DAY ONE: Saturday
DEPARTURE

• Depart from the U.S. to Egypt.

Overnight: Flight

Overnight: Cairo

• Breakfast at your hotel.
• Tour Old Cairo and the late 19th century Ibn Ezra Synagogue where the Cairo Geniza was discovered. The Geniza housed more than 200,000 fragments of Jewish manuscripts dating from the 9th - 19th centuries, offering a wealth of information both scholarly and historical.
• Visit Coptic Cairo - the Hanging or El Muallaqa Church and the Coptic Museum.
• Mosques of Cairo - see either the Ibn Tulun Mosque, the oldest in Egypt and one of the largest in the world or the Sultan Hassan Mosque, a colossal campus including  Mosque, Madrasa and Mausoleum.
• Cairo Museum - home to more than 120,000 artifacts. Guiding by a renowned Egyptian archaeologist.
• Dinner at a local restaurant.

Overnight: Cairo

• Breakfast at your hotel.
• Check out of the hotel.
• Da'at Encounter: A meeting at the Israeli Academic Center, an unusual place of Israeli studies and dialogue in Cairo.
• Shop the souk, the Khan el-Khalili market. Founded by Mamluk Sultan, Burji Mamluk Sultan Barquq, it was established in the 14th century.
• Leave Cairo driving south to the St. Catherine's Monastery and Mt. Sinai via the Sinai Desert.
• Lunch en route.
• Check into your hotel, set at the foot of Mt. Sinai, next to the St. Catherine Monastery.
• Dinner at the hotel.

Overnight: Wadi El Raha Hotel, St. Catherine

• Early morning climb of majestic Jebel Musa, or Mount Sinai with a special Da'at Encounter.
• Breakfast at your hotel.
• Visit St. Catherine's Monastery Visit St. Catherine's Monastery, thought to be the oldest working monastery in the world, it is surrounded by massive fortifications that have kept it preserved throughout the ages, with a special Da'at Encounter. 
• Check out of the hotel.
• Drive to Eilat - complete border procedures at Taba border and drive to the Arava desert border and cross into Jordan.
• Jeep through Wadi Rum, the largest valley in Jordan, it has been host to many tribal cultures and is still inhabited by a small group of Bedouin.  Enjoy the late afternoon until sunset in Wadi Rum.
• Dinner and hospitality with the Bedouin of Wadi Rum.
• Drive to Aqaba and check into the hotel.

Overnight: Intercontinental Hotel, Aqaba

• Breakfast at your hotel.
• Check out of the hotel and depart via Wadi Arabah - a section of the Great Rift Valley that runs between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba - to the hills of Petra.
• Guided tour of the 1,800-year-old Nabatean city of Petra, renowned for its architecture - cut from the rose-red rock of the area - and UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Lunch at Petra.
• Check into your hotel and relax.
• Dinner at the hotel.

Overnight: Movenpick Hotel, Petra

• Breakfast at your hotel.
• Check out of the hotel.
• Travel north via the main highway to the Castle of Kerak - a place of ancient civilization as well as one-time Crusader stronghold, it boasts magnificent views of the Dead Sea.
• Madaba - mentioned in the Bible, Madaba's history goes back to the Neolithic period. Famed for a series of intricate, 6th century mosaics dating from the period of Roman-Byzantine rule, marvel at the two-million-piece mosaic map of the Holy Land.
• Continue to Mt. Nebo - where Moses stood and looked out over the Promised Land that he would never enter and where on a clear day you can even see Jerusalem - considered the place where Moses died and was buried.
• Drive to Amman - enjoy a short tour of the modern capital of Jordan.
• Check into the hotel.
• Da'at Encounter: The Hashemite Kingdom today and its Direction for the Future -- Dinner and dialogue with a Jordanian political scientist.

Overnight: Le Meridien Hotel, Amman 

• Breakfast at your hotel.
• Umm Qeis - one of 10 cities from the Greco-Roman period, Gedara or Umm Qeis, which is north of Amman, overlooks Israel's Jordan Valley, the Golan Heights and Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee).  See the impressive ruins including two theaters, a temple, a basilica, and a paved street worn down by chariot wheels.
• After lunch, visit Ajlun's 12th century fortress and impressive view of the Jordan Valley.
• Jerash - another one of the cities of the Decapolis, the well-preserved ruins of ancient Gerasa are extensive. From Hadrian's Arch to a hippodrome, two large temples, the Forum and surrounding colonnade, Roman streets and more - this was a city that suggests wealth and success.
• Return to Amman.   
• Dinner at a local restaurant.

Overnight: Le Meridien Hotel, Amman 

• Breakfast at your hotel.
• Check out of the hotel.
• Da'at Encounter: Visit the Jordan Academic Center for an insight into Jordanian society.
• Border crossing at the Allenby Bridge - arrive in Israel and travel to Tel Aviv.
• Meet your Expedition director and fellow travelers and enjoy a Middle Eastern style dinner with a Yemenite touch at Maganda, offering a varied selection of salads and grilled meats, and located in the Yemenite Quarter of Tel Aviv.
• Da'at Encounter: An Inside View of the Unique Character of the Country. Enjoy an active discussion and walking tour with your tour educator through the colorful re-gentrified Neve Zedek neighborhood or the 'White City', the collection of Tel Aviv's magnificent Bauhaus architectural structures, now recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Check out and depart the hotel.
• Begin your trip with an introduction and special visit to Independence Hall, site of David Ben-Gurion's monumental proclamation of the State of Israel in December 1948.
• Visit the Nachalat Binyamin pedestrian mall, with its restored buildings and sidewalk artists, and continue onto the colorful Carmel Market and then to Sheinkin, one of Israel's most avant-garde streets.
• Depart Tel Aviv.
• Lunch on your own at the Caesarea Port.
• Guided visit to Caesarea, one of the Land of Israel's most important cities during the Roman Period; visit the Herodian Theater and new excavations along the Mediterranean shore concluding with a visit to the 900-year-old Crusader city built on the same site.
• Summer programs:
  • Walk through the 2,000-year-old underground water tunnels at Park Alona, which once brought water to Caesarea (water shoes recommended).
• Winter programs:
  • Special visit to the Tavor Marzipan Factory and Museum in Kfar Tavor
• All:
  • Check into the kibbutz guesthouse.
  • Dinner at the guesthouse.

Overnight: Kibbutz Guesthouse, Upper Galilee

• Breakfast at the kibbutz guesthouse.
• Walk through the Tel Dan Nature Reserve located on the largest tributary of the Jordan River and near the biblical settlement of Dan.
• Take a 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, followed by a tour of the Golan Heights.
• Cross the Golan Plateau to the border with Syria and observe the abandoned city of Kuneitra and the United Nations outpost located nearby.
• Lunch on your own.
• Summer programs:
  • Enjoy rafting or kayaking on the Jordan River.
• Winter programs:
  • Visit the Hula Nature Reserve and the Ophoria Interactive Experience, connecting birds, water and the Zionist endeavor.
• All:
  • Return to the kibbutz for dinner at the guesthouse.
  • Da'at Encounter: Optional visit with kibbutz members.

  Overnight: Kibbutz Guesthouse, Upper Galilee

Overnight: Haifa

Overnight: Jerusalem

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Option 1
  • Optional day visit to Masada, Ein Gedi and the Dead Sea, with lunch on own.
• Option 2
  • Optional Shabbat services.
• Lunch on your own.
• Free afternoon
• All:
  • Enjoy dinner on your own in Jerusalem, choosing from a wide array of restaurants.

Overnight: Jerusalem

Overnight: Jerusalem