Central Synagogue Board of Trustees- February 2024

Activities:

• VIP Arrival - Arrival at Ben Gurion airport. Your VIP agent will be waiting to greet you at the sleeve of the plane. After assisting with arrival procedures and collecting your baggage, you will be taken to meet your driver.

• Transfer to Jerusalem - Check into the Orient Hotel

• Dinner on your own - Recommendations and reservations can be made upon request.

• Jerusalem Orient Hotel

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Optional Women of the Wall Rosh Hodesh Adar I

• The Language of Jerusalem- a tour of words with Alden Solovoy - Jerusalem- A Meditation: Together with liturgist Alden Solovy engage in dialogue with the Old City. Hear the prayers Alden has composed and create your own as you explore the corners of the Old City. A liturgist, poet, and lyricist, his work has been used by people of many faiths throughout the world. Alden offers a fresh Jewish voice, challenging the boundaries between poetry, meditation, personal growth, storytelling, and prayer.

• Hummus lunch in the Old City

• See Jerusalem through a new lens - To see Jerusalem in depth and close up, tour Jerusalem's Old City with photographer and guide Simon Beni. Combine visits to historical sites with a workshop in photography.

• Pre-Shabbat musical program at Feel Beit - Feel Beit is a cultural home for creating art, expanding perspectives, and imagining new ways forward for Jerusalem. "We are a group of Israelis and Palestinians who create art and music to bridge divides in Jerusalem."

• Music by Yahala Lachmish - Yahala Lachmish is a musician, Cantor, Paytanit, and Singer. She holds a B.A. in composition from the Jerusalem Academy of Music.

• Alternative option- Conversation with Shaanan Street and Karen Brunwasser - Shaanan Street is founder of the legendary Hadag Nachash Band, famous for it's biting political commentary on Israeli society. "Ir HaElohim", a recent song about Jerusalem (The City of God) will be the canvas for a conversation between Karen Brunwasser, Founder of Feel Beit, and Street.

• Kabbalat Shabbat at Kehilat Zion - Kehilat Zion is an emerging community of Israeli Jews of all backgrounds, beliefs, customs, and practices, gathering together to re-dream Jerusalem as a meeting point for all.

• Shabbat Dinner in Ein Kerem Chef Ezra Kedem - Ezra Kedem is deeply 'Yerushalmi'- a Jerusalemite- in his roots and has taken this destiny along with the Iraqi- Jewish kitchens of his mother and grandmother and the experiences he shared with him to create Arcadia Restaurant. Arcadia has been at the forefront of New Israeli Cuisine.

• Jerusalem Orient Hotel

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Yoga Synagogue ah - Yoga Synagogue Ah followers find themselves all over Jerusalem practicing yoga in inspirational settings. Join the group's founder, Laura Gilinski, for a session to connect you to Shabbat.

• Hike in the Jerusalem Hills

• Shabbat Lunch at Hamatpera- Ingathering of the Exiles - Enjoy the variety of classic ethnic foods that are part of the Shabbat day meal. What Shabbat foods did Jews bring with them to Israel? Why were those foods eaten on Shabbat? How have they evolved in the Israeli kitchen.
  
  Hamatpera is a place where a textile seamstress once stood, in the picturesque village of "Abu Ghosh" in the Jerusalem mountains, The "seamstress" space is designed in an industrial, eclectic style with warm retro touches of furniture and objects with character.

• Return to the hotel, time to rest

• Meet MK Gilad Kariv-Parshat Mishpatim- Jewish Law in a Democratic State

• Havdalah

• Free evening and dinner on your own

• Jerusalem Orient Hotel

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• West Bank Tour with Rami Nazzal - Begin by considering how the residents of a refugee camp in the West Bank, are able to survive living under the hardest possible conditions. Meet with residents of the camp and walk through the narrow streets and alleys, while learning of their origins and hearing stories of their life under occupation. Gaining memories to last a lifetime, you will also discover that the Palestinians are still optimistic about the future and continue to hope and pray for peace. Walking towards the Separation Wall we will see the Jacir Palace Hotel, Banksy’s courageous artwork and “The Walled Off Hotel.” Standing steps away from the birth place of Christ at the Church of the Nativity and Manger Square we will make a wish for peace.

• Meet Amy Tohill-Stull, Mission Director to USAID/West Bank and Gaza Mission - Amy Tohill-Stull serves as the Mission Director to the USAID/West Bank and Gaza Mission. In this capacity, she oversees a program valued at an estimated $270 million in FY 2022, aimed at improving the lives of Palestinians and cultivating the conditions for a two-state solution through economic, humanitarian, and peace-building programs. Ms. Tohill-Stull is a career member of the United States Senior Foreign Service, with more than 25 years of development experience in countries characterized by conflict, political transition, and/or humanitarian crisis.

• Dinner at Rama's Kitchen - “Rama’s Kitchen” was founded by Rama Ben Zvi 22 years ago, as a unique restaurant in the Jerusalem hills. Over the years Rama’s Kitchen has become a thriving culinary landmark and is consistently ranked as one of Israel’s leading restaurants. The magnificent surroundings enhance a total and uniquely special culinary experience. The menu constitutes a confluence of contemporary western cooking techniques and traditional Arab and Mediterranean cuisine.

• Isrotel Royal Beach Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Meet the Mayor of Tel Aviv or other City Official - The vision for the future of Tel Aviv- Where are we going?

• Continue to the Schneider Medical Center- Medical Innovation - VIP tour and meeting with staff of the hospital (to be designed with the synagogue)

• Tour and lunch at Assif: Culinary Institute of Israel - Asif is a cultural center in Tel Aviv with a library, farm, gallery & café that encourages open discourse around local foodways and identity.

• Visit a TOM Tikkun Olam Makers Hub - TOM - Tikkun Olam Makers - is a global movement of communities that creates and disseminates affordable solutions to neglected challenges of people living with disabilities, the elderly and the poor.

• Meet the Founders of Tishrey Bar - Drink down a story of Israel! Travel the different regions of the country through the drinks. Through local spirits, quality Israeli produce, cultural design, and Israeli innovation, meet the staff of an Israeli cocktail 'start-up' and see how they translate this into amazing cocktails. Cocktails are mixed with Israeli alcohol, fruit in season, and wrapped into the Israeli story. You’ll have a chance to learn to mix the drinks as well.

• Dinner on your own

• Isrotel Royal Beach Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• 'The State of the State' with Journalist Haviv Rettig Gur or other speaker - Haviv Rettig Gur is a veteran Israeli-American journalist and analyst and serves as The Times of Israel’s senior analyst. He has reported from over 20 countries and lectures on Israeli politics, the US-Israel relationship, the peace process, modern Jewish history and identity, and Israel-diaspora relations. Gur is one of the most thought-provoking and detailed analysts of our time.

• Culture/Innovation Electives- each option will include a tasting tour at one of Tel Aviv's markets

• -The Tel Aviv Museum of Art with specialist Shirel Horovitz - In this dynamic tour we'll figure out what makes Israeli art into what it is, and what’s it relationship with the Zionist narrative as well as the international art world. This tour through the extensive Israeli collection at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art is an amazing way to visually explore the Israeli narrative from the early 20th century until today. What is the story the Arts Establishment tells about Israeli Art?

• -Israeli Fashion Tour - The tour addresses the relationship Israeli fashion has with the various aspects of living in Israel including identity questions, sub-groups in Israel, immigration to Israel, wars and cultural life and social entrepreneurship. Meet old and new fashion brands, designers who use ancient crafts and other professionals who use the best technology.

• -Start-Up Nation Central - Start-Up Nation Central is an independent non-profit that builds bridges to Israeli innovation. They connect business, government, and NGO leaders from around the world with Israeli innovation, offering Israeli innovators access to high-potential and previously inaccessible markets, through highly customized business engagements, and through Start-Up Nation Finder – an easy to use, up-to-date, free online platform for discovering and connecting with the thousands of relevant innovators.

• Final dinner Via Sabra Style- One Hundred Years of Tel Avivian Cuisine - Anglo v'Nina is a stunning space in a historic building from the Ottoman period in the heart of Yafo and was the site of Israel's first bank- Bank Anglo-Palestina. Dinner will be a culinary walk through Tel Aviv's last 100 years, featuring foods from the past and their newer iterations a la Israeli Fusion Cuisine.

• Transfer to the airport or return to the Royal Beach Hotel for the extension

• Transfer to the airport or return to the hotel for the extension

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Depart Tel Aviv and drive north along the Mediterranean Coast

• Akko Historical Tour - Walk through 4,000 years of history in this ancient city and UNESCO World Heritage site. The ancient city of Akko, situated on the Mediterranean coast, is one of the oldest ports in the world, and a city shared by Jews and Muslims. Walk narrow streets past towering ramparts, deep moats, green domes, venerable synagogues, slender Muslim minarets, and secret passageways.

• Lunch at Uri Buri Restaurant - For the past 40 years , the popular Uri Buri restaurant has offered a variety of delicately prepared fresh fish and seafood dishes, and boasts a wine list with over 100 different kinds of fine Israeli wines.

• Drive north to Israel's border with Lebanon

• Meet Sarit Zahavi for a briefing on the situation with Lebanon - Lookout over the Israel-Lebanese border hear about the geopolitics of the area with Lieutenant Colonel (Res.) Sarit Zehavi, CEO and founder of Alma, a non-profit independent research and education center specializing in Israel’s security challenges on its northern border.

• Talking Walls-Graffiti Project - See the Lebanese border from a new perspective. Talking Walls is a 400 meters long murals on the cement walls located on the Israeli-Lebanese border. This is a corporation of artists from Israel and around the world. The local residents were involved and shared their feelings and thoughts about living on the border, which was translated into art.

• Drive to hotel and check in

• Dinner at the hotel

• Pastoral Kfar Blum Hotel

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel - Check out of the hotel

• Ilan Shulman - Merom Golan - Take a geo-political tour of the Golan with an expert. While traversing the rich landscape, learn about the history, flora, and fauna of the area. Stop for a lookout over the border with Syria from Mt. Bental to get a better understanding of the geography and strategic role this region has for the State of Israel. Your local guide touches on the nuances of living so close to the Syrian border and what that has meant for Israel as it relates to security and humanitarian issues.

• Mika Winery - Mika Winery in Moshav Natur in the Golan Heights was established in 2006, out of a desire to live and uphold the values of land, family, and creation. Along with the wines, the highest quality products are served, carefully and lovingly produced in the neighboring farms in the Moshav or the Golan Heights: cheeses, olive oil, breads, seasonal fruits, patisseries and more.

• Tour the incredible site of Um el Kanatir - Um el Kanatir, also known as Ein Keshatot, is home to a Jewish village from the Period of the Mishna and Talmud, with a magnificent synagogue in its center. Enter a synagogue that features the original Ark Complex – the most preserved and magnificent ever to be discovered in Israel. The synagogue was excavated and reconstructed with advanced technological methods, and today it stands at a height of one story. The Ein Keshatot site also offers a visit to the village spring, which flows into ancient pools, surrounded by shaded areas.

• Drive towards the airport

• Stop for dinner at a restaurant

• Drop off at the airport for return flight

• Drop off at the airport