Eisenberg Family Trip- October 2024

Activities:

• Shalom - Arrive at Ben Gurion Airport - Your VIP fast track assistant will 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 Tel Aviv and check into the hotel - Take time to relax and explore the area of the hotel.

• Shabbat Dinner at the hotel

• Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at hotel. - Tel Aviv Lodging General

• Shabbat at leisure. - Experience the Israeli weekend atmosphere in Tel Aviv. Guide, activities, and transportation is not included on this day.

• Beach time! - Join the Shabbat crowd for Tel Aviv's favorite weekend pastime.

• Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel.

• Free day to explore on your own - Guide, activities and transportation are not included on this day.

• Afternoon Graffiti Tour - A dynamic graffiti tour in Florentin, Tel Aviv’s most bohemian and upbeat neighborhood, and learn about contemporary Israeli culture through the graffiti on the walls, and see an Israel that you might not know. In recent years. While wandering by amazing art, share your interpretations of the graffiti you'll see, gain tools to observe street art all over the world, and appreciation for this expressive form of art.

• Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel - Meet your guide at the hotel lobby and begin your Israel journey together.

• Begin your day with a walking tour of 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. 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.

• Stop a Hamalabiya for a taste of this Middleast treat - Malabi is a sweet cold treat flavored with rosewater and topped with cinnamon, nuts, coconut, sweet syrup, and other flavors of your choice. Malabi is a classic Middle-Eastern dish that has become one of Israel's popular street foods.

• Continue to the Carmel Market for a Tasting Tour - Continue to Carmel Market (Shuk HaCarmel), the largest market in Tel Aviv. Touring the market reveals the taste of the ages of Tel-Aviv in the youthful atmosphere of the city's central market. The Polish, the Persian, and the Yemeni... in this case, it is not the start of a joke, but the fascinating culinary traditions that mix in this place. The established market that was founded over 90 years ago, can now reveal its secrets, stories, and legends to you. (The tasting tour replaces lunch)

• Walk the Independence Trail - A walk along The Independence Trail, established in 2018 as a tribute to Israel's 70th anniversary, is a fascinating journey of Tel Aviv's foundation and the sites pivotal to the birth of Israel. Walk the paths of pioneers, witness architectural styles that tell the story of the city's development, and delve into Israel's struggle and triumph stories. The trail offers a profound insight into the nation's remarkable history.

• Dinner suggestion-Ha'Achim Restaurant - At the beginning of the 2023 Hamas-Israel War the owner of Ha'Achim restaurant applied for an received a temporary Kashrut certificate so that they could cook and deliver food the Israel's IDF soldiers! The restaurant offers a spin on middle eastern cuisine by modernizing classic dishes. (Not included, reservations can be made)

• Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel & drive north.

• Tour Caesarea National Park - On the Mediterranean coast, Caesarea National Park is one of Israel’s most impressive archeological sites. Explore the 2,000-year-old Roman theater, Crusader harbor and 12th-century ramparts. The city was initially built by King Herod in the 1st century BC, who dreamt of a major seaport to connect the Province of Judea with Rome. View the spectacular Roman amphitheater, still used today as a performance venue, as well as the hippodrome that held 20,000 spectators for chariot races.

• Continue to Bat Shlomo Winery - Wine tastings and cheese - Taste wine and hear the incredible story of the Bat Shlomo Winery and settlement, founded by Baron Edmund de Rothschild.

• Enjoy an easy and beautiful nature walk in the Carmel Mount - Exploring the landscapes of Israel on foot offers a profound connection. Witness the pastoral beauty, traverse breathtaking terrain, and delight in the seasonal flowers in bloom.

• Druze home hospitality, cooking workshop and meal - Together with your hosts in their private home, prepare traditional Druze Galilean dishes and then enjoy a meal of the foods you learned to cook. Get to know your hosts and their culture and history. Hear about the strong bond between the Druze community to the State of Israel and their contribution to the IDF. Dinner is included.

• Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel and depart south.

• Volunteer at a local farm - Leket Israel, the National Food Bank, is the leading food rescue organization in Israel. Unique among all other organizations that serve the poor in Israel and food banks worldwide, Leket Israel’s sole focus is rescuing healthy, surplus food and delivering it to those in need through partner nonprofit organizations. Pick fruit or vegetables in Leket's field that will be distributed by the organization.

• Supernova Music Festival Memorial Site - Visit the site of the Nova Music Festival, now a memorial site, bear witness, and pay our respects to the 364 Israelis murdered by Hamas on the morning of October 7th.

• Geo-political Tour of "Otef Aza" the Gaza Envelope - Stop at key lookout points including the town of Sderot for an in-depth discussion of the complexity of the Gaza Border situation.

• Authentic meal and home hospitality in Ofakim - Meet Osi Lankri, one of Ofakim's "Culinary Queens" - Enjoy a home-cooked meal in Osi's home and hear about her life in Ofakim where she was born and raised, and where some of the October 7th's worst events took place.

• Travel back to Tel Aviv and free evening.

• Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel & check-out.

• Start the day at Neot Kedumim - The Biblical Landscape Reserve in Israel which is a unique endeavor to re-create the physical setting of the Bible in all its depth and detail. Neot Kedumim embodies the panorama and power of the landscapes that helped shape the values of the Bible and provided a rich vocabulary for expressing them.

• Stop for a quick lunch along the way - Not included

• Drive to Beit Guvrin for a 'Dig for a Day' - For a real hands-on and exciting experience head to Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park, in the heart of The Land of Thousands of Caves, and become an archeologist for the day. Take part in the digs at the vast spaces beneath the houses, these caves served as storerooms, olive presses, water cisterns, and later on as safe havens during the time of the Bar Kochba revolt against the Romans. Don't miss out on a visit to the amazing Bell Caves in Tel Maresha as well as the impressive Roman amphitheater in Beit Guvrin. This activity is fun for all ages.

• Drive to Jerusalem & stop for a scenic overlook of Jerusalem - Take in a wide view of Jerusalem's Old and New Cities and the surrounding Judean Desert as far as the eye can see. See Jerusalem's complex geography, strategic setting, and beauty. Begin the conversation about Jerusalem's centrality to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

• Check-in to the hotel and get ready for dinner.

• Thanksgiving and Celebratory Family Dinner - Private room at a local restaurant. Options will be sent separately.

• Cassia Hotel Jerusalem

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel.

• Private Tour of Yad Vashem Museum - Israel’s National Memorial to the Holocaust. Tour this memorial to the darkest moment in the 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.

• Kids Track: Visit the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo - The Tisch Family Zoological Gardens in Jerusalem is one of the most beautiful and relaxing places in Jerusalem. The vast grounds and beautiful landscape along with the wide selection of animals make this a MUST SEE for kids and adults.

• Lunch at Cafe Shalva - A Meal at café Shalva - Shalva is a Jerusalem-based organization that provides services to individuals with special needs, from infancy to adulthood, empowering their families, and promoting social inclusion. Graduates of Shalva work at the café, and the café’s profits go back to the center to support its programs.

• Free time to explore and shop

• Shabbat family dinner at hotel

• Cassia Hotel Jerusalem - Cassia Hotel

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Depart the hotel and drive to the Dead Sea area

• Begin at Masada National Park - Ascend the mountain by cable car to explore Masada, a natural fortress combining natural beauty and deep meaning. Explore the impressive excavations that reveal secrets of daily life in the fortress, hear about the scene of the epic stand by Jewish rebels at the end of the Great Revolt against Rome nearly 2,000 years ago, and how the site became one of Israel’s most important symbols.

• Continue to Lunch & Swim at the Vert Dead Sea Hotel - Israel’s Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth, 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. At one of the local hotels, have lunch and 'swim' in the Dead Sea.

• Optional-Dead Sea Boat Ride - Embark on an exclusive boat ride on the Dead Sea and sail to see a captivating 'salt-chimneys forest'. During this unique experience you will enjoy the wondrous muds, salt pearls, salt diamonds, water springs streaming to the sea and sink holes filled with sweet water. Learn about the ecosystem and the environmental issues connected to the Dead Sea.

• Return to Jerusalem

• Evening on your own

• Cassia Hotel Jerusalem

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Visit the Tower of David Museum - A newly renovated and stunning museum which has pioneered the use of new and interactive digital technologies, games and apps that add a new dimension to understanding the site itself and Jerusalem as a whole.

• 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. In the Christian Quarter, visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and, if interested and if conditions permit, visit one of the holiest Muslim sites, the Temple Mount. Throughout the tour explore the complexity of a city that is holy to the three major religions - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

• Lunch will be an 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.

• Meet the Jerusalem Scribe - Kalman Gavriel Delmoor is a traditional Scribe with a modern lens. Through his unique perspectives and expertise in the ancient craft, Kalman brings the Torah to life in his art. Discover the fusion of artwork and tradition below. Meet Kalman, see him work, and learn about his mission.

• Explore the vibrant Machane Yehuda Market - In the heart of Jerusalem sits this bustling, multi-ethnic market bursting with life, art, and flavor. Experience the lively energy unique to this iconic culinary & multi-cultural destination.

• Farewell Dinner at Hatzot Restaurant - 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.

• Cassia Hotel Jerusalem