Day School Sample Trip 8th grade

Activities:

• Arrive at Ben Gurion Airport - You will be greeted at the Airport by your guide and driver who will welcome you and you'll set off on your journey!

• Stop at a spot overlooking Jerusalem - Say Shehechiyanu to bless the beginning of your journey together in Israel!

• Drive to the Dead Sea area

• Dinner at the hotel - After dinner take a night walk

• Masada Hostel

Activities:

• Early snack before setting off for Masada

• Masada National Park - Hike up the snake path and tour King Herod’s private fortress which, following the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 BCE, became a base for a small band of Jewish zealots in revolt against the Romans. Although the rebels held their own, they were eventually overcome by siege, and according to historian Josephus, chose mass suicide over surrender. Masada has come to symbolize the fierce determination of the people of Israel, but its tragic history also raises questions about the price of freedom.

• Ein Bokek Beach - Swim in the Dead Sea and pizur lunch

• Ein Gedi-National Park - Ein Gedi nature reserve features Nahal David. Walk alongside and through the cool, fresh waters, down waterfalls, along jaw-dropping canyons, and past caves. If you’re both quiet and lucky, you might even glimpse the sure-footed ibex and other local animals.

• Evening Desert Dinner in the Bedouin-style tent

• FIELD SCHOOL SDE BOKER

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Set out in the Overland - The Overland is an all-terrain vehicle with huge windows which has been designed using modular construction.

• Hike in Ein Avdat-National - Ein Avdat is a beautiful canyon in the Negev desert. The Ein Avdat Spring flows down in a waterfall towards an 8-meter deep pool of water. The canyon is part of Nahal Zin, which is the longest wadi or dry riverbed in the Negev desert.

• Visit the grave of David and Paula Ben-Gurion - Ben Gurion was Israel’s first Prime Minister, whose vision for settling the desert is continuing to bloom. Throughout the trip, you’ll see his vision come to life.

• See Ben Gurion's Desert Home - Paula and David moved to their Desert home in 1953, following their acceptance as Sde Boker Kibbutz members, which manifested Ben-Gurion’s pioneering vision of settling the Negev.Their home has remained as it was left in 1973, according to Ben-Gurion’s instructions in his will, that his home will be open for the public to come visit. Since 1974, visitors can enjoy a tour of his home – as they would if they we’re his own personal guests.

• Stop at the Ramon Visitors Center - Through interactive exhibits, the Mitzpe Ramon Visitor Center, set on the northern cliffs of the Ramon Crater, tells the geological story behind this unique and amazing work of nature and contrasts it with the life of Astronaut Ilan Ramon.

• Cook dinner outside using the Overland's fold-out kitchen

• Camping in Makhtesh Ramon

Activities:

• Breakfast at campsite

• Hatzerim Air Force Museum - The Israel Air Force Museum represents huge collection of airplanes and helicopters, which were the parts of standard equipment of the Israel Air defense. There are also models from civil aviation of the country. The museum includes an audiovisual representation and exciting exhibitions devoted to Israel Air Forces survival. On the museum’s central area are placed more than 20 airplanes.

• Archeological Dig at Beit Guvrin - The caves of Beit Guvrin hold a rich trove of artifacts that visitors like you have uncovered over the years. Don’t forget to check out the amazing Bell Caves too.

• Lunch and program at Beta Yisrael Ethiopian Project - The Beta Israel Village Project is a unique social-educational center on the outskirts of Kiryat Gat, which combines agricultural and educational activities with the intent of preserving Jewish-Ethiopian heritage and establishing it as a sustainable national asset.

• Learn about the Burma Road - Burma Road was formed during the Independence War as part of the struggle to break into Jerusalem and stop the siege. Their mission was to make sure Jerusalem is part of the new Jewish state.

• Dinner in Abu Ghosh

• Agron Hostel

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Explore Machane Yehuda Market - In the heart of Jerusalem, a bustling multi-ethnic market bursting with life, art, and flavor, a tasting tour through Mahane Yehuda market is an adventure for your taste buds. Enjoy the hustle and bustle with all the rich fragrances, colors, and sounds this iconic Jerusalem market offers.

• City of David - Walk through water in Hezekiah’s Tunnel, part of the ancient City of David built around the Gihon spring, which is on the side of the cliff overlooking the Kidron Valley. Because the city was vulnerable to attack, in about 701 BC, a tunnel was built to protect the water supply.

• Tour the Jewish Quarter with boxed lunch - The Jewish Quarter is best known for the Western Wall, but there’s a lot more to see and do here. See archaeological finds from First and Second Temple periods, Roman ruins, and vibrant synagogues, learning institutions which jostle for space in these busy stone streets. The central plaza offers an excellent place to contemplate the power this quarter holds for so many.

• Explore what’s under the Kotel through the Kotel Tunnels Tour - The Western Wall is impressive, but its greatness is truly discovered when you descend underground to the Western Wall Tunnels. The tunnels run along approximately 488 meters (1601ft) of the Western Wall, giving visitors a taste for the challenge that stood before Herod the Great during this biggest of all his immense building projects - the expansion of the Temple Mount.

• Walk through the Southern Wall Archaeological Gardens - Visit the Davidson Visitors' Center and enjoy a modern, interactive virtual presentation. The museum presents a taste of the archaeology of Jerusalem from different eras - covering the First Temple, Second Temple, Byzantine, Islamic, and the Crusades periods.

• Kabbalat Shabbat

• Shabbat dinner at the hotel

• Agron Hostel

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Shabbat morning Tefilot at Kehillat Har El - Shabbat dinner at the hotel

• Walking tour in Yemin Moshe or another neighborhood - Yemin Moshe was established with the financial support of British Jewish banker Moses Montefiore in 1891 outside Jerusalem's Old City as a solution to the overcrowding and unsanitary conditions inside the walls. The original houses were built with a wall around them and a gate that was locked at night. Montefiore left an indelible mark on the Jerusalem landscape by building the landmark Montefiore Windmill in Yemin Moshe. Walk through this special neighborhood.

• Lunch at the hotel - After lunch will be afternoon visiting time for guests and park time.

• Havdalah followed by pizza dinner

• Agron Hostel

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Private tour at Yad Vashem - Visit the museum at Yad Vashem, Israel’s National Memorial to the Holocaust. Tour this memorial to the darkest moment in world and Jewish history, its children’s memorial, and exquisite gardens. Yad Vashem is an unforgettable place of tribute and remembrance. You'll be guided by a member of the Yad Vashem staff.

• Walk to Mount Herzl - As Israel’s national cemetery, Mount Herzl is the final resting place of leaders of Zionism and Israel, including Yitzhak Rabin and Herzl himself, and of thousands of soldiers killed defending the State of Israel. At Mount Herzl you will find a moving monument to the 23,000-odd soldiers and civilians killed in combat or by terrorism since the founding of the state.

• Biblical lunch and tour at Neot Kedumim - Neot Kedumim, the Biblical Landscape Reserve in Israel, is a unique endeavor to re-create the physical setting of the Bible in all its depth and detail. Try your hand at shepherding a small herd of sheep and goats. Understand why many Biblical leaders, including Moses and David led animals before leading people.

• Drive north to Sovev Kinnert for a celebratory welcome!

• Degania Bet

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Nahal Amud hike with Kaduri partners - Nahal Amud has it all- gorgeous scenery, a beautiful trail, water, and history. Hike this trail and take part in the national pastime of Israel!

• Partnership activities - Get to know Milwaukee's partners in the Sovev Kinneret

• Afternoon and evening in Home Hospitality

• Home Hospitality

Activities:

• Breakfast with your host family

• Spend the morning at Kaduri School

• Drive to Tel Aviv and check into your hotel

• Nahalat Binyamin Arts and Crafts Market - Visit Nachlat Binyamin, an open-air market in the heart of Tel-Aviv that has become synonymous with quality Israeli crafts and folk art. The market is comprised of over 100 stands representing specialty crafts and folk art in virtually every medium imaginable: wood, stone, sand, glass, ceramics, various metals with most if not all containing materials or themes found only in Israel.

• Pizur dinner in the Carmel Market

• Embassy Hotel Tel-Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Old Jaffa - Tour Old Jaffa, one of the most ancient port cities in Israel and the Mediterranean basin. This is the port from which prophet Jonah attempted to escape the word of God (Jonah 1:3). For centuries, the port of Jaffa was the gateway to the Land of Israel. Today Jaffa is a mixed city, where Jews and Arabs live alongside each other. Tel Aviv, Jaffa's much younger sister, was established centuries later, in the year 1909, but the two were united into one municipality already in 1949, yet each part kept its unique feel and atmosphere. Jaffa has been regenerated in recent years with the old narrow streets and courtyards becoming a highly popular part of Tel Aviv’s urban tapestry.
  
  On a walk through Jaffa, discover the ancient and modern situated side-by-side. Stroll through the alleyways of the Old City filled with artist studios as well as archaeological discoveries. Discover which Jewish and Christian stories took place in the city.

• Independence Trail - Inspired by the Freedom Trail in Boston, the new Independence Trail follows 10 stops of Tel Aviv’s heritage sites learning about the history of this great city along the way. The trail begins at the intersection of tree-lined Rothschild Boulevard and Herzl Street, home to Tel Aviv’s first kiosk. The trail ends across the street at Independence Hall, where on May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion read aloud the Declaration of Independence as Israel was declared an independent Jewish state.

• Neve Tzedek - Neve Tzedek, the first Jewish neighborhood to be built outside of Jaffa and currently one of the most beautiful and desired locations in Tel Aviv. It was built by some of the dignitaries of the old Jewish community of Jaffa in 1887. They were looking to head out of the ever-growing and over-crowded Jaffa, to build what was considered back than modern and comfortable housing. In recent years, after a period of neglect, the neighborhood was resorted and became a trendy fun beautiful part of the city and a good place to try some Israeli Gelato!

• Explore Florentine on an urban Graffiti Tour - Who are the people going out at night and changing the face of the neighborhood? What kind of story do these images and words tell us about the people living there? What is unique about graffiti in Israel and in Tel Aviv? We will walk through Florentine, the neighborhood of Tel Aviv best-known for graffiti art to answer these questions and many more in a dynamic and inquisitive tour.

• Final dinner

• Transfer to the airport