DAY ONE:  Monday, June 14, 2010
DEPARTURE

• Depart Louisville onboard Delta Airlines flight #5177 at 4:30PM, arriving in Atlanta at 5:55PM, with connecting service onboard DL flight #152 at 10:30PM, arriving in Israel the next day.

Overnight: Flight

• 5:20 PM Arrive at Ben Gurion International Airport on Delta #152
• Welcome by our representative and assistance with arrival formalities.
• Drive north to the Upper Galilee and check into the hotel.
• Dinner at the hotel, followed by a short orientation.

Overnight: Pastoral Hotel, Kibbutz Kfar Blum

• 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.
• Explore Israel's security situation on the Golan Heights while overlooking the Hula Valley from former Syrian fortifications.
• Visit a Druze village in the Golan for a window into the unique world of the Israeli Druze community, with lunch on your own.
• Tour and wine tasting at Odem Mountain Winery, Israel's northernmost winery, located in the northern Golan Heights in the heart of an enchanting and secluded oak forest.
• Participate in a Chocolate Making Workshop at the "Sweet Life" chocolate making factory at Kibbutz Ein Zivan.
• Ascend Mt. Bental, overlooking the abandoned Syrian town of Kuneitra, for a first hand view of Israel's security position along the Syrian Border, including a visit to a former bunker.
• Return to the Kibbutz; afternoon at leisure to enjoy the hotel's facilities.
• Dinner at the hotel.
• Kibbutz Ideology and Israeli Reality in the 21st Century Meet with second-generation kibbutz member Dubi Ben Ari.

Overnight: Pastoral Hotel, Kibbutz Kfar Blum

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Check out and depart the Kibbutz.
• Explore Safed, a center of Jewish mysticism for hundreds of years, and a contemporary artists' colony, including:
  • Guided visits to the Ari, Caro or Abuhav Synagogues with their great stories and mystical messages.
  • A stroll through the quaint Art Galleries and shop in the artists' colony.
• Drive to the Western Galilee; lunch on your own en route.
• ARZA MIFGASH Special program with Congregation Emet Veshalom in Nahariyah.
• P2K visit to Akko, including meetings with community representatives and a special VIP guided visit through the Akko UNESCO Heritage Site; lunch on your own or as guests of the Akko P2K.
• Drive along the coast to Haifa and check into your hotel.
• Dinner on your own and evening at leisure.

Overnight: Dan Panorama, Haifa

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Check out.
• Stop on top of Mount Carmel for a scenic overlook of Haifa Bay; view the Bahai Gardens and Shrine, one of the holiest sites of the Bahai religion, located on Mount Carmel in Haifa while standing atop Mount Carmel.
• Depart Haifa; drive south along the Trans-Israel Highway for a close up view of the ‘Security Barrier' along the seam zone between Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
• Ascend to Jerusalem through the Judean Hills.
• 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.
• Upon entering Jerusalem stop to recite the “shehechiyanu” blessing, traditionally recited upon entering Jerusalem.
• Experience the sites, smells, and tastes of Jerusalem while walking through the Machaneh Yehuda Market, with lunch on your own.
• Check into the hotel; prepare for Shabbat.
• ARZA MIFGASH Kabbalat Shabbat at Kehillat Kol Haneshema with Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman.
• Festive Shabbat dinner at the hotel.

Overnight: Dan Panorama, Jerusalem

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Optional Shabbat Services.
• Lunch on your own.
• Enter the Old City via the Jaffa Gate.
• 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.
• Visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the traditional site of the last Stations of the Cross, Jesus' crucifixion, burial and resurrection.
• Walk through the famous Jerusalem Arab Shuk (Market).
• LaDa'at Amichai - Guided walk through the streets of Jerusalem using the writings of Jerusalem's poet laureate Yehuda Amichai as a guide.
• Ben Kodesh Lechol Havdallah overlooking the Old City.
• Free Evening in Jerusalem on Ben Yehuda Pedestrian Mall or on Emek Refaim Street in the German Colony.
• Dinner on your own.

Overnight: Dan Panorama, Jerusalem

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• LaDa'at  Exploring the Bible: City of David - Using biblical texts relive the stories of Abraham and Malkizedek, David and Batsheva, King Solomon and others, while exploring one of the most exciting biblical sites in Israel today.
• 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:
  • The Cardo, a Byzantine street that is now the oldest shopping arcade in the world.
  • The Hurva Square, the central square of the Jewish Quarter.
  • Guided visit through the 2,000-year old Herodian Mansions in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City.
  • Lunch on your own in the Jewish Quarter.
  • 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: Dan Panorama, Jerusalem

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• The Memory of the Holocaust in Contemporary Israeli Society Dialogue with Holocaust scholar Dr. Rachel Korazim.
• 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
  • 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.
• Dinner on your own and evening at leisure.

Overnight: Dan Panorama, Jerusalem

• Early breakfast at the hotel.
• Drive to the Dead Sea Basin.
• Ride through the desert in Biblical style (on camels) at Eretz Bereishit—Genesis Land.
• Ascend the cable car 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.
• Bathe in the relaxing and healthy sulphur springs at the Hod Dead Sea Resort Hotel and float in the Dead Sea, including lunch at the hotel.
• Drive through the Arava Valley to Kibbutz Yahel.
• ARZA MIFGASH Visit Kibbutz Yahel, a unique Reform Movement communal settlement in the Arava Valley near Eilat, for a special late afternoon program.
• Dinner at the kibbutz.
• Late night Desert Star Gazing.

Overnight: Kibbutz Yahel, Arava

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Check out of the hotel amd head north.
• Explore the vast Ramon Crater on the back of a jeep, meandering through canyons and unique geological phenomenon.
• 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.
• Lunch on your own en route.
• Drive through Tel Aviv, known as the “city that never sleeps” and check into the hotel.
• Free evening in Tel Aviv with an opportunity to:
  • Meander through the Old City of Jaffa
  • Stroll down Rothschild Boulevard with its many cafes and bars
  • Explore the newly gentrified Neve Zedek Neighborhood
  • Saunter down the Tel Aviv Beach Promenade

Overnight: Dan Panorama, Tel Aviv

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Visit to Independence Hall, site of David Ben Gurion's monumental proclamation of the State of Israel in May 1948.
• Guided walk through Tel Aviv's magnificent Bauhaus architectural area, known as the ‘White City' and recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
• 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.
• Lunch on your own at the trendy Tel Aviv Port.
• Walk through the new Rabin Museum, dedicated to the history of society and democracy in Israel, with the life of Yitzhak Rabin serving as a connecting thread between the various sections of the exhibition, both chronologically and substantively.
• Return to the hotel.
• Late check out.
• Festive farewell dinner at Goshen, a high caliber grill restaurant located on the historic Nachalat Binyamin Street.
• Transfer to Ben Gurion International Airport.
• Departure onboard Delta Airlines flight #153 at 11:35PM, arriving in Atlanta the next morning.

Overnight: Flight

• Arrive in Atlanta at 5:50AM, with connecting service onboard DL flight #5871 at 8:35AM, arriving in Louisville at 9:56AM.

Group Tours to Israel