Ramat Shalom Synagogue
Hanukah Adventure in Israel
December 25, 2016 – January 6, 2017
Keshet Tour Educator: Peter Abelow
(As of February 23, 2016 - Itinerary - Subject to Change)
Sunday December 25 / Departure to Israel§ Depart Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport at 11:49 a.m. on Jet Blue flight # 202 to JFK International Airport in New York. Arrive 2:43 p.m. Depart 6:45 p.m. on El Al Israel Airlines flight 002 to Tel Aviv. (Note: Jet Blue timetable not yet final.)
Monday December 26 / Bruchim habaim – welcome to israel§ 12:25 p.m. arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport. Transfer to Tel Aviv.
§ Check-in at our hotel in Tel Aviv
§ Light the Third Candle of Hanukah in Israel!
§ Welcome to Israel Dinner
Overnight: Carlton Hotel, Tel Aviv
Tuesday December 27 / Tel Aviv – the first hebrew city§ Breakfast at the hotel
§ Examine the struggles leading to the birth of the State of Israel, with a dramatic reenactment at Independence Hall where David Ben Gurion declared the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948
§ Shopping time & lunch on your own at the Nahalat Binyamin Crafts Market & Carmel Shuk outdoor market
§ Visit Tel Aviv’s interactive Israeli Olympic Experience Museum. A Five Ring Adventure - The Olympic Games through Israeli eyes OR
§ Visit the interactive Palmach Museum and follow the lives of ten modern day Maccabees who trained and fought to defend the State of Israel in the making through the dark years of the Second World War and the Israeli War of Independence
§ Light the Fourth Candle of Hanukah
§ Free evening and dinner on your own in Tel Aviv
Overnight: Carlton Hotel, Tel Aviv
Wednesday December 28 / Land of Borders§ Breakfast at the hotel and check-out
§ Travel through 1,000 years of history, from Herod the Great through King Louis IX of France (St. Louis), among the spectacular antiquities in the Caesarea National Park
§ Enjoy village tour and an authentic Druze lunch in Ussefiya on Mount Carmel
§ Visit with IDF soldiers guarding Israel’s Lebanese border at Kibbutz Malkia
§ Light the Fifth Candle of Hanukah
Dinner & Overnight: Rimonim Hotel, Tzfat
Thursday December 29 / mountains and mystics§ Breakfast at the hotel
§ Explore the narrow alleyways and synagogues of Tzfat and learn how the mystical traditions that emerged here 500 years ago continue to affect the Jewish world
§ Meet Kabalistic artist in his studio to learn about Kabbalah through the lens of art
§ Time for lunch on your own and to shop the galleries and shops of Tzfat
§ Travel to Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu, a leader in the “Green” revolution and organic farming techniques
§ “Bio-Bee” tour of the organic farm which uses integrated pest control of insects, barn owls and other birds instead of harmful pesticides. Kibbutz farmers have trained their Jordanian counterparts across the border in these techniques
§ Continue south along the Jordan River Valley up to Jerusalem and meet with an Ethiopian immigrant who shares the story of her “aliyah” to Jerusalem
§ Enter Jerusalem and recite the traditional Shehechiyanu blessing on Mount Scopus
§ Light the Sixth Candle of Hanukah in Jerusalem!
§ Free evening and dinner on own (recommended in the nearby First Station compound)
Overnight: Dan Panorama Hotel, Jerusalem
Friday December 30 / jerusalem through the ages§ Breakfast at the hotel
§ Step back 3,000 years to the days of King David and the days of the First Temple at the latest archeological finds at the City Of David (the original Jerusalem); walk through the (dry) water systems built thousands of years
§ Enter the Old City for special blessing of the children, blessing of our community and private prayer/contemplation time at the Kotel (Western Wall)
§ At the Kotel Tunnels, step back to the days of the Second Temple and continue learning about the Temple experience
§ Lunch and shopping time on your own in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem
§ Light the Seventh Candle of Hanukah and Shabbat candles (by 4:26 p.m.)
§ Kabbalat Shabbat as a community at the Kotel
§ Walk back to the hotel for Shabbat dinner
Overnight: Dan Panorama Hotel, Jerusalem
Shabbat December 31 / shabbat shalom in jerusalem§ Breakfast at the hotel
§ From the Four Corners of the Earth: “Shul hopping” to a variety of synagogues representing different ethnic and liturgical traditions or group service together at the hotel or sleep in!
§ Shabbat lunch
§ The Israel Museum is open from 10 AM – 4 PM
§ Optional Yemin Moshe or Christian Quarter tour
§ Gather together for Havdalah marking the end of Shabbat (5:25 PM)
§ Light the Eighth Candle of Hanukah
§ Evening and dinner on your own in Jerusalem
Overnight: Dan Panorama Hotel, Jerusalem
Sunday January 1 / “If you will it, it is no dream”§ Breakfast at the hotel
§ Learn more about the father of modern Zionism, Theodor Herzl at the multi-media Herzl Museum
§ Visit and stand in solemn memory at Israel’s Yad Vashem memorial to the Holocaust including the children’s memorial and the historical museum. Children under 10 years old may visit the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo
§ Lunch on your own at Yad Vashem
§ After Yad Vashem, give thanks for Israel’s sovereignty during our tour of Israel’s parliament – The Knesset.
§ Dinner on your own in Jerusalem
§ See a game of the Israeli Basketball League with VIP behind the scenes access with media and athletes
Overnight: Dan Panorama Hotel (or similar), Jerusalem
Monday January 2 / Dig for a day§ Breakfast at the hotel and check-out
§ Bar/Bat Mitzvah Celebration (optional)
§ Current events briefing – State of the Peace Process
§ At the Beit Guvrin National Park, we will have an archeological adventure, digging up the past from the days of the Maccabees with our own hands! (The dig is appropriate for all ages and takes place in a cave with natural “air conditioning.”)
§ Tour of Sderot, including an overlook of Gaza, and meetings with local residents and social service professionals
§ Drive to Ein Bokek on the Dead Sea
Dinner & Overnight: Isrotel Ganim Hotel, Ein Bokek
Tuesday January 3 / What Price Freedom?§ Breakfast at the hotel
§ Ascend Herod’s mountain fortress of Masada by the Snake Path or cable car to explore why the Jewish rebels chose to live here after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. (Parallel programming for adults & kids).
§ Descend by cable car. Lunch (on own) at Masada Visitor’s Center.
§ Hike to the Nahal David waterfall in the Ein Gedi oasis (Weather Permitting)
§ Return to the hotel and afternoon and at leisure to float in the Dead Sea or enjoy the hotel’s spa and facilities
Dinner & Overnight: Isrotel Ganim Hotel, Ein Bokek
Wednesday January 4 / Making the Desert Bloom§ Breakfast at the hotel and check-out
§ In the Bedouin town of Tel Sheva, meet with Mariam, founder of Desert Daughter Cosmetics and hear her inspiring story
§ Continue to Beer Sheva, where adults will tour the Netafim Ltd. facilities on Kibbutz Hatzerim (the world’s leading provider of drip irrigation technology) and children will visit the Carasso Science Park
§ Lunch on own in Beer Sheva
§ Visit the tomb of Israel’s founding Prime Minister David Ben Gurion overlooking Nahal Tzin and examine his vision of “making the desert bloom”
§ Head to the Chan Hashayarot Bedouin Ranch for a camel trek, Bedouin hospitality and dinner
Overnight: Beresheet Hotel, Mitzpe Ramon
Thursday January 5 / a still small voice§ Optional sunrise walk on the Ramon Crater Promenade. Desert meditation exercise. Ponder why the Torah was given in the desert and what Elijah meant by a “Still, Small Voice.”
§ Return to the hotel for breakfast and check – out
§ Check out the Ramon Crater National Park Visitors Center
§ Jeep ride in the Ramon Crater and packed lunch
§ Explore Mitzpe Revivim, which tells the fascinating tale of the early settlement and defense of the Negev. Enter its caves, which once served as command bunker and field hospital. Walk through its restored fort & trenches, climb its lookout tower, search for its hidden weapons cache, learn its secret communication methods, & view WWII-era Dakota C-47 and Piper Cub planes.
§ Drive north on the way to Ben Groin International Airport for
§ Summary discussion and Farewell Dinner at Air Café in Airport City
§ Airport Transfer
Friday January 6 / l’Hitraot – until we meet again…§ Departure on El Al Israel Airlines at 12:45 a.m. on flight #001 to JFK International Airport in New York. Arrive 6:00 a.m. Departure on Jet Blue at 8:00 a.m. on flight #201 to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, arriving at 11:03 a.m. (Jet Blue timetable not yet final.)
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