Welcome Keshet: The Center for Educational Tourism in Israel
PO Box 8540 Jerusalem, 91084 Israel
Tel: 972 2 671-3518 Fax: 972 2 671-3624

Connecting with Israel 8th grade trip

May 10 – 21, 2015

Itinerary

(As of October 21 ,Subject to Change)

Date / Program / Meals/Overnight
Sunday May 10 / Departure from Seattle
Monday May 11 / Bruchim Haba’aim!-Welcome to Israel!
3:15 PM arrival at BenGurionInternationalAirport.
● Opening program in Tel Aviv.
● Dinner at Yoknem (Tanduka)*
● Orientation session after dinner. / Airport Snack
Dinner
O/N: Karei Deshe,
North
Tuesday May 12 / Mystics and Mountains
● Start the day with Visit the IDFsoldiersguarding Israel’s northern border.
● Head to Tzfat, city of the Jewish mystics; meet kabbalistic artistAvraham Lowenthal* in his studio and learn about Kaballah through the lens of art.
● Explore the narrow alleyways and synagogues of Tzfat and examine the role of mysticism in contemporary Jewish life.
● Cash lunch and shopping time on your own in Tzfat.
● Visit Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu in Emek Bet Shean for an exciting visit to Bio-Bee, world leader in organic farming. Learn about idealism and commitment of kibbutz life .
● Head to Tiberias for dinner and a boat ride on the Kinneret with drum circle. / Breakfast
Cash Lunch
Tiberias Dinner
O/N: Karei Deshe,
North
Wednesday May 13 / Sharing the Land
●Visit the ancient Galilean capital of Tzippori, where Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi compiled the Mishnah, the text which allowed Judaism to flourish for 2000 years in the Diaspora. Explore the magnificent synagogue and mosaics, examining the complex relationship between Jewish and Pagan Roman civilizations.
● Head out to the fields to volunteer with Project Leket, picking fruits or vegetables to be donated to local soup kitchens
● Program with Bet HaSefer Morsaha – programming with local youth plus Home Hospitality in Seattle’s “sister community” in Israel / Breakfast
Packed Lunch
O/N:
Home Hospitality
Moshav Brechiya
Thursday May 14 / L’Yerushalyim Ircha Brachamim Tashuv
● Step back 3,000 years to the days of King David and the days of the First Temple at the City of David (where Jerusalem began) and visit the latest archeological finds including what might have been the palace of King David.● Splash through Hezekiah's water tunnel built 2,700 years ago to secure the water supply of Jerusalem from invading armies! Dry option available
● Cash Lunch
● Private time at the Kotel.
● Afternoon to explore the nooks and crannies of the Jewish Quarter and Machon Hamikdash
● Cash Dinner and Family visit time at the Malcha Mall / Breakfast
Cash Lunch
Cash Dinner
O/N:
Montefiore Hotel,
Jerusalen
Friday May 15 / From Galut to Geulah
● Head to the Machaneh Yehudah outdoor market for shopping ,as Jerusalem prepares for Shabbat.
●Visit Ethiopian Jewish immigrants in their homes in Ma'aleh Adumim to hear the firsthand account of their quest for freedom as they fled Ethiopia and trekked through the desert to Sudan where they waited for months in refugee camps before being airlifted to Israel by the Mossad.
●Hike in the Judean Hills
● Return to the hotel to prepare for Shabbat
● Kabbalat Shabbat at the Kotel,
● Return to hotel for Shabbat dinner and Oneg Shabbat / Breakfast
Packed Lunch
Shabbat Dinner
O/N:
Montefiore Hotel,
Jerusalen
Shabbat May 16 / Shabbat Shalom
●Shabbat services At local synagogues.
●Kiddush in a local park.
●Shabbat Lunch
●Rest time and afternoon stroll through Jerusalem neighborhoods
●Seuda Shlishit
●Havdalla
●Free time on Ben Yehuda {supervised} / Kiddush
Shabbat Lunch
Cash Dinner
O/N:
Montefiore Hotel,
Jerusalem
Sunday May 17 Yom Yerushalyim / Leadership and courage
●Tour the Menachem Begin Heritage Center to trace the path of the Jewish people from powerlessness to independence through the life and times of Zionist underground leader and former Prime Minister, Menachem Begin, who led Israel to her first peace treaty with an Arab nation.
●At the adjacentMilitary Cemetery,visit graves of Israel’s heroes and leaders
● Join the thousands marching from Gan Saker to the Kotel with singing and dancing in the streets of Jerusalem. / Breakfast
Picnick Lunch
Dinner
O/N:
Montefiore Hotel,
Jerusalem

Monday May 18

/ Digging up the past
● Learn and remember at Yad Vashem, including the historical museum and Children’s Memorial.
●At Tel Meresha in Bet Guvrin we will participate in an actual archaeological dig, uncovering artifacts from the Macabean period that have not been seen or touched in over 2000 years
● Continue to the Kfar HaNokdim Bedouin Ranch to ride camels, and for a BedouinArab cultural program and dinner.
● Get a few hours of sleep before our pre-sunrise ascent to Masada. / Breakfast
Packed Lunch
Bedoin Dinner
KfarHanokdim,
Arad
Tuesday May 19 / What Price Freedom?
● Pre-sunrise ascent to Masada via the Roman Ramp in time for sunrise. Tour the mountain and examine the troubling issues presented by the Masada story.Descend by cable car or the Snake Path.
● Breakfast at the Masada Visitors Center.
● Hike to the Nahal David waterfall in the Ein Gedi Nature Reserve.
● Lunch and float at the Dead Sea Pool & Beach (weather permitting)
● Continue to Tel- Aviv
● Check-in at our hotel in Tel- Aviv followed by dinner / Masada Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Ruth Daniel,
Tel Aviv
Wednesday May 20 / Rebirth of our nation
● Visit the Weitzman Science Center's hi – tech visitor’s center, where we will learn about the innovations the students are working on, and continue to the science park, where we will see how gravity, waves, and sound really work!
● Experience Dialogue in the Darkat the Holon Museum,guided in complete darkness by blind and vision impaired guides.
● At Independence Hall, examine the struggles leading up to the birth of the State of Israel. Reenact the dramatic moment when David Ben Gurion declared the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948.This is also where Tel Aviv was established as the first modern “HebrewCity” over 100 years ago.
● Summary session and final dinner before heading to Ben Gurion Airport for a 11:30PM flight on US air line #797 / Breakfast
Cash Lunch
Farewell Dinner
Thursday
May 21 / Next Year in Israel /

●The program will be staffed by a Keshet tour educator and medic/security escort

●All meals are included in the package price.

*Subject to availability

This itinerary is proprietary to Keshet and is intended for the promotion of and to inform those considering joining this Keshet trip. It is not to be transmitted to any other party without prior authorization from Keshet