the newly renovated Museum of the History of Jerusalem, at Jaffa Gate.
• Drive to Ein Kerem for lunch, followed by a guided walk through the quaint neighborhood.
• Return to the hotel.

Entire Group

• Havdallah overlooking the Old City.
• Dinner at own expense at the Jacko Street restaurant, in the Machane Yehudah Market area.
• Optional late night in Machane Yehudah or return to the hotel.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Depart for the Western Negev and start with a briefing overlooking Gaza.
• Visit one of the Kibbutzim in the Gaza envelope that was brutally attacked in the Hamas onslaught.
• Continue to Sderot, which has become a symbol of Israel’ s longstanding conflict with Hamas – drive through the town, stopping at the once famous police station, which was demolished in the aftermath of the attack.
• Lunch at a local restaurant in Sderot.
• Drive to the site of the Nova Festival, located next to Kibbutz Reim, where close to 400 people were killed and many were taken hostage.
• Continue to the Tekuma Car Cemetery, where many of the destroyed vehicles were brought after October 7.
• Return to Jerusalem.
• Dinner at a Jerusalem restaurant.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Living a Life of Hope in today’s Challenging World, with Tal Becker, former legal advisor to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Vice President and Senior Faculty of the Kogod Research Center at Shalom Hartman Institute.
• Guided visit through the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City, including Hurva Square, the Herodian Mansions, the Cardo and the newly renovated Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue (if open by this date), continuing to the Kotel (Western Wall) for an in-depth tour of new excavations beneath the Western Wall Plaza, guided by a leading archaeologist.
• Lunch at the Austrian Hospice, with a Jerusalem Palestinian
• Return to the Old City and enter through the New Gate, for a special guided visit through some of the hidden alleyways in the Christian Quarter, including the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
• Return to the hotel.
• Dinner at Eucalyptus Restaurant in the Hutzot HaYotzer Arts and Crafts Quarter.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• The Memory of the Holocaust in Contemporary Israeli Society with Rachel Korazim.

Option 1

• Visit Yad Vashem, Israel’s national Holocaust memorial, including the Avenue of the Righteous, Holocaust History Museum and Children’s Memorial.  
• Visit the new Memorial to Israel’s fallen and some of the new graves at the Mount Herzl National Cemetery, including the graves of those killed in the current war.

Option 2

• Visit the interactive museum at the Begin Center, dedicated to the life and achievements of Israel’s late Prime Minister Menahem Begin.
• Continue to the new headquarters of the Israel Antiquities Authority for a behind the scenes tour of some of the most significant archaeological finds in Israel’s history.
• Lunch on your own at the Machane Yehudah Open Air Market.
• Kiryat HaMemshala – Government Hill: Guided Walk between the impressive Supreme Court building, the Bank of Israel and the Knesset in the Givat Ram section of Jerusalem to discuss the artistry and mechanics of Israeli democracy and governance.
• Conclude the journey with a guided visit through the new National Library, including its rare historic manuscript exhibition, which includes handwritten texts by the medieval philosopher Maimonides and 20^th-century author Shai Agnon, as well as publications relating to modern world Jewish community.
• Return to the hotel.
• Remainder of the afternoon: time to pack, explore on own and get in last-minute shopping.
• Check out of the hotel.
• Wrap-up Conversation and Festive Farewell Dinner in Kiryat Anavim.
• Depart for Ben Gurion International Airport for return flights home.

• Arrival to U.S.

All program elements subject to final confirmation