Hadassah Israeli Cultural Curiosity Music, Art & Cuisine Led by Peg Elefant & Valerie Lowenstein November 5-15, 2023 - Ayelet Tours - Israel Tours - Jewish Heritage Tours - Bar/Bat Mitzvah Tours

Day 1: Sunday, November 5, 2023: DEPARTURE

• We depart the United States on our overnight flights to Israel.

Day 2: Monday, November 6, 2023: WELCOME TO ISRAEL!

• Shalom and Bruchim Habaim—welcome to Israel! Our time in this incredible land has officially
begun and our excitement mounts as we set off on the adventure ahead. Just beyond passport control, an Ayelet representative will meet us in the baggage claim area and assist us through customs.
• We begin our journey together with a welcome ceremony at Hadassah's Meir Shfeyah Youth Aliyah Village and learn more about this life-enriching project. Enroute, participants will travel north on Route 6, where they will pass the security fence and hear about its importance to the safety and security of the people of Israel. At Meir Shfeyah, participants will join the students and see the farm, winery and music classes.
• We stop for lunch on own en route.
• We drive north along the Mediterranean coast and travel to Ein Hod, a premier artists' village in Israel. Included in our time here are hands on demonstrations in music and art studios, with the opportunity to meet the artists' and experience their creative work environment.
• We continue to Safed to check into our hotel and refresh.
• This evening, we enjoy a welcome dinner at our hotel with Hadassah friends and a Klezmer musician.

Overnight in Safed

Day 3: Tuesday, November 7, 2023: CULTURE AND CULINARY CONNECTIONS IN THE NORTH

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• We begin the day at Kibbutz Malkia, where we will meet with Eitan, a kibbutz member and Meir Shfeyah graduate. Together, we will visit an army unit on the Lebanese border.
• We continue to the Druze village of Buq'ata, where we meet Naseeba and hear her story while enjoying a cooking workshop of stuffed vegetables, grape leaves and traditional Druze Hospitality lunch.
• Atop Mount Bental, a dormant volcano, we observe the far-reaching landscape to Kinneret and Tiberias and take in sweeping views into neighboring Syria as we consider the geopolitical realities of the north. We'll also see the striking metal sculptures.
• As the day wanes and the sun begins to set, we enjoy a tractor tour at the Hula Valley Nature Reserve during bird migration season and see how birds of feather flock together in the Land of Israel.
• We return to Safed for time to refresh at our hotel.
• This evening, we enjoy a beautiful glass of wine and delightful dinner together at a winery in the area.

Overnight in Safed

Day 4: Wednesday, November 8, 2023: THE MYSTICAL CITY OF SAFED

• Breakfast and check out of our hotel.
• We begin our day with a tour of the mystical city of Safed, one of four holy cities in Israel and the center of Kabbalistic practice. We stroll through the cobblestone streets to view the beautiful ancient synagogues, join a Kabbalah workshop, learn about the special art of drawing in Safed (pictures with words), shop in the artist's quarter and walk into the studios. We also tour the Abuhav synagogue and enjoy the detailed artwork.
• Next, visit Derech HaTavlinim (The Spice Way Farm) and meet with founder, Avi Zithershpieler, as we take a tour of the agricultural farm that grows over 50 different varieties of spices while learning about their amazing benefits.
• We ascend to Jerusalem. Upon arrival, we come together for a traditional Shehecheyanu ceremony at the Montefiore Windmill in Yemin Moshe, a historic Jerusalem neighborhood and today home to artists and musicians.
• After checking into our hotel, we enjoy a Biblical dinner together this evening, including a Sofer Stam (scribe) workshop to learn this amazing ancient art.

Overnight in Jerusalem

Day 5: Thursday, November 9, 2023: HEALTH AND HEALING AT HADASSAH

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Today, we visit Hadassah Hospital's Ein Kerem campus for a tour of the Sarah Wetsman Davidson Hospital Tower, featuring the most modern hospital facilities in the region. We visit the iconic Round Building and meet with staff and patients and take an in-depth look at this cutting-edge medical facility. We continue on a special art tour of the hospital housing many unique original pieces of art! We hear from an Art or Music Therapist and/or HMO physician or nurse to explore their healing work.
• For lunch, we will visit the Hadassah mall food court joined, where a hospital nutritionist guides us through options for what is and is not a truly healthy option!
• We end our tour with a visit to the Abbell Synagogue, home of the exquisite stain glass Chagall windows together with BG (Barbara Goldstein).
• Next, we travel to the Old City and enjoy a walking tour of the Jewish Quarter, including time to shop in the Cardo Market.
• Later, we visit the famed Machane Yehuda, where we take in the sights, smells and sounds of the bustling marketplace and learn about some of Israel's delicacies during our tasting tour led by a local chef. We will gather staples and supplies from the various stalls, culminating in an immersive cooking class, where we prepare our own delicious dinner together!

Overnight in Jerusalem

Day 6: Friday, November 10, 2023: ISRAEL THEN AND NOW

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• We begin our day at Yad Vashem, the national memorial to the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Here, we hear a speaker on the topic of music in the Shoah, and explore some of the newly found materials relating to places, people and events connected to the Holocaust, including:
o Avenue of the Righteous Among the Nations
o Exhibit of children's drawings
o Children's memorial
• We complete our visit at Yad Vashem with a group memorial service at the Valley of the Lost Communities.
• We have time for lunch on our own.
• This afternoon, we meet with Res. Col. Danny Tirza, who served in the Israeli intelligence community and retired from active service at the rank of full colonel. After retiring from the military, Res. Col. Tirza served as the Israeli Prime Minister's international media advisor. We learn about the current security and border issues around Jerusalem as we view the widely discussed security fence that runs from Ramallah to Bethlehem together with Col. Tirza.
• Before the sun sets, we join to welcome Shabbat at the Kotel with the people of Jerusalem, followed by Shabbat of a lifetime dinner and home hospitality.

Overnight in Jerusalem

Day 7: Saturday, November 11, 2023: SHABBAT SHALOM - SHUL HOPPING FOR THE SOUL

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• This morning, choose to participate in “shul-hopping “, including visits to some of the city's deeply diverse synagogues, to take part in a variety of unique Shabbat services; hear the sweeping variety of prayer modalities, niggunim (wordless melodies) and more from the Great Synagogue to the Italian Synagogue, a Moroccan synagogue and beyond!
• We stroll through the Nachlaot neighborhood, considered by many to be Jerusalem's most pluralistic community, mixing various streams of Orthodox Judaism with secular residents. Today, it has a trendy vibe and is home to many artists and musicians. We will end our tour at the Ades Synagogue, the Center of Syrian Chazanut in Israel. As we pass through along the way, we see the fabulous graffiti shutter art on the now closed stalls of Machane Yehuda.
• We return to our hotel for Havdalah joined by BG, marking the end of Shabbat and the beginning of a new week.
• After Shabbat, we join together for a painting workshop (and a small nosh), where we “draw Jerusalem” as we feel it today with our family and friends.
• Dinner on own. Possible optional evening activity (TBD).

Overnight in Jerusalem

Day 8: Sunday, November 12, 2023: THE NEGEV & ESHKOL: SCENES & SOUNDS OF THE SOUTH

• Breakfast and check out of our hotel.
• Today, we travel south to Moshav Netiv HaAsara and learn about the Path to Peace, a community-created mosaic along the border wall separating Israel from the Gaza Strip. We have an opportunity to add a piece to the mosaic and put our own imprint on this project of hope.
• We continue to the workshop of artist Yaron Bob. Struck by the terror of shell attacks, Yaron decided to transform something horrible into something beautiful, and so began his artwork known as “Rockets to Roses”.
• Next, we enjoy lunch at the Salad Trail, where the desert is blooming from some of the most inhospitable lands imaginable; a modern agricultural miracle.
• In Eshkol, we visit a Protected High School and special music studio to see students at work and hear the sounds and stories of success coming from here!
• We stop for a panoramic view into Gaza and a security update.
• This afternoon, we travel to Tel Aviv and check into our hotel with time to refresh before enjoying dinner together at a Yemenite restaurant with traditional music.

Overnight in Tel Aviv

Day 9: Monday, November 13, 2023: THE TASTE & TEXTURE OF TEL AVIV

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• We enjoy a walking tour to learn why Tel Aviv was chosen by UNESCO as a world heritage site. We discover “The White City”- thousands of international-style buildings, primary among them are the famous Bauhaus.
• We continue with a behind the scenes visit at the Tel Aviv Opera House, considered one of the most beautiful, interesting and prestigious buildings in Israel.
• Lunch on our own at bustling and varied Sarona Marketplace.
• This afternoon, we explore the world of interpretive dance from an Israeli point of view, meeting with dancers and choreographers at the Suzanne Dellal Center for Dance and Theatre. The centre pursues this mission by offering diverse performances, events, festivals, programs and workshops from the worlds of contemporary dance and performing arts.
• Free time to explore and enjoy dinner in the city on our own. An optional cultural event will be offered this evening!

Overnight in Tel Aviv

Day 10: Tuesday, November 14, 2023: THE EVOLUTION OF THE CITY

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• This morning, we enjoy a walking tour of Neve Tzedek and the Independence Trail through the Ahuzat Bayit neighborhood, from which the city originally developed.
• Next, we visit with graphic artist Rachel Timor. Much of her art focuses on the Tel Aviv of years gone by and she'll share her story and aesthetic with us.
• We stroll through the Florentin neighborhood and see the artistic graffiti painted on the walls and buildings and learn how it is an important form of expression in the community.
• We enjoy lunch at Florentina, a trendy vegetarian restaurant.
• Early this evening, we experience a co-existence tour in Old Jaffa, as a Jewish and Arab tour guide lead us side by side as we trace the different historical narratives and explore the possibility of creating a common future and shared society.
• This evening, we enjoy a festive farewell dinner together at Goshen, a meat restaurant, in a private room.
• After dinner, we transfer to Ben Gurion Airport for our overnight flights back to the United States.

Day 11: Wednesday, November 15, 2023: WELCOME HOME!

• We arrive back in the United States this morning.

THE MEMORIES LAST FOREVER!!
*Itinerary subject to change

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Hadassah Israeli Cultural Curiosity
Music, Art & Cuisine
Led by Peg Elefant & Valerie Lowenstein
November 5-15, 2023

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