Congregation Beth Israel Portland- June 2024

Activities:

• Arrival at Ben Gurion Airport. - Optional-a 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 your hotel in Jerusalem - Check into the hotel

• Gather in the hotel lobby to begin the trip - Meet your guide and get started on your journey.

• Shehechiyanu at the Montefiore Windmill Plaza - One of Jerusalem’s iconic landmarks, the Montefiore windmill was originally a flour mill, built in the 19th century by British philanthropist Moses Montefiore to help the Jews of the Old Yishuv support themselves. Today the windmill houses Montefiore’s golden coach, as part of a small museum about his projects to support Jewish life in the Holy Land.

• Dinner at Hatzot - Hatzot is a part of Jerusalem’s history. Two brothers, Abraham and Michael Ajami founded this landmark family restaurant in 1970. Legend has it that Meurav Yerushalmi - the favorite Israeli mixed grill dish - was born at Hatzot Restaurant.

• Options:

• -Enjoy the night scene at Machane Yehuda Market - In the heart of Jerusalem Machane Yehuda is a bustling multi-ethnic market bursting with life, art, and flavor. Enjoy the hustle and bustle of the hottest nightlife scene in the city.

• In the Orthodox neighborhoods near the shuk, see the neighborhood in action preparing for Shabbat and taste fresh-baked challah and other baked good.Geula-

• Theatron Hotel - The brand new Theatron Hotel offers its guests a meaningful and memorable experience with an authentic Israeli theme, inspired by nature and infused with genuine Jerusalemite hospitality. Theatron caters to sophisticated guests who appreciate authentic and uniquely crafted artistry.

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Jerusalem from a birds-eye view - Take in the 360° panoramic view from atop an ancient guard tower at Tower of David grounds. This is the only place in Jerusalem where the entire Old City, new Jerusalem, Mount of Olives, Mount Scopus, the Judean Desert and the Moab Mountains of Jordan, will be at your feet.

• Walk through the Arab shuk to the Jewish Quarter for a view of the Kotel Plaza and the Western Wall

• Take in the broad view of the Western Wall - We are accustomed to being up close to the Kotel. Today we will look from afar and consider the bigger picture of history, politics, and traditions surrounding the wall. Think about the phrase- "things we can see from there, cannot be seen from here"

• Walk through the Old City to the Damascus Gate, having local tastes along the way

• Stop for hummus lunch

• Visit the Museum on the Seam - The Museum on the Seam is a socio-political contemporary art museum, located on the geographic seam line between East and West of Jerusalem, in the meeting point of the three religions. The Museum, in its unique way, presents art as a language with no boundaries in order to raise diverse social issues for public discussion and bridge the gaps.

• Kabbalat Shabbat program at Feel Beit with Yahala Lachmish - 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. Everything we present is rooted in love for the diverse people of this place. We are driven by the conviction that when all else breaks down, art and music must break through."
  
  Yahala Lachmish is a musician, Cantor, Paytanit, and Singer. She holds a B.A. in composition from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and accompanies the Sephardic track of the Ashira Tehilot program for musicians and cantors at the Schechter Institute

• Shabbat dinner at the hotel

• Theatron Hotel

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Explore the Jerusalem Hills at the beautiful Sataf forest for an easy hike through the area - The Sataf is on the site of ancient agricultural terraces which date to the time of the ancient Israelites. If it’s warm enough, there’s even an option to take a dip in some of the natural springs. Along the way - forage for edible plants.

• Continue to the Seahorse Winery - The Seahorse winery is a small operation and is one of the better places to get to know the Judean Hills' terroir. Zeev Dunie, a filmmaker turned winemaker, has pioneered coaxing authentic Mediterranean flavors from unusual grapes.

• Shabbat Brunch at Hamatpera - 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 - In the place where a textile seamstress once stood, in the picturesque village of "Abu Gush" in the Jerusalem mountains, The "seamstress" space is designed in an industrial, eclectic style with warm retro touches of furniture and objects with character in the space created.

• Return to the hotel to rest

• The Four Faces of Israel with Helen Gottstein - Four Faces of Israel is an interactive program on modern day Israel: its challenges, its divisions, its history, its passions, and its people. The four characters convey a great deal of information on the nature of the state, Middle East history, modern Jewish identity, and the complex challenges Israel faces.

• Join together for Havdalah

• Dinner on your own - We can make restaurant suggestions and reservations

• Theatron Hotel

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Begin the day at the Sinsila Center - The Sinsila center is located in the heart of East Jerusalem, on the terraces of the Central Library. It is dedicated to educate, inspire, and empower, local communities. Its goal is to heal the urban environment of Jerusalem by providing local and sustainable solutions. Sinsila’s plan action has three main focus points: employment, inspiration, and education. It aims at having a multidimensional approach in order encompass healing the city, community work, urban planning, economic empowerment, sustainability, and ecology.

• Visit, cooking workshop, and lunch at Metzilot Mazon - The Jerusalem Food Rescuers, aims to create a more Just and sustainable urban food system with less waste. Working with the wholesale market, they divert surplus produce that would have otherwise gone to waste and support communities that don’t have equitable access to food, engage in food literacy focused activities such as lectures and workshops with kids and adults, and run a sustainable catering business.

• Free time

• Optional- speaker- journalist, IRAC, other

• Dinner at Offaime Restaurant at Beit Hansen - At Offaime Restaurant you are invited to savor the food and take part in the move to flavorful, organic, and environmentally conscious agriculture. The restaurant focuses on handmade produce that is crafted slowly using traditional techniques to create food that is tasty and healthy and packaged with complete respect for the environment and for the people who take part in the creative process. The restaurant's unique setting in Beit Hansen brings another element to the experience - it sits in one of the first hospitals established in Jerusalem in the mid-19th century, by the Joint Anglican-German Protestant Community in Jerusalem.

• Theatron Hotel

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel - Check out of the hotel

• Depart Jerusalem and drive south

• Visit JNF Project Wadi Attir - Wadi Attir a joint initiative of the Bedouin municipality of Hura and the Sustainability Laboratory, a U.S.-based nonprofit. Project Wadi Attir aims to establish a model for a radically innovative, sustainable desert farming operation that will contribute to the well-being of the Bedouin community of the Negev by creating stable income sources, fostering employment opportunities for women, increasing education, and assisting with capacity-building.

• Lunch in an Ethiopian restaurant with Naftali Aklum - Aklum is 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

• Enconter with Beer Sheva's Ethiopian Community with Naftali Aklum - Learn about the community and visit its synagogue.

• Drive south with a stop at the Grave of David Ben Gurion - Visit the grave of David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minister, whose vision for settling the desert continues to bloom today. How are the things you've seen today a reflection of his vision?

• Check into the hotel

• Have a glass of wine on the patio overlooking the Ramon Crater

• Dinner at the hotel

• Beresheet

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Maktesh Ramon Hike - Walk through the stunning Negev Desert and get to know the endless variations of the landscape. Explore the remarkable Makhtesh Ramon and immerse yourself in the details of the land around you.

• Jeep Tour in Mitzpe Ramon - Start at the top of the Atzmaut Ascent, descend into the Makhtesh and cross to Wadi Ramon. Continue to the summit of Mt. Gvanim which offers a stunning view of the entire Makhtesh. From there, ride along Wadi Gvanim, continuing to the Ein Sahronim spring and the nearby Nabatean ruins. During the jeep tour you will have time to hike various parts of the crater.

• Bread Baking Workshop at Lasha Bakery - After learning and baking, You’ll have a lunch of salads and bread.

• Time to enjoy the hotel facilities

• Desert Dinner - Desert Dinner- it’s not a mirage! Your evening awaits under the stars with a taboon for bread making, smoked meats, spirits, desert music, star-gazing, and the most magical dinner you’ve ever had.

• Beresheet

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Time to enjoy the hotel's facilities and check out at 11:00

• Meet the people who created Naot Farm - Naot Desert Farm is one of the many havot bodedim (lone farms) built by Lea and Gadi Nahimov, modern-day pioneers who are making David Ben-Gurion’s vision of the desert blooming come to life. Visit the goats and taste some delicious cheese.

• Drive to the Eshkol region to visit GrooveTech - Groove Tech is a state-of-the-art safe indoor playground and innovative learning center that is providing a welcoming space where kids can thrive during the day and after school hours. The center’s two stories house rock climbing walls, a “tree house” play structure, virtual reality rooms, a planetarium, science and robotics spaces, art workshops, and general social and gathering spots. It is quickly becoming the go-to place in the Eshkol Region.

• Lunch- home hospitality in Netivot - The Culinary Queens host in their homes while telling guests about their culture and background and educating through recipes. Many of Netivot's residents come from Morocco and Yemen and tasting their traditional dishes combined with their stories is quite a treat!

• Continue to Netiv HaAsara - Striving for Peace at Netiv HaAsara, a moshav on the western border of Israel with the Gaza Strip. Visit the Peace Wall on the border. Meet Tsameret Zamir, an artist and the creator of the project who will talk about life in the moshav in the shadow of the ongoing security situation – and about the hope of a good and peaceful future. Choose a colorful optimistic tile on which to write a personal wish and later glue to the border wall.

• Drive to Tel Aviv and check into your hotel

• Dinner on your own

• Isrotel Royal Beach Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Rainbow Tour - Tel-Aviv, the gay capital of the Middle-East, is also the home of a young, vibrant and colorful LGBT community. Meet leaders of the community and while walking the Rainbow tour of the White city, discuss the particular issues of being gay in Israel. Walk with us through all the important PINK POINTS, the main sites and best night-life spots, while learning about the events that shaped this unique community.

• Asif: Culinary Institute of Israel - Asif is a non-profit organization and culinary center in Tel Aviv dedicated to cultivating and nurturing Israel’s diverse and creative food culture, a joint venture of the New York City-based Jewish Food Society and Tel Aviv’s Start-Up Nation Central.

• Levinsky Market Tasting tour lunch - 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. Whether you are looking for a rare Indian spice or some good quality saffron - this is the place. Shops offer a cornucopia of excellent cheeses, smoked fish, wines, and other delicacies. Tour the market and have "tastings" throughout.

• The Revival of Mizrahi Culture in Israel - This revival, known in Hebrew as the "Hithadshut HaMizrahi" (the Mizrahi Renewal), marks a shift in Israeli culture. For much of Israel's history, Mizrahi Jews suffered from discrimination and felt they were treated as second class citizens in this Middle Eastern country, created as a state that was supposed to welcome all Jews. Explore how this revival has manifested itself in Israel.

• 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 at Ewa Safi - Ewa Safi features Moroccan Soul Food

• Isrotel Royal Beach Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Culture and Innovation Options: - Each person will choose one option

• -Peres Center for Peace and Innovation - The Peres Center for Peace and Innovation is a leading non-profit and non-governmental organization focused on developing and implementing unique and cutting-edge programs. The center presents the incredible story of Israel, the "innovation nation", and showcases the diverse fields and people behind Israeli innovation.

• -The History of Israeli Art with 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 - During the tour you will get to learn a brief history of Israeli Fashion: where it came from and where it is today, visit 2-3 special brands, meet the designers who will share their unique stories, answer questions and allow time for shopping.

• Wine tasting and light lunch at Neve Yarak Winery - The Neve Yarak winery was established in Moshav Neve Yarak, in early 2015, by Momo Shmilovitz - a third generation to an agricultural family from the founders of the settlement The winery specializes in making wine from Carignan, Grenache, and Syrah grapes, grown in mature vineyards, nurtured by the family. Combining passion for wine and agriculture, the local grapes tell a story of sixty years of settlement and agricultural, social and cultural development.

• Option-Nahalat Binyamin Arts and Crafts Market - If your tour is on Tuesday or a Friday, visit Nachalat 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, and various metals with most if not all containing materials or themes found only in Israel.

• Free time

• Kabbalat Shabbat at theTel Aviv Port with Beit Tefilah Israeli - This is one option or join a local reform synagogue.

• Shabbat Dinner in private setting

• Isrotel Royal Beach Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Jaffa Walking Tour - 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. Though the two were united into one municipality in 1949, each part has retained 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.

• Time for lunch on your own at the Jaffa Flea Market - Wind your way through the Flea Market which features everything from antiques to hip new clothing and design stores, cafes, restaurants, and bars.

• ANU Museum of the Jewish People - 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. In June 2021, after ten years of planning and construction, this museum, the largest Jewish museum in the world, opened its doors. It represents all parts of the Jewish people and highlights the creative works and cultural riches of a variety of communities throughout different periods of history. This story is about all of us and each and every one of us is part of it.

• Wrap up conversation

• Final dinner at Claro - Chef Ran Shmueli is one of Israel’s most respected veteran chefs who has led innovative culinary ventures for the last 25 years. Claro (“clear” in Spanish) is chef Shmueli’s first restaurant. Claro is not just a restaurant; it’s a place of entertainment, providing an experience that embodies all of Shmueli, and his staffs, knowledge in hospitality and event planning. It is a relaxed venue for social gathering and offers a warm atmosphere, good music, and a superb dining experience.

• Transfer to the airport