AEN Signature Seminar – Israel Experience – June 2023

Activities:

• 9:55 am Arrival at Ben Gurion airport on flight UA84 - Welcome to Israel! After assisting with arrival procedures and collecting your baggage, you will be taken to meet your guide and driver.

• Travel north and tour Wadi Nisnas - Wadi Nisnas is one of Haifa’s most colorful neighborhoods, full of narrow streets, picturesque stone houses, and the Wadi Nisnas market. It is a mixed neighborhood that captures the nature and atmosphere of the city of Haifa - a city of many faiths and communities, that live alongside each other in an exemplary co-existence. The Wadi Nisnas market is the place to go and experience some of the local flavors: taste pastries, spiced tea, the best falafel in Israel, and strong Turkish coffee, along with other delicatessens and aromas that will have your mouth watering.

• Beit-Hagefen Art Gallery - Beit Hagefen's activity centers around three main channels- an exhibition space, The Third Space – a place for education and art, and The Museum Without Walls – a platform for research and production of artworks in the public space. The museum is located in a late 19th century building and sits on the intersection of three neighborhoods – the German Colony, Hadar, and Wadi Nisnas. Through extensive artistic and educational activities, the Art Gallery at Beit HaGefen strives to establish a broad platform, between and beyond the walls of the gallery, for local communities and creative forces from Haifa and the region.

• Shfar'am - Explore the history of Shefar'am, today an Arab city and the site of an ancient Jewish-Roman city which was the second Galilee site of the Sanhedrin (the supreme council and tribunal of the Jews during postexilic times), at the end of the second century AD. Explore the unique social variety of the town and its 2,500-year-old rich history.

• Druze dinner in Shfar'am - Together with your hosts in their private home, prepare traditional Druze Galilean dishes and then enjoy the feast you create. Learn about Druze culture and history from your hosts and from the food you eat.

• Continue to hotel - And check-in

• North

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel - Every morning you'll enjoy a delicious Israeli buffet breakfast.

• Visit Hanaton Educational Center - Kibbutz Hanaton was founded as a Masorti (Conservative) kibbutz. Learn about the conservative movement in Israel and participate in a unique workshop in which you will discuss life in the Galilee, between secular and religious communities, Jews and Arabs, urban and Kibbutz. Experience building an independent community, while making decisions in a changing and challenging reality.

• Tzipori National Park - Tzippori was once the capital of the Galilee, the seat of the Sanhedrin and the place where the Mishna was completed. At Tzippori, view the ruins and ancient mosaic floor to see how native species have been part of the national iconography for centuries.

• Lunch on own in Nazareth

• Nazareth - Israel’s biggest Arab city, Nazareth is a fascinating place, set in the Lower Galilee. It combines traditional, simple Arabic charm, Christian history, and grand old Arabic architecture. Nazareth is home to many important early Christian sites, including the Basilica of the Annunciation, Mary’s Well, and the Synagogue Church, as well as an authentic, living Arab souk (market).

• North

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel - And check-out from hotel

• Kinneret Cemetery - At the Kinneret Cemetery meet the young pioneers who came to the shores of the Sea of Galilee a hundred years ago. Have a behind-the-scenes peek at their lives, dreams, and ambitions and their decision to “transform the landscape” by creating the institutions of modern statehood.

• Continue to the Dead Sea for Lunch and Swim - 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.
  This is a stunning, other-worldly landscape of shimmering blue water ringed by bare, orange and yellow hills. The waters of the Dead Sea hold a potent solution of minerals and salts that have strong healing properties. Together with its ethereal beauty, these health-giving minerals make the Dead Sea’s beaches and spas popular vacation spots for Israelis and tourists alike.

• Visit Qumran-National Park - Stop at the Qumran ruins, a fascinating site of great significance. In 1947 two Bedouin shepherds accidentally came across a clay jar in a cave near Khirbet Qumran that contained seven parchment scrolls. There is vast evidence that the manuscripts discovered in the Qumran caves belonged to the library of the occupants of the site in this period -a small hermit community referred to as the Dead Sea Sect. Today the scrolls reside in a specially constructed site for exhibiting the scrolls -the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

• Continue to Jerusalem - And check-in to hotel

• Dinner on own at Machane Yehuda Market - This bustling multi-ethnic market is bursting with life, art, and flavor in the heart of Jerusalem. At night the market transforms into the city's hottest night scene.

• Jerusalem

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Meet with Rashut HaRabim - Rashut Ha’Rabim is an umbrella organization for the renewal of Jewish life in Jerusalem. Working in partnership with more than 35 Israeli and Jewish institutions across religious denominations, it promotes pluralism, tolerance, and a city open to all.
  Meet with three Israelis: Secular Rabbi, religious LGBTQ, Reform Paytanit (Jewish liturgical poems author) and learn about the complexity of the Jewish identity.

• Lunch on own at the Yad Vashem Cafeteria

• 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.

• Return to hotel and prepare for Shabbat

• Shabbat dinner with Chef Rabbi Josh - Rabbi Josh is a Talmud scholar, a documentary filmmaker, a registered tour guide and specialty chef at Jerusalem’s iconic Tmol Shilshom Restaurant. Over your meal, Rabbi Josh speaks on a wide range of topics from his riveting personal story to an explanation of Jewish tradition and an introduction to the Talmud.

• Jerusalem

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Panoramic Lookout from the Mount of Olives - The Mount of Olives offers a panoramic lookout over the city. There are countless Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions about Mt. Olives, including that from here the Messiah will come, and from here the dead will be resurrected in the vision of the End of Days. Enjoy a beautiful lookout of the Holy Basin, the old and new city of Jerusalem.

• Old City, Jerusalem - Tour Jerusalem’s Old City and meet the people and places that make this place so unique. In the Jewish Quarter, uncover the layers of Jewish history from the time of the First Temple until the present day. Throughout the tour explore the complexity of a city that is holy to these three major religions.

• Old City Tasting Tour - Walk through the Muslim and Christian Quarters of the Old City seeing the historical and religious sites. See some off-the-beaten track sites in the winding alleyways and enjoy some Jerusalem delicacies. We will have a “taste of history” that interweaves stories and anecdotes, historical information, and, of course, combines the senses of smell, taste, and sound.

• Seudah Shelishit

• Meet with Racheli Fraenkel at hotel - On June 12, 2014 Gil-Ad Shaer, Naftali Fraenkel and Eyal Yifrah, were kidnapped and murdered on their way home for the weekend. The Gush Etzion Regional Council and the Gush Etzion Foundation decided to memorialize the boys by building a promenade, to be known as the “Boys’ Promenade”, at the Gush Etzion junction. Meet Racheli Fraenkel, mother of Naftali, to hear her story.

• Jerusalem

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel - And check-out

• Visit Hebrew University of Jerusalem - And meet with faculty members

• Light lunch and wine tasting at Psagot winery - Drive to the Psagot Winery which uses grapes planted upon the chalky terraces of the Binyamin region and the wine-making philosophy is deeply tied to the Land of Israel. The wine made here is aged in 600 barrels housed inside a gorgeous stone structure overlooking Wadi Qelt and the mountains of Edom.

• Tour Ramallah - And meet with Dr. Khalil Shikaki, a Professor of Political Science and director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research

• Continue to Tel Aviv

• Tour Old Jaffa - Jaffa is one of the most ancient port cities in Israel and the Mediterranean basin. Today Jaffa is a mixed city, where Jews and Arabs live alongside each other. Tel Aviv, Jaffa's younger sister, was established centuries later, in the year 1909, but the two were united into one municipality 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.

• Dinner on own in Jaffa

• Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Visit Battae Ethiopian Heritage Center - Meet with Ashager Araro, founder of The Battae center which serves as a place for guests to explore and appreciate the story of Ethiopian Jews in Israel. Visitors learn about traditional Ethiopian heritage through food, photography, art, music, dancing, and most importantly from hearing our stories.

• Levinsky Market Tasting Tour - The Levinsky Market specializes in spices and Mediterranean delicacies. It is, in many ways, the best market in Tel Aviv, known for its variety, freshness, and special atmosphere. The melting-pot character of the market reflects its fascinating history - starting with Balkan cuisine catering to Greek Jews in the 30s, expanding to Persian flavors introduced by Iranian Jews shortly after the establishment of the country, and evolving ever since to the diverse shuk it is today.

• Meet with BINA - The Jewish Movement for Social Change - בינ״ה - התנועה ליהדות חברתית - BINA means “Wisdom” in Hebrew. It is also a Hebrew acronym from a poem by Israel’s national poet, Chaim Nachman Bialik, for: Home for the Creation of a Nation’s Soul, meaning a nation which embodies the Jewish values; pluralism, social justice, social solidarity, democracy and peace.
  BINA is an Israeli-born movement at the intersection of Jewish education and social activism. BINA works to advance democracy, pluralism and justice in Israel and the Jewish world through limud (study), ma’ase (action) and kehilla (community), emphasizing Jewish culture and values of tikkun olam (repairing the world).

• Dinner on own

• Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Drive south to the Western Negev with Joe Perlov - Stop at key lookout points for an in-depth discussion of the complexity of the Gaza Border situation.

• Netiv HaAsara - Striving for Peace at Netiv Haasarah, a moshav on the western border of Israel with the Gaza Strip. Visit the Peace Wall on the border. Meet with local residents and hear about struggles, hopes and success stories.

• Visit Sapir College - And meet with faculty

• Group dinner at local restaurant

• Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel - And check-out

• Visit ANU Museum of the Jewish People - In June 2021, after ten years of planning and construction, the largest Jewish museum in the world opened its doors. You’re invited to join a fascinating journey that portrays the story of the Jewish people through the generations and up to the present time. The Museum represents all parts of the Jewish people and highlights the creative works and cultural riches of a variety of communities in different periods of history. This story is about all of us and each and every one of us is part of it.

• Meet with Tel Aviv University Faculty and staff

• The Israeli Museum at the Yitzhak Rabin Center - This museum’s riveting exhibit contrasts the life of former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated at a Peace Rally in 1995, with the development of the State of Israel.

• Farewell Dinner at a local restaurant

• Transfer to Ben Gurion Airport

• Farewell - We hope to host you again in our beautiful country!