DAY ONE: Wednesday, February 15, 2012
DEPARTURE

• Depart from JFK International Airport on El Al flight 008 at 11:50pm.

Overnight: Flight

• 5:15 p.m. Arrive at Ben Gurion International Airport on El AL flight #008.
• Welcome by our representative and assistance with arrival formalities.
• 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.
• Stop at the Haas Promenade for an overview of Jerusalem and to say the traditional shehechiyanu blessing.
• Check into the hotel and time to freshen up.
• Welcome Dinner at the unique Olive and Fish Restaurant.

Overnight: Inbal Hotel, Jerusalem

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Depart the hotel for the Old City and enter via the Dung Gate.
• Stop at the Kotel (Western Wall).
• Visit the Western Wall Tunnel, the underground continuation of the Western Wall alongside the Temple Mount.
• Continue on a 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, now boasting the newly reopened Hurva Synagogue.
• Guided visit to the Jerusalem Archaeological Park, including a visit to the Davidson Center and the Southern Wall Excavations.
• Lunch on your own in the Jewish Quarter or continue to Machane Yehuda for a falafel lunch on your own.
• LaDa'at  Machaneh Yehuda  - Explore the colorful and ethnically rich Nachlaot neighborhood of Jerusalem.
• Return to the hotel with free time to prepare for Shabbat.
• Kabbalat Shabbat service at Congregation Mevasseret Zion led by Rabbi Maya Leibovitz.
• Home Hospitality Shabbat Dinner/Communal Shabbat Dinner with local congregants OR Festive Shabbat Dinner at the hotel.

Overnight: Inbal Hotel, Jerusalem

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Optional Shabbat Services.
• Free Shabbat in Jerusalem for an opportunity to visit (on own):
• The Tower of David Museum of the History of Jerusalem, for a walk through the city's history from the time of Abraham to the end of the British Mandate over Palestine.
• The renewed 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 and the Shrine of the Book and the Second Temple Period Model of Jerusalem.
• 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).
• 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, with dinner on own.

Overnight: Inbal Hotel, Jerusalem
 

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• 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:
• Spend time at the Bloomfield Interactive Science Museum or 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).
• Lunch on own, en route to Beit Guvrin.
• 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.

Overnight: Inbal Hotel, Jerusalem

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Ride through the desert in biblical-style (On Camels) at Eretz Bereishit—Genesis Land.
• Descend to the Dead Sea Basin.
• 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.
• 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.
• Lunch on own.
• Bathe in the relaxing and healthy sulphur springs at the Mineral Beach and float in the Dead Sea.
• Return to Jerusalem.
• Enjoy dinner on your own in Jerusalem, at a choice of a wide array of restaurants.

Overnight: Inbal Hotel, Jerusalem

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Check out of the hotel.
• Visit the Yad LaKashish Project, a multifaceted workshop for senior adults and people with special needs.
• Drive northwards through the Jordan Rift Valley.
• Visit the Beit Shean National Park, one of the largest archaeological sites in Israel with its Biblical Tel and ongoing excavations exposing the vast Roman-Byzantine City.
• Visit the Kinneret Cemetery and hear about the dreams of the early Zionist pioneers.
• Lunch on own in Tiberias, a bustling city located on the shores of the Kinneret, one of the four holy Jewish cities in Israel and where Maimonedes is buried.
• 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.
• Continue to the kibbutz and check into the hotel.
• Dinner at the hotel.

Overnight: Pastoral Kibbutz Hotel, Upper Galilee

• Breakfast at the kibbutz hotel.
• 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.
• Short hike along the Banias River at the base of the Golan Heights and the new hanging bridge OR walk through the Tel Dan Nature Reserve located on the largest tributary of the Jordan River and the Biblical settlement of Dan.
• Lunch on own.
• Visit a Druze village in the Golan for a window into the unique world of the Israeli Druze community, with a dialogue with local resident about the complex issues of the Golan Druze community.
• Visit the Hula Nature Reserve and the Ophoria Interactive Experience, connecting birds, water and the Zionist endeavor.
• Dinner at the hotel.

Overnight: Pastoral Kibbutz Hotel, Upper Galilee
 

• Breakfast at the kibbutz hotel.
• Check out of the hotel.
• Visit the innovative Zippori National Park, site of Rabbi Yehuda Hanassi's codification of the Mishna and a renowned mosaic collection.
• Visit Atlit, site of a British internment camp for thousands of Jewish refugees who were caught attempting to immigrate to Israel during the British Mandatory Period; view an audio-visual presentation.
• Lunch on own, en route.
• Time permitting: Guided visit to Zichron Ya'acov, one of the first communities established by the early Zionist pioneers.
• Visit the Israeli Guide Dog Center for the Blind where blind people get their mobility back with the help of specially trained dogs.
• Continue to Tel Aviv and drive through the “city that never sleeps”, pass by centers of culture and recreation such as the Habima Theater, sprawling beaches, Dizengoff Street and Rabin Square.
• Check into the hotel.
• Dinner on your own and evening at leisure.
• Optional visit to the Nalaga'at Theater to view a production of Lo AL HaLechem Levado - Not by Bread Alone, performed by a deaf/blind theater group (cost not included).

Overnight:  Dan Panorama Hotel, Tel Aviv

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Walk through the museum at the Rabin Center, 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.
• Visit the Old City of Jaffa and stroll through the renovated artists' colony and the ancient port and walk through the newly renovated and world-renowned Jaffa Flea Market - Shuk Hapishpishim.
• Visit the Nachalat Binyamin pedestrian mall, with its restored buildings and sidewalk artists, and continue onto the colorful Carmel Market and then to Shenkin, one of Israel's most avant-garde streets.
• Kabbalat Shabbat Service at Kehillat Beit Daniel in Tel Aviv.
• Festive Shabbat Dinner at the hotel.

Overnight: Dan Panorama Hotel, Tel Aviv

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Shabbat Morning and Bat Mitzvah Service at the Birkat Shalom Synagogue at Kibbutz Gezer with Rabbi Miri Gold, followed by Lunch in Ramla.
• Visit the Ayalon Institute, near Rehovot, for an eye opening tour of a clandestine munitions factory used during the British Mandate.
• Return to Tel Aviv with free time or take a walk down Bialik Street in Tel Aviv for a visual journey through Tel Aviv's past and present, including a view of the houses of artist Reuven Rubin and writer Chaim Nachman Bialik.
• Late check-out from the hotel.
• Festive Farewell Dinner at Goshen, an upscale grill restaurant located on the historic Nachalat Binyamin Street.
• Transfer to Ben Gurion International Airport.

Overnight: Flight

• 1:00 a.m. Departure flight to the U.S.A on EL AL flight #001, arriving the same day.

t- Itinerary is tentative and subject to change.