English

Takin' It Easy
Mission to Israel
Led by Marlene Kaplan
April 25 - May 8, 2018

Tour Rates & Dates:

There are no Departure Dates available for this Package.
*Please note that all rates displayed are based on standard room double occupancy.
All rates above are in US Dollars, and are based on full payment by credit card unless otherwise noted.
If check payment discount is available for this tour, it can be selected after clicking "BOOK" above.
(Deposit can still be paid by credit card). Upgraded room categories may be available to book later in the booking process.
If Land & Air price is displayed, the air portion includes tax and fuel surcharges, which are subject to change until ticketed.

SAVE up to $1,050 per person in honor of the:

100th Anniversary of HMO (Hadassah Medical Organization)
100th Anniversary of the School of Nursing
100th Anniversary of the Department of Opthalmology
70th Anniversary of the State of Israel

$4,545 Now $3,495

*Discounts applied during booking process.

Tour Overview:

4 nights Sheraton Tel Aviv Hotel & Towers, Tel Aviv, Israel
3 nights Kibbutz Kfar Blum, Galilee, Israel
4 nights plus late check out Inbal Hotel, Jerusalem, Israel
All touring and sightseeing per an agreed upon itinerary in a deluxe air-conditioned vehicle with an English speaking guide
Breakfast daily
Welcome dinner in restaurant
Dinner Jerusalem
Shabbat Dinner in Jerusalem in a private room
Shabbat Dinner in Tel Aviv
Dinner Achuzat Dubrovnim
2 Kibbutz dinners
Salad Trail lunch 
Cheese Farm visit
Tavior Concert
Druze Lunch
Hostess throughout
Speakers as per Itinerary
Music once on tour
Transfers included if arriving/departing with the main group
Entrance fees as per itinerary
Porterage

NOT INCLUDED - These prices do not include:

Roundtrip airfare, departure taxes and fuel surcharges 
(listed separately) 
Any border taxes or visas
Tips to guides, driver, and dining room waiters
($20.00 per person, per day-pre-collected)
Any meals not listed above
Any items of a personal nature
Travel insurance
(highly recommended)

Tour Itinerary:

Day 1: Wednesday, April 25, 2018: DEPARTURE

• Depart the United States on our overnight flight to Israel.             

Day 2: Thursday, April 26, 2018: WELCOME TO ISRAEL!

• We arrive at Ben Gurion Airport this morning, and are assisted by an Ayelet Tours representative. Welcome home!
• Stop at the Sharon (Hiriya) Recycling Park on our way to Tel Aviv
• Our visit to Tel Aviv with a visit to Independence Hall, the site of the signing of Israel's Declaration of Independence in 1948, including the special exhibits for Israel's 70th birthday.
• We check in to our hotel and have time to refresh.
• This evening, we enjoy a welcome dinner and a guided orientation at a local restaurant with Hadassah friends.

Overnight in Tel Aviv

Day 3: Friday, April 27, 2018: ISRAEL PAST TO PRESENT

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• This morning, we meet with scholar Rachel Korazim, for a lecture entitled “Jewish Identity in Israeli Literature”.
• Moving from the past to the present, we visit the Taglit Innovation Center, for a glimpse into Israel's hi-tech advances in the fields of science, medicine, security and space. We visit the interactive exhibit and continue with a meeting with one of Israel's leading entrepreneurs.
• Visit the Diaspora Museum to see the permanent “Synagogues of the Diaspora” and other enlightening exhibits.
• Travel to Old Jaffa for lunch on own at the flea market, followed by a walk among the many artists, vendors and cafes as we hear the history of the ancient port.
• As the sun begins to set over Tel Aviv, we enjoy Shabbat dinner together at our hotel.

Overnight in Tel Aviv

Day 4: Saturday, April 28, 2018: SHABBAT SHALOM!

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Optional Shabbat services this morning at a local synagogue (on own).
• We take a guided walk through the neighborhood of Neve Tzedek, one of the first neighborhoods built outside of Jaffa in the late 1800's.
• Continue along Bialik Street through part of the White City to see the Bauhaus architecture and get a peek into the lives of some of Tel Aviv's most significant residents of years gone by, as featured at the Gutman Museum, Bialik House, the Reuven Rubin House, as well as the Old City Hall and Square.
• As Shabbat comes to an end, we join together for Havdallah on the shore of the Mediterranean.
• Free evening to discover Tel Aviv on own.

Overnight in Tel Aviv

Day 5: Sunday, April 29, 2018: ESHKOL & BE'ER SHEVA

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Drive to Netiv HaAsara, located next to the Gaza Strip, where an electric fence and concrete walls were built for protection from Palestinian fighters. We visit the Peace Wall and hear how some residents chose to deal with this challenging situation.
• We drive south to the Eshkol Regional Center for a security briefing at the Command Center.
• Visit Eshkol's elementary school, an amazing fortified campus and educational center, including the opportunity to meet some of the kids.
• Drive along the border and see where and how close the Hamas tunnels were found, as we hear a briefing about Hamas and the current situation.
• Our next stop is at the “Salad Trail”, where we will participate in a unique hands-on agricultural tour, and witness how Israeli innovation is literally making the desert bloom with crops grown out of some of the most inhospitable sands imaginable. We will pick and taste fruits and vegetables straight from the kibbutz's self-picking farm, and encounter flying strawberries, tiny orange orchards, racing pigeons and herbal gardens. We enjoy a light lunch here.
• Visit the JNF/Hadassah Park in the desert in Be'er Sheva.
• Return to Tel Aviv for an evening at leisure and dinner on own.

Overnight in Tel Aviv 

Day 6: Monday, April 30, 2018: TRAVELING NORTH

• Breakfast and check out of our hotel.
• This morning, we travel north and visit Hadassah's Meir Shfeya Youth Village, where we interact with the kids and staff.
• Continue to the mystical city of Safed, the center of Kabbalah study and practice. Here, we visit the ancient synagogues and have time to shop among the many artist studios and galleries, including a visit to a calligraphy gallery and a chance to meet the artist.
• Continue to a goat dairy farm for a cheese tasting.
• We travel to the Galilean Hills for a concert at the home of composer and concert pianist, Yitzhak Tavior.
• Later this afternoon, we check in to our kibbutz and enjoy dinner together this evening.

Overnight in the Galilee 

Day 7: Tuesday, May 1, 2018: DISCOVERING THE BEAUTIFUL NORTH

• Breakfast at our kibbutz.
• We enjoy a stroll through the Tel Dan Nature Reserve, source of the Jordan River and site of ancient archeological finds.
• 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.
• Visit a Druze village of Bukata for a dialogue about their unique lifestyle and enjoy a traditional lunch together.
• Afternoon of relaxation at the kibbutz and spa.
• Dinner at Huzat Dubrovnik restaurant.

Overnight in the Galilee

Day 8: Wednesday, May 2, 2018: HULA VALLEY

• Breakfast at our kibbutz.
• Our day begins with a short walk in the Iyon Stream Nature Reserve, to the Tanur waterfall.
• Drive along the Lebanese border, with views into Lebanon, stopping at Kibbutz Malkia, a strategic overlook. Here we will meet with the IDF unit on the border and kibbutz security personnel to learn about the steps they take to protect a small frontier community.
• This afternoon, we stop at the Hula Valley Nature Reserve, 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.
• Afternoon relaxation at the kibbutz and spa.
• Dinner together at our kibbutz this evening.

Overnight in the Galilee 

Day 9: Thursday, May 3, 2018: THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM

• Breakfast and check out of our kibbutz.
• “Dreams and Realities”: walk through the Kinneret Cemetery and visit the graves , and hear the songs, stories and poems of Rachel, the early Zionist poet and Naomi Shemer, the author of Yerusahlayim Shel Zahav.
• We take a guided tour through the latest excavations at Beit Shean, with its Roman theater, remains of a large Byzantine city and the Biblical Tel.
• Travel south to Jerusalem, stopping atop Mt. Scopus upon arrival, for a special “Shehecheyanu” ceremony as we look out over the City of Gold for the first time.
• We visit Hadassah's Mt. Scopus Hospital, a leader in medicine and nursing in Israel.
• Check in to our hotel and refresh.
• Dinner on own
• This evening, we have the option of attending an experience at the City of David. The light Sound and Light show is screened against the backdrop of antiquities telling the story of the City of David OR attend a concert (to be advised in March).

Overnight in Jerusalem

Day 10: Friday, May 4, 2018: JEWISH HISTORY IN JERUSALEM

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• We begin our day at Mt. Herzl, Jerusalem's military cemetery, where we pay our respects at the gravesites of Theodore Herzl, Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres. We also visit the newly opened Remembrance Hall, Jerusalem's newest official memorial to IDF soldiers and victims of terror.
• We continue with a visit to Yad Vashem, Israel's memorial to the Holocaust, including a memorial service at the Valley of the Communities.
• 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 of the Six Day War and the reunification of Jerusalem, celebrated tomorrow.
• Time to relax and refresh at our hotel.
• This evening, we enjoy Kabbalat Shabbat at the Western Wall with the people of Jerusalem, followed by Shabbat dinner at the hotel in a private room.

Overnight in Jerusalem

Day 11: Saturday, May 5, 2018: SHABBAT SHALOM - HAPPY YOM YERUSHALAYIM!

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Spend the day at leisure discovering Jerusalem during the calmness of Shabbat.
• As Shabbat comes to an end, we join together for Havdallah with Barbara “BG” Goldstein on the rooftop of our hotel overlooking the Old City.
• Join the people of Jerusalem in celebrating Yom Yerushalayim with a concert at Safra Square!

Overnight in Jerusalem

Day 12: Sunday, May 6, 2018: THE MANY SIDES OF 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.
• We visit the Knesset and meet a current Knesset member, to hear about their experience.
• Continue on a VIP visit to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, for an in-depth look at this cutting-edge medical facility and how it has adapted to ever-changing needs. Visit to include meetings with leading medical doctors and researchers, all working to change the face of modern medicine.
• Geopolitical bus tour with Retired Colonel Miri Eisin, a former international media advisor to the Prime Minister of Israel, and a former Israeli government spokesperson.
• Spend the afternoon at leisure, discovering Jerusalem or relaxing at the hotel pool.
• Later this afternoon, we visit Machane Yehuda, Jerusalem's outdoor marketplace, filled with foods and spices of every variety. Together we will take part in the “shuk bites” program allowing us to enjoy a varied taste of the marketplace in a fun and new way.
• We enjoy dinner in the market and end our day with a graffiti tour after the market has closed, to view the art painted on the shutters of the closed stalls.

Overnight in Jerusalem

Day 13: Monday, May 7, 2018: OUR FINAL DAY IN ISRAEL

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Visit the Jewish quarter
• Free time for shopping and lunch at the Cardo in the Jewish Quarter.
• Visit the 9/11 Memorial and pay tribute to those who perished on that fateful day.
• Visit the friends of Zion museum in the heart of Jerusalem a beacon of light and platform for fighting BDS and Anti-Semitism internationally. The FOZ Museum tells the story of non-Jewish support for the State of Israel and the Jewish people.
• Free afternoon for relaxation and last minute shopping.
• This evening, we join together for a festive farewell dinner, recalling all that we have experienced together on this journey.
• Check out of our hotel and transfer to Ben Gurion Airport for our overnight flight home.

Day 14: Tuesday, May 8, 2018: WELCOME HOME!

• We arrive back in the United States this morning.


THE MEMORIES LAST FOREVER!!


*itinerary subject to change