Day 1: Tuesday, February 27, 2018: DEPARTURE

• We depart the United States on our afternoon flight and travel overnight to Israel.

Day 2: Wednesday, February 28, 2018: ARRIVAL IN JERUSALEM

• Arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, with assistance by an Ayelet representative - Welcome Home!
• Travel up to Jerusalem.
• Upon arrival in Jerusalem, we stop atop Mt. Scopus to recite a special “Shehecheyanu!” blessing overlooking the City of Gold.
• Check into our hotel.
• Enjoy a welcome dinner and orientation with Hadassah Leadership.

O/N Jerusalem

Day 3: Thursday, March 1, 2018: HADASSAH, CITY TOUR AND WELCOME PURIM IN JERUSALEM

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• We begin with a visit to Ein Kerem Hadassah Hospital, where we tour the Mother and Child Pavilion. We also visit the new Sarah Wetsman Davidson Tower, featuring the most modern hospital facilities in the region. All this on the eve of Hadassah's 106th birthday and Israel's 70th anniversary.
• Tour the Western Wall Tunnels, discovering the archaeological wonders that once remained untouched for centuries.
• Lunch (on your own) in the Jewish Quarter.
• Visit the Ir David Excavations just outside the Old City walls, where we wander through the carefully preserved archaeological excavations dating back to the time of King David.
• Visit Ein Tzurim - a live archaeological site, where we have the opportunity for a hands-on dig. Join us in uncovering the glorious past of the Temple Mount. Sift through rubble that originated in ancient buildings from the Temple Period and learn about findings from archaeologists.
• Megillah Reading at a local synagogue or visit a number of local synagogues and see different local traditions.
• Purim party and dinner together this evening.

O/N Jerusalem

Day 4: Friday, March 2, 2018: PURIM AND WELCOME SHABBAT

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Explore the bunkers at Ammunition Hill, the official museum symbolizing the liberation and reunification of Jerusalem. Its new multimedia film helps visitors better understand the events and battles of 1967.
• We continue with a geopolitical bus tour through the northern neighborhoods of Jerusalem along the fence.
• Visit the religious ultra-Orthodox Mea Shearim neighborhood as they celebrate Purim.
• Join the children, their families and the people of Jerusalem in an outdoor Purim Party at the Old Train Station.
• Time to relax in the market or at our hotel before Shabbat.
• We welcome Shabbat at the Western Wall with the people of Jerusalem.
• Shabbat dinner in a private room with guests from the “Lone Soldier" program and Hadassah friends.

O/N Jerusalem

Day 5: Saturday, March 3, 2018: SHABBAT SHALOM

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Free morning for Shabbat services or just to relax.
• Guided walking tour through the historical and charming neighborhood of Yemin Moshe.
• Continue to the Old City to explore.
• Participate in as scavenger hunt in one of the colorful old neighborhoods of Jerusalem.
• Havdalah with Barbara Goldstein on the rooftop of our hotel overlooking the Old City.
• Free evening in Jerusalem - enjoy a stroll along Ben Yehuda Street, or on Emek Refaim Street or visit the Mamilla pedestrian walk, filled with shops and restaurants.

O/N Jerusalem

Day 6: Sunday, March 4, 2018: JERUSALEM

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• This morning, we meet with Gil Hoffman, chief political correspondent for the Jerusalem Post, for an in-depth and entertaining look at Israeli current events.
• Visit the Yad Vashem complex, the Jewish National Memorial to the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust, where we explore some of the newly found materials relating to places, people and events connected to the Holocaust -
o The Avenue of the Righteous
o The new Historical Museum
o The Children's Memorial
o A Memorial service at the Valley of the Lost Communities
• Visit Mt. Herzl, Jerusalem's military cemetery, where we visit the gravesites of Theodor Herzl, Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin, and Shimon Peres and hear from our guide some of the heroic stories of those buried here.
• Visit Machane Yehuda, Jerusalem's outdoor marketplace, filled with foods of every variety. We tour the market with a Chef where we prepare our fresh food with him before eating “dinner with the Chef.”

O/N Jerusalem

Day 7: Monday, March 5, 2018: MASADA & THE DEAD SEA

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Check out of our hotel.
• We depart Jerusalem and drive toward the Dead Sea Basin.
• Ascend to the Masada summit by cable car. Here we view the remains of King Herod's palace and fortifications, and hear the story of the Jewish Zealots' last stand against the approaching Roman armies.
• We descend down the ramp to the West.
• For an authentic desert experience, we visit a Bedouin camp and enjoy a camel ride and Bedouin Hospitality in the wilderness.
• We enjoy lunch at the SPA followed by the mud baths and an unsinkable swim in the salty waters of the Dead Sea.
• Enjoy a special visit to Kibbutz Ein Gedi for a personal tour of the gardens in the desert, by friends of the group.
• Drive along the Jordan Valley to our Kibbutz in the north.
• Dinner at our kibbutz.

O/N in the Galilee

Day 8: Tuesday, March 6, 2018: THE GOLAN HEIGHTS

• Breakfast at our kibbutz.
• Morning Jeep tour up to the Golan Heights. Atop the Golan, we take in an amazing view and see the memorial to those soldiers who lost their lives capturing this crucial spot from Syrian forces in 1967 at Mitzpe Gadot.
• Take in the views stretching far into Syria from atop Har Bental.
• We enjoy a chocolate workshop with one of Israel's top chocolatiers at Ein Zivan's Dekarina Chocolate Factory.
• We next cross the Galilee to visit the mystical city of Safed. We participate in a Kaballah workshop and study.
• We visit a winery for a tour and tasting before returning to our Kibbutz.
• Dinner at our Kibbutz followed by a meeting with Kibbutz members and youth.

O/N in the Galilee

Day 9: Wednesday, March 7, 2018: TO TEL AVIV

• Breakfast at our kibbutz.
• Check out of our kibbutz.
• This morning, we'll tour the Hula Valley Nature Preserve, where millions of migrating birds come to rest and eat each year. Enjoy a surrey or golf cart ride through the heart of this beautiful and bucolic scene.
• Visit Hadassah's Meir Shfeya Youth Aliyah Village, where we interact with the kids and staff.
• Continue to Zichron Yaakov - stroll the streets, browse the shops and visit the Nili Museum amid this European style village's charming shops and cafes. We'll enjoy lunch (on your own) along the main promenade.
• Visit Atlit, site of the British Internment Camp for thousands of Jewish refugees who were caught attempting to immigrate to Israel during the British Mandatory period; followed by a dialogue with Murray Greenfield, who was detained there.
• Continue to our hotel in Tel Aviv for check in.

O/N Tel Aviv

Day 10: Thursday, March 8, 2018: STARTUP NATION

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Meeting with young entrepreneur Rony Rozen to discuss her story, as well as Hi-Tech innovation in this Start-Up nation.
• The Story of Tel Aviv, guided walk through Neve Zedek and what was Ahuzat Bayit, exploring the origins of the city of Tel Aviv, its people and places.
• Continue to Tel Aviv's White City, one of the largest concentrations of Bauhaus in the world.
• We continue to the Library in the city center - Space for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. The Library provides a shared-working space and hub facilities for teams dedicated to developing internet start-ups and technology companies.
• Continue with a visit with fashion designer, Reuma Sachs, who began as a unique fashion designer 25 years ago and is now the owner of 9 Reuma stores located in major shopping centers across Israel. Learn about the way they started a business from nothing in Tel Aviv and now have world recognition.
• Visit the new up-and-coming area of Sarona, Israel's largest, most unique indoor culinary complex that combines the old world with the new. Walk along the cobblestone streets to the quaint shops or enjoy a cappuccino at one of the many coffee shops.

O/N Tel Aviv

Day 11: Friday, March 9, 2018: TEL AVIV FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

• Breakfast at our hotel
• Visit the Palmach Museum, where we “join up” with the brave paramilitary unit from Israel's pre-statehood days.
• Uncover the secrets of the Ayalon Institute, where an underground ammunition factory played a pivotal role in Israel's fight for independence at the end of the British Mandate.
• Visit Old Jaffa, an 8000-year-old port city. Visit the ancient ruins and walk along the restored Artist's Quarter, as well as the amazing flea market.
• Lunch (on your own) in the Old Jaffa flea market.
• Enjoy the afternoon at leisure (on your own).
• Shabbat farewell dinner with Hadassah friends in a private room at our hotel.

O/N Tel Aviv

Day 12: Saturday, March 10, 2018: SHABBAT IN TEL AVIV

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Free day for Shabbat services or just relax and enjoy the beach.
• Transfer to the airport for our flight back to the United States.

Day 13: Sunday, March 11, 2018: ARRIVE HOME

• We arrive back in the United States.

OR CONTINUE ON AN
EILAT/PETRA EXTENSION


Day 12: Saturday, March 10, 2018: TO EILAT

• For those continuing on the post tour to Eilat, connect with our flight to Eilat.
• Upon arrival in Eilat, we transfer to our hotel for check in.

O/N Eilat

Day 13: Sunday, March 11, 2018: PETRA - THE EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• We cross the border into Jordan and begin our full day tour of Petra, the Red Rose City. Explore the Nabatean City (as seen in Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade). Walk through the Siq and view the ancient temples. Discover the famous Treasury, the Roman Theater, and more at this, the Eighth Wonder of the World.
• Pass Wadi Ram before returning to Israel.

O/N Eilat
(Note border taxes and visa fees are due in USD at the border crossing - currently $65 per person)

Day 14: Monday, March 12, 2018: FREE DAY IN EILAT

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Enjoy a day of leisure at our hotel on the shores of the Red Sea. Optional on your own activity suggestions include visiting the Underwater Aquarium, OR taking a barbecue lunch and snorkeling cruise on the Red Sea, OR just relaxing poolside or seaside!

O/N Eilat

Day 15: Tuesday, March 13, 2018: DEPARTURE

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Catch our short flight back to Tel Aviv, connecting with our flight home to the United States.

Day 16: Wednesday, March 14, 2018: WELCOME HOME

• We arrive home.