• Arrive at Ben Gurion International Airport.
• 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.
• Enjoy a 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.
• Check out of the hotel.
• Visit to Independence Hall, site of David Ben Gurion's monumental proclamation of the State of Israel in May 1948 (pending confirmation) OR visit the Ayalon Institute, near Rehovot, for an eye opening tour of a clandestine munitions factory used during the British Mandate.
• Drive south to the Negev.
• 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.
• Drive to Mitzpeh Ramon and check into your rooms.
• Kabbalat Shabbat services, overlooking the Ramon Crater.
• Festive Shabbat dinner at Succah in the Desert.

Overnight: Succah in the Desert, Mitzpeh Ramon

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Early morning walk to Parsat Nekarot (Ramon) - At the junction of two enormous wadis. Walk through a deep canyon, a large cave and a spring in the horse-shoe of caves at the southern edge of the Ramon Crater.
• Lunch in the field.
• Return to Succah in the Desert for Torah Study and rest.
• Dinner at Succah in the Desert

Overnight: Succah in the Desert, Mitzpeh Ramon

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Check out of the hotel.
• Drive to the Bedouin town of Lakiya for an insight into contemporary Bedouin lifestyles, including dialogues with residents and visits with artisans.
• Drive northwards along the Trans-Israel Highway for a close up view of the ‘Security Barrier' along the seam zone between Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
• Visit Eshbal in the Lower Galilee, a new kibbutz established by members of the Noar Ha'oved veHalomed Youth Movement who have dedicated themselves to improving society through education and adapting kibbutz life to the 21st Century.
• Drive to Kibbutz Lavi and check into the hotel.
• Dinner at the kibbutz hotel.

Overnight: Kibbutz Lavi, Lower Galilee

• Breakfast at the kibbutz hotel.
• LaDa'at   Zippori - Enter into the world of the great Rabbis, codifiers of the Mishna, using their writings and life stories to unlock the secrets of rabbinic Judaism, while exploring the well developed excavations and reconstructions at Zippori.
• Living as a Minority in a Jewish State:  visit the Circassi village of Kfar Kama, including a dialogue with residents of the village.
• Lunch on own en route.
• Ascend to the top of the Arbel Cliff and overlook the Sea of Galilee.
• Visit the Ancient 2,000 Year Old Fishing Boat similar to those used at the beginning of the Common Era.
• Return to the kibbutz.
• Dinner at the kibbutz hotel.

Overnight: Kibbutz Lavi, Lower Galilee
 

• Breakfast at the kibbutz hotel.
• Check out and depart the kibbutz.
• Visit the Kinneret Cemetery and hear about the dreams of the early Zionist pioneers.
• 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.
• Jonathan & Saul Drive along the Gilboa scenic mountain with Bible in hand.
• Drive south through the Jordan Valley.
• Lunch on your own en route.
• 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.
• Late afternoon visit to 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 newly restored Second Temple Period Model of Jerusalem.
• Dinner on your own and evening at leisure.

Overnight: Jerusalem 
 

• Early breakfast at the hotel.
• Optional: early morning visit to the Temple Mount, site of the First and Second Temples and the third holiest place to Islam, with the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aksa Mosque.
• Enter the Old City through the Zion 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.
• 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 world's oldest shopping arcade
  • The Hurva Square, the central square of the Jewish Quarter.
  • The Kotel (Western Wall).
  • Visit the Western Wall Tunnel, the underground continuation of the Western Wall alongside the Temple Mount (pending confirmation)

OR

• 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 Old City.
• Return to the hotel.
• The Labyrinth of Israeli Politics:  Dialogue with Prof. Reuven Hazan of the Political Science Department at Hebrew University.
• Dinner on your own and evening at leisure.

Overnight: Jerusalem

• Early breakfast at the hotel.
• 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 your own.
• Experience the weightlessness of the Dead Sea as you float in its waters.
• Return to Jerusalem.
• Dinner on your own and evening at leisure.

Overnight: 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
• Experience the sites, smells, and tastes of Jerusalem while walking through the Machaneh Yehuda Market, with lunch on your own.
• Visit the graves of Theodor Herzl and Yitzhak Rabin at Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem followed by a visit to the I.D.F military cemetery.
• Return to the hotel for free time to prepare for Shabbat.
• Kabbalat Shabbat at Kehillat Kol Haneshema with Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman.
• Festive Shabbat dinner at the hotel.

Overnight: Jerusalem

• Optional Shabbat Services at a local synagogue.
• 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 famous Jerusalem Arab Shuk (Market).
  • The Old City Ramparts for a walk along the ancient walls of the city.
  • The hidden alleyways to Mt. Zion, including the Temple Mount Overlook and King David's Tomb.
  • 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)
• Late check out and group transfer to Ben Gurion Airport.
• Departure flight to the U.S.A, arriving the following day.

  Overnight: Flight

• Arrive in the U.S.A.