Synagogue Family Trip – Sample Itinerary

Note: This sample itinerary is for a Reform or Liberal congregation; we can provide a sample for other trends in Judaism at your request. More importantly, we build an itinerary together with you, to reflect the spirit and needs of your individual community.

Day 1: Monday

• Departure

Day 2: Tuesday, B'ruchim Ha'baim – Welcome to Israel!

• Land at Ben Gurion Airport in late afternoon
• Haas Promenade – Shehechiyanu on this beautiful overlook of all Jerusalem
• Check in, dinner and orientation

Overnight accommodations: Jerusalem hotel

Day 3: Wednesday, Jerusalem – The Holiness of History and the History of Holiness

• City of David – visit the City of David. The story of the City of David began over 3,000 years ago when King David left the city of Hebron for a small hilltop city known as Jerusalem, establishing it as the unified capital of the tribes of Israel
• Southern Wall Excavations – offers a rare opportunity to explore and study the most significant archaeological site in Israel by means of exhibitions and illustrations describing Jerusalem's main episodes
• Jewish Quarter and Kotel
• Volunteer project – Hazon Yeshaya soup kitchen volunteering
• Dinner on your own

Overnight accommodations: Jerusalem hotel

Day 4: Thursday, Masada and the Negev – Making difficult choices

• Masada – climb or cable car, depending on your request.
  Option for Bnai Mitzvah Ceremony
• Hike in the Ein Gedi desert oasis at Nachal David
• Dead Sea – lunch and swimming

Overnight accommodations: Jerusalem hotel

Day 5: Friday, Memory and Remembrance – How do we memorialize?

• Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum
  The group can be divided for this portion if there are children who are too young for Yad Vashem. A parallel program can be held for them.
• Har Herzl – Visit Israel's National military cemetery
• Machane Yehuda – Stroll through and eat lunch in the famous Jerusalem market: see how Jerusalem prepares for Shabbat. Buy food for Seuda Shlishit picnic on Shabbat
• Kabbalat Shabbat at Kehilat Birkat Shalom at Kibbutz Gezer (Rabbi Miri Gold). Discussion with Rabbi Gold on her pending Supreme Court case to be recognized as official rabbi of her community
OR Kabbalat Shabbat at another Reform synagogue in Jerusalem with dinner or home hospitality – chosen in conjunction with you.

Overnight accommodations: Jerusalem hotel

Day 6: Shabbat, Shabbat – An island in time and space

• Shabbat morning Tfilot options (option for Bnei Mitzvah ceremony).
• Lunch
• Tour of Old City neighborhoods
• IsraelExperts program – “The Changing Map of the Middle East” interactive family activity and discussion program, focusing on the political and historical background that led to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 and the current situation in Israel and the Middle East in general
• Group organized Seuda Shlishit (Shabbat afternoon meal) picnic in park
• Havdalah
• Free evening & dinner on own

Overnight accommodations: Jerusalem hotel

Day 7: Sunday, Living Together in a new-old place

• View the security fence and discuss Israeli/Arab border issues and co-existence at Givat Haviva. Parallel activity for children. The Givat Haviva Institute promotes equality and human dignity. The institute implements activities to develop equality between Jews and Arabs in Israel, and provides tools to this end. This will also be an opportunity to view and discuss the separation fence.
• Boxed lunch & swim at Sachne
• Kinneret Cemetery. Learn through poetry, song and storytelling about the loves and lives of a handful of young idealists who left Eastern Europe one hundred years ago in order to lay the foundation for the Jewish state
• Donkey rides on Mt. Arbel – with an overview of the entire Kinneret (Sea of Galilee)
• Evening drumming

Overnight accommodations: Kibbutz guesthouse, Northern Israel

Day 8: Monday, Higher and Higher – Visit the spiritual and physical high places of the North

• Witness the natural beauty and strategic advantage of the Golan Heights mountain range and visit strategic and historic sites. OPTIONAL JEEP TOUR.
• Tzfat – Explore this fascinating city through a family treasure hunt. Tzfat is the center of Kabbalah & Jewish mysticism. Tour the ancient synagogues and artists’ square. Optional meeting with artist Avraham Lowenthal.
• Rafting on the Jordan River.
• Boat ride on Kinneret and dinner at Kibbutz Ein Gev

Overnight accommodations: Kibbutz guesthouse, Northern Israel

Day 9: Tuesday, The Treasures of the Galilee

• Tree planting Golani junction
• Galilee Jewish-Arab Children’s Circus with Rabbi Marc Rosenstein
• Archaeological site of the city of Tzipori, described as "the ornament of all Galilee," located in the Lower Galilee, midway between the Mediterranean and Lake Kinneret, with abundant spring water and a fertile valley around it.
• Evening campfire & kumzitz

Overnight accommodations: Kibbutz guesthouse, Northern Israel

Day 10: Wednesday, In Partnership with Israel

• Haifa – Bahai Gardens
• Visit to Caesarea including the “Caesarea Experience”, a fascinating cinematic experience, which will take you on a voyage to the past. Meet King Herod, Rabbi Akiva and Saladin, in a state of the art interactive project.
• Partnership program. This can be through Partnership 2000 or your relationship with a Progressive congregation in Israel - or any other partnership. If you do not have a partner, we are happy to coordinate a 'Mifgash' (Encounter) for your group. (May fit in at a different time, depending upon location of your partner).
• Free evening in Tel Aviv

Overnight accommodations: Tel Aviv hotel

Day 11: Thursday, The Ongoing Challenge – Making community, making peace

• Palmach Museum – Tour the Palmach Museum where we learn about Israel's struggle for independence
• Kikar Rabin – Visit Rabin Square ("Kikar Rabin" in Hebrew), a large public city square in central Tel Aviv. It is named after Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated at the conclusion of a massive peace rally held at the square on November 4, 1995.
• Lunch on own & free time in Tel Aviv
• Final dinner and closing program
• Transfer to airport

Transfer to airport - L'hitraot, See you again in Israel!

Contact us for more information, and let's start planning together!