Our Israel Trail – March 2025

Activities:

• Pick up times - Airport pick up - 1PM
  Tel Aviv pick up - 2PM

• Departure from Tel Aviv meeting place - Welcome to Israel!

• Drive north with a stop for a one hour get to know you hike - Mark the beginning of the journey with Shehechiyanu and a “Compass Ceremony” looking out in all directions and centering ourselves.

• Orienteering Session - Learn the skills of navigation. In Hebrew the word for “direction” and “intention” are from the same root. We’ll explore the intersection of these two terms both physically and spiritually.

• Dinner at the hotel

• Evening conversation - Why do Israelis walk the Israel Trail? How was the route decided and why?

• Tzfat, Ruth Hotel

Activities:

• Early breakfast at the hotel

• Opening Ceremony - Drive to the “Gate of the Shvil,” official starting place of the Israel National Trail, for an Opening Ceremony. Learn the coding of the trail marker and get walking!

• Hike between Tel Dan and the Hatzbani National park - Start at Tel Dan Nature Reserve and hike along the Hatzbani (Snir) stream -a central source of water to the Jordan river, walking through the fresh water to the end of the river at Maayan Baruch.

• Stop along the way for the ritual of the coffee break- enjoy café tourki (Turkish coffee) and ugiot (cookies)

• Time for lunch on your own at an open shopping center with a variety of options

• Shaar Yeshuv Memorial - The Shaar Yeshuv Memorial commemorates the deadliest air disaster in Israeli history which occurred in February 1997 and left 73 IDF soldiers dead after the two helicopters they were in crashed as they were waiting to cross the border into Lebanon. We’ll talk about why we use stones to mark a grave and what this accident did to the country

• Barbeque and Kumzitz - Dinner at the home of a “Trail Angel”, people who welcome trail trekkers into their homes as they take the journey.

• Tzfat, Ruth Hotel

Activities:

• Breakfas

• Hike in the areaa of Mount Meron - Hike the Meron area where you’ll see the graves and learn the legacy of Hillel and Shammai. Hillel and Shammai were two leading sages of the last century BCE and the early 1st century CE who founded opposing schools of Jewish thought, known as the House of Hillel and House of Shammai. The debate between these schools on matters of ritual practice, ethics, and theology was critical for the shaping of the Oral Law and Judaism as it is today.

• Stop at Horvat Shema - See the ancient synagogue at Horvat Shema as well as the geological formation of Kisei Eliyahu. Legend has it that Elijah the Prophet will sit on this ‘chair’ to look out onto the land in all directions and announce the Redemption.

• Druze Hospitality and cooking workshop - Visit one of the Druze villages of the Galilee. The Druze are known for their hospitality and warm welcome of visitors. Learn about their fascinating history, unique religion, an ancient tradition, and engage in a fun and delicious culinary workshop, followed by an amazing Druze feast.

• Drive to the hotel

• Dinner and evening conversation

• Tzfat, Ruth Hotel

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel - Check out of the hotel

• Discussion with Rabbi Elisha Wolfin - What is the mitzvah of "Walking the Land?" Why is this of such a high value in Israeli society?

• Spend the morning in Ramat HaNadiv area - Ramat Hanadiv combines formal gardens, an extensive nature reserve presenting the native plants and wildlife of the Carmel, and an eco-friendly visitors’ center for environmental education. The gardens are named after Baron Edmund James de Rothchild (1845-1934), who was a major and pivotal supporter of the Zionist movement in its early years ("Hanadiv" - the generous, the philanthropist). Around the park are different hiking trails and easy walking paths, some archeological relics, and in its center - the burial ground of Baron de Rothschild and his wife, Ada.

• Lunch at a Nirvana Food Truck in Park HaYarkon

• Continue on the Israel Trail to Tel Aviv through Park Hayarkon

• Check into the hotel

• Dinner at Ewa Safi - Ewa Safi features Moroccan Soul Food

• Tel Aviv, Tal Hotel

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel - Check out of the hotel

• Begin at Latrun and continue to Sha'ar Hagai - Walk in the footsteps of the Israeli soldiers that fought for stopping the siege over Jerusalem in 1948. Walk from Latrun to Sha’ar Hagai along the Burma Road, built during the War of Independence to circumvent hostile Arab villages cutting off Jerusalem from critical supplies coming from Tel Aviv.

• Stop at the Machal Memorial - Stop at the Machal Memorial to foreign volunteers who lost their lives to support Israel's struggle for independence.

• Food Truck Lunch - In the magnificent Jerusalem Hills, enjoy a lite lunch at a Food Truck stop while taking in the breath taking views of the Jerusalem Mountain area. Lunch not included

• Drive to Jerusalem

• Walk through Kidron into the Old City of Jerusalem

• Check into the hotel

• Free night and dinner on your own in Jerusalem

• Ibis Styles Jerusalem City Center

Activities:

• Breakfast & check-out

• Hike in Park Britannia From Emek HeEla to Mitzpe Mesuah

• Stop at Tel Azeka. - The pear-shaped Tel Azeka was one of the main Judean Biblical border cities as it towered over the Elah Valley. It was here that the Bible tells us the Amorite kings were defeated by Joshua and their army destroyed by a hailstorm. Looking at the panoramic view from the top of the tel, one can vividly picture the historic battle between the young shepherd, David, and the mighty Philistine warrior, Goliath that took place in the Elah Valley

• Continue to the House of Containers - Meet Ilya Magnes in his unique home on Moshav Luzit- a home built entirely from shipping containers. Hear Ilya's interesting life story, have a recital by Ilya who plans a collection of instruments- all very well, and enjoy a rich, healthy home made lunch.

• Return to Jerusalem

• Kabbalat Shabbat

• Shabbat Dinner

• Ibis Styles Jerusalem City Center

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Two options- additional cost:

• -Masada National Park and the Dead Sea - Ascend the mountain from the east to explore Masada, scene of the epic stand by Jewish rebels at the end of the Great Revolt against Rome nearly 2,000 years ago. The new museum at the Visitor Center reveals the secrets of the daily life of the rebels, the story of the excavations, and how the site became one of Israel’s most important symbols.
  
  At 1,300 feet below sea level, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth. Known in Hebrew as "The Sea of Salt", it is also one of the saltiest lakes in the world - with about 34.2% salinity.

• - Food Tour in the Judean Hills

• Come together for Havdalah to usher out Shabbat.

• Evening on your own

• Ibis Styles Jerusalem City Center

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel - Check out of the hotel

• Hike the Shikma River Israel Trail Section

• Drive to Beer Sheva

• Ethiopian meal and meeting with Naftali Aklum - Naftali Aklum, an Ethiopian activist who was born in Ethiopia in 1979, the youngest of 12 siblings. His brother Ferede Aklum z”l was determined to reach Jerusalem and set out from Ethiopia in 1978 on a long, dangerous trek through the desert, ultimately reaching Sudan. Naftali reached Israel with his family in 1980, at age one, thus fulfilling a dream that had been kept alive for 2,500 years. Hear his story and that of the Ethiopian Aliyah

• Drive to the hotel

• Enjoy desert wines from Pinto Winery - The Israeli desert is a fascinating and unique terroir, probably on a global scale. The folks at Pinto Winery try to ‘decipher’ the desert terroir, and produce from it elite wines, up there with the country’s finest boutique wines. Pinto winery is owned by Ya’acov Oryah is an experienced and inventive winemaker experimenting with the potential of Israel's complex terroir.

• Mashabe Sade

Activities:

• Breakfast

• Hike in Ein Akev and Zin Valley

• Continue to the Graves of David and Paula Ben Gurion - Visit the grave of David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minister, whose vision for settling the desert continues to bloom today. Throughout the day, you’ll see his vision come to life.

• Lunch on your own in Midreshet Sde Boker

• Check into the hotel

• Meet Bedouin Tracker soldiers - Meet soldiers or former soldiers from the Gashashim (Trackers) Unit. The IDF’s Trackers Unit is comprised of a few hundred combat soldiers, most of whom come from Israel’s Bedouin community and draft into the IDF as volunteers. These soldiers go through a special course that prepares them to become trackers in the most thorough way.

• Traditional Bedouin Dinner

• Overnight: Mashabe Sade

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Hike in Makhtesh Ramon - Hiking in Makhtesh Ramon (The Ramon Crater) including following the Ancient Spice Route which begins in Makhtesh Ramon to the site of Nabatean city of Ovdat. Learn about the Nabatean winemaking while seeing one of the At least five wine presses dated to the Byzantine period that have been found at the various Nabatean sites in the area such as Ovdat and Shivta.

• Lunch on your own in Mitzpe Ramon

• Visit the Mitzpe Ramon Visitors Cente - Learn the geological story behind this unique and amazing work of nature through interactive exhibits. At the center, pay tribute to Ilan Ramon, Israel’s first and only astronaut, who tragically died on a space mission in 2003. View the crater from a stunning vantage point, at the heart of the promenade which stretches along the Ramon Crater mouth. There is a hanging terrace providing a marvelous observation point over the depths of the crater.

• Dinner at Kibbutz Neot Smadar - Kibbutz Neot Smadar was established in 1989 by a group of friends interested in creating a learning community that focuses on cooperation and creativity in daily life. As individuals in a dynamic community, they explore what it means to live together as co-learners and relationships. Their interest in relationships extends to the environment through organic farming, desert architecture, water recycling, The Art Center, winery, and more.

• Drive to Kibbutz Yahel and check in

• Kibbutz Yahel

Activities:

• Breakfast at hotel

• Travel by jeep to the beginning of your trail - Hike in Eilat Mountains and arrive at the end of the trail in Eilat.

• Lunch at the Camel Farm

• Afternoon on the beach - Lunch on your own

• Evening celebration and closing ceremony

• The Reef Eilat by Herbert Samuel

Activities:

• Breakfast & check-out of the hotel

• 9:00 a.m. Bus from Eilat to Ben Gurion

• L'hitraot!