DAY ONE: Sunday, June 6, 2010
DEPARTURE

• Depart at San Antonio at 3:40PM onboard Delta Airlines flight #1292, arriving in Atlanta at 7:10PM, with connecting service onboard DL flight #152 departing Atlanta at 10:30PM, arriving in Tel Aviv the next day.

Overnight: Flight

• Arrive at Ben Gurion International Airport at 5:20PM.
• Welcome by our representative and assistance with arrival formalities.
• Drive through Tel Aviv, known as the “city that never sleeps” and pass by centers of culture and recreation such as the Habima Theater, sprawling beaches, Dizengoff Street and Rabin Square.
• Check into the hotel and time to rest and acclimate.
• Enjoy a welcome middle-eastern style dinner with a Yemenite touch at Maganda with a varied selection of salads and grilled meats, located in the Yemenite Quarter of Tel Aviv.

  Overnight: Tel Aviv

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Follow the story of Israel's pre-state elite fighting force, the Palmach, while walking through a state of the art multimedia experience that allows a glimpse into the lives of extraordinary people at Beit Hapalmach (pending confirmation).
• Visit Rabin Square, named for assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the center of Tel Aviv's cultural and political life, including a visit to the Rabin Memorial.
• Visit to Independence Hall, site of David Ben Gurion's monumental proclamation of the State of Israel in May 1948.
• Visit the Nachalat Binyamin pedestrian mall, with its restored buildings and sidewalk artists, and continue onto Shenkin, one of Israel's most avant-garde streets, including lunch on your own.
• LaDa'at  Scavenger Hunt in Tel Aviv - Explore the city of Tel Aviv while participating in a special family scavenger hunt, walk the walk, talk the talk and imagine the unimaginable.
• Visit the Jaffa Overlook for an introduction to Tel Aviv at the place where it all began; stroll through the renovated artists' colony and the ancient port.
• Return to the hotel.
• Dinner on your own.
• Optional Night Walking Tour shedding light on the nighttime atmosphere that characterizes the local restaurants, bars and coffee shops in Tel Aviv.

Overnight: Tel Aviv

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Check out and depart Tel Aviv, driving via the coastal plain.
• Guided visit to Caesarea, one of the Land of Israel's most important cities during the Roman Period; visit the Herodian Theater and new excavations along the Mediterranean shore concluding with the new interactive audio-visual program ‘The Stars of Caesarea,' located in the 900-year-old crusader city built on the same site.
• Visit a Druze village in the Carmel Mountains for a window into the unique world of the Israeli Druze community, with Home Hospitality Lunch.
• Drive to the Upper Galilee.
• LaDa'at  Families in Safed - Using stories and synagogues, mystics and alleyways, take part in a family exploration of Safed, where yesterday becomes tomorrow and the treasure's never too far away.
• Check into the hotel.
• Dinner at the hotel.
• Evening at leisure to enjoy the hotel's facilities.

  Overnight: Kibbutz Hotel, Upper Galilee

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Walk through the Tel Dan Nature Reserve located on the largest tributary of the Jordan River and the Biblical settlement of Dan, followed by a guided visit to the ongoing excavations.
• Jeep tour climbing to the Golan Heights in the footsteps of IDF soldiers and their battles in the Six Day War, to enjoy the beautiful natural scenery and gain an insight into the strategic complexity of the Golan.
• Lunch on your own.
• Cross the Golan Plateau to the border with Syria and observe the abandoned city of Kuneitra and the United Nations outpost located nearby.
• Enjoy Rafting or Kayaking on the Jordan River.
• Return to the hotel.
• Dinner at the hotel.
• Night visit with hand held torches to the massive fortress at Kala-at Namrud, one of the largest and most significant fortresses built over 800 years ago.

Overnight: Kibbutz Hotel, Upper Galilee 

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Check out and depart the Kibbutz.
• Visit the Hula Nature Reserve and the Ophoria Interactive Experience, connecting birds, water and the Zionist endeavor.
• Visit the 1500-year-old Beit Alpha Synagogue at Kibbutz Heftzibah, which boasts the famous mosaic floor depicting the Binding of Isaac and view an audio-visual program about a Byzantine synagogue building fund.
• Lunch on your own.
• Swim in the warm waters and natural springs at the Gan Hashlosha Nature Reserve (Sachne) situated at the foot of Mt. Gilboa.
• Drive through the Jordan Rift Valley.
• Welcome to Jerusalem - Enter the vibrant and colourful 3,000 year old city of Jerusalem and experience the convergence of the old and the new.
• Stop at Mount Scopus to say the traditional shehechiyanu blessing, recited upon entering Jerusalem.
• Check into the hotel and prepare for Shabbat.
• Kabbalat Shabbat services at a local synagogue.
• Festive Shabbat dinner at the hotel, with new immigrant soldiers.

Overnight: Jerusalem

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Optional Shabbat Services.
• Free Shabbat in Jerusalem with optional visits on your own to:
• The Museum of the History of Jerusalem at David's Citadel, for a walk through the history of Jerusalem from the time of Abraham 4,000 years ago to the end of the British Mandate over Palestine.
• The Israel Museum, one of the most creative and innovative museums in the world with a wide and eclectic collection, ranging from Judaica and archaeology to Renaissance and contemporary Israeli art, concluding with a visit to the Dead Sea Scrolls of the Shrine of the Book and the newly restored Second Temple Period Model of Jerusalem.
• The Old City Ramparts for a walk along the ancient walls of the city.
• Ben Kodesh Lechol Havdallah overlooking the Old City.
• Dinner on your own and evening at leisure.

Overnight: Jerusalem

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Adults: Guided visit through the newly renovated Yad Vashem complex, the Jewish National Memorial to the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust, including:
• The Avenue of the Righteous
• The new Historical Museum
• The Children's Memorial
• Children under 10:
• Visit the Tisch Family Zoological Gardens, a beautifully landscaped habitat with a special focus on preserving Biblical fauna, geared to children of all ages (2-80).
• All:
• A concluding Memorial Service
• Lunch on your own en route.
• Take part in an active dig at the Beit Guvrin Caves and prepare to get your hands dirty as you uncover pottery from the Hellenistic period, 2,300 years ago, followed by a crawl through the Maresha Cave Labyrinth.
• Return to Jerusalem.
• Adults:
• Dinner on your own.
• Children:
• Experience the Jerusalem Time Elevator as you ride through 3,000 years of Jerusalem's history in a state-of-the-art motion simulator, followed by a Pizza dinner on Ben Yehuda and Nachalat Shiva Pedestrian Mall.

  Overnight: Jerusalem

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• The Reform Jewish World A glimpse at the critical role the Reform Movement is playing in countries around the world with representatives of the Reform Movement at Merkaz Shimshon.
• Walking tour through the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, for guided visits to some of the sites excavated over the past 30 years, including:
• Walk along the Rooftops of the Old City for a behind the scenes look at the various communities in Jerusalem and how they live together.
• The Cardo, a Byzantine street that is now the world's oldest shopping arcade.
• The Hurva Square, the central square of the Jewish Quarter.
• Lunch on your own.
• Guided visit to the Davidson Archaeological Park with a special visit to the Davidson Center, to view the new presentation of Life During the Time of the Temple, followed by a guided visit to the Southern Wall Excavations.
• The Kotel (Western Wall)
• Visit the Western Wall Tunnel, the underground continuation of the Western Wall along the Temple Mount.
• Return to the hotel.
• Dinner on your own and evening at leisure.

Overnight: Jerusalem

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Drive to the Dead Sea Basin.
• Short hike to Nahal David the freshwater spring at the Ein Gedi Nature Reserve, a lush oasis in the Judean Desert overlooking the Dead Sea.
• Experience the weightlessness of the Dead Sea as you float in its waters.
• Lunch on your own.
• Ascend the cable car or walk up the snake path to Masada, Herod's mountain palace and site of the Jewish Zealots' last stand against the Roman Legionnaires.  Discuss
• Masada's role as a symbol of Jewish defence and its current significance in modern Israel.
• Drive to Eilat and check into the hotel.
• Dinner on your own and evening at leisure.

Overnight: Eilat

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Day at leisure in Eilat with optional water sports, hiking, jeep trip and much more OR an optional guided tour of the 2,000-year-old Nabatean city of Petra, recognized as one of the Ten Wonders of the World, including lunch (cost not included).
• Dinner on your own and evening at leisure.

Overnight: Eilat

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Check out and depart Eilat.
• Visit the reform Kibbutz Lotan and explore creative Jewish approaches to community life and the environment.
• Drive through the massive natural Ramon Crater.
• View the multi faceted nature of the Ramon Crater at the Mitzpeh Ramon Visitor's Center.
• Lunch on your own.
• Visit the gravesite of Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion, located at Kibbutz
• Sde Boker overlooking the Wilderness of Zinn in the Negev Desert.
• Visit the Sphinat Hamidbar encampment in the Negev Desert for Bedouin-style hospitality and a camel ride.
• Drive to Tel Aviv.
• Afternoon at leisure in Tel Aviv with time to freshen up or some last minute shopping (with day use rooms).
• Festive farewell dinner.
• Transfer to Ben Gurion International Airport.
• Depart onboard DL flight #153 at 11:35PM, arriving the next day.

Overnight: Flight

• Arrive in Atlanta at 5:50AM, with connecting service onboard DL flight #1514 at 8:25AM, arriving in San Antonio at 9:55AM.