Jacobson and Friends Israel Trip | December 2023

Activities:

• 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

• Day on own to relax and acclimate

• Jerusalem

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Davidson Center - Walk through the Southern Wall Archaeological Gardens. Get a glimpse of the glory of the Second Temple, the heart of the ancient Jewish kingdom, and the devastation that followed. Visit the Davidson Visitors' Center and enjoy a modern and 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.

• 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. In the Christian Quarter, visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Throughout the tour explore the complexity of a city that is holy to the three major religions - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

• Lunch on own in the Old City

• Visit Sinsila center - A rooftop garden and café in the heart of East Jerusalem. Dedicated to educate, inspire, create with, and empower, local communities while also healing the urban environment of Jerusalem by providing local and sustainable solutions.

• Jerusalem

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• 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.

• Machane Yehuda Market Tasting Tour - In the heart of Jerusalem sits this bustling, multi-ethnic market bursting with life, art, and flavor. A tasting tour through Machane 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.

• Musrara Neighborhood - The Musrara neighborhood is a hidden gem off the beaten path in Jerusalem's center, near the Old City. The serene nineteenth century homes and prevalence of art galleries and artists belie the turbulent history of the neighborhood, which was once located "on the seam" between Israeli and Jordanian-occupied Jerusalem. It was here where, in the 1970s, the Black Panthers roared for social justice. In the 1980s renewal, gentrification, and ultra-orthodoxy began and now, Musrara is in high demand.

• Israel museum - Visit the unique collections and expansive grounds of the Israel Museum, the country’s national museum. Linger over the renowned international and Israeli art, the world’s most complete Judaica collections and the charming Billy Rose Sculpture Garden. You can also visit the Shrine of the Book, home to the exceptional archaeological finds of the Dead Sea Scrolls and other rare ancient manuscripts.

• Jerusalem

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Masada National Park - Ascend the mountain from the east to explore Masada, scene of the epic stand by Jewish rebels at the end of the Great Revolt against Rome nearly 2,000 years ago. The new museum at the Visitor Center reveals the secrets of the daily life of the rebels, the story of the excavations, and how the site became one of Israel’s most important symbols.

• Dead Sea Resort for swim and lunch - 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 'float' in the Dead Sea.

• Bedouin Hospitality - Learn about the Bedouin heritage, lifestyle, and culture firsthand from a local. Experience the Bedouin's famous customs of hospitality over traditional coffee, tea, and conversation, followed by “hafla” dinner.

• Return to Jerusalem

• Jerusalem

Activities:

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

• Travel north and visit Beit She'an National Park - One of the main pagan towns during Roman rule of the region 2,000 years ago, and in the shadow of an important biblical city, Beit She’an contains a magnificent theater, Roman bathhouses, mosaics and more. It is considered one of the most well-preserved Roman sites in the region.

• Naharayim in Gesher Experience - The inspiring story of the Old Gesher and Naharayim historic sites started with a dream, in this case an electrifying one – literally. From 1932 until 1948, engineer Pinchas Rutenberg harnessed two rivers, the Jordan and the Yarmoukh, at their confluence to create the first hydroelectric power plant in the Middle East.

• 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.

• North

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Korazim-National Park - A Jewish town in a basalt landscape overlooking the Sea of Galilee. The beautiful synagogue at Korazim, built at the end of the fourth century or the beginning of the fifth century CE, is made of basalt, the region’s most common stone, carved in geometric, floral and faunal patterns.

• Agamon HaHula - Bikes & Golfcarts - The Hula Valley sits in part of the northern Syrian African Rift Valley which stretches as far south as Mozambique in Africa. Each migration season, over 500 million birds travel through the Hula Lake. This wetland paradise is the perfect stopover for small waterbirds, cormorants, heron, pelicans, raptors, storks, and cranes.

• Safed - Safed, pronounced Tzfat in Hebrew, sits at a higher altitude than any other city in Israel and has been known since the 16th century as a major center of Kabbala, Jewish mysticism. Safed’s mystical aura adds to its special status as one of Israel’s four holy cities, along with Jerusalem, Tiberias and Hebron. The old synagogues, narrow alleyways and artists’ studios add to the hilltop city’s unmistakable charm.

• Druze Cooking workshop and dinner - 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.

• North

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Tel Dan - Tel Dan National Park combines a lush nature reserve with a biblical archaeological experience and includes a short wheelchair- accessible trail. At the heart of the park is “Tel Dan”- the capital of the ancient northern Israeli biblical kingdom.

• Take a geo-political jeep tour of the Golan - 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.

• Ein Keshatot (Umm al-Kanatir) - Ein Keshatot is is one of about 30 Jewish villages that existed in the Golan during the Talmudic Period, which was period of great growth in the area. The synagogue building was constructed in the 6th century CE (approximately 500 years after the destruction of the Second Temple), and was the center of local communal life. It served as a place for prayer, reading of the Torah, and various public activities.

• North

Activities:

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

• Travel to Rosh Hanikra ("Head of the Grottos") - With the stunning chalk-white cliffs at Israel’s northernmost coastal border. Enjoy the view of the Mediterranean coastline stretched out before you, then take the cable car down beneath the cliffs to the grottos below and tour the system of underground marine caves eroded by pounding waves over thousands of years.

• 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. Discover the subterranean city built beneath Akko in the Middle Ages by the Crusaders. Learn about the city’s ancient history, as well as its important role in Israel’s modern history.

• Stop by The Bahai Gardens - From the Louis Promenade at the top of Mount Carmel, we will admire the stunning scenery. Nicknamed the Balcony of the Country, a 400-meter long promenade at the top of the Baha'i Gardens offers a view of the entire Haifa Bay, all the way to the border with Lebanon. This impressive spot offers a truly spectacular view, so have a camera ready!

• Continue to Tel Aviv

• Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• 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.

• Lunch on own at 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.

• Neve Tzedek - This is 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. Looking to head out of the ever-growing and over-crowded Jaffa, they built, what was considered back then, modern and comfortable housing. In recent years, after a period of neglect, the neighborhood was restored and has become a trendy fun beautiful part of the city and a good place to try some Israeli Gelato!

• Rothschild Boulevard - Rothschild Boulevard was one of the first streets to be built in the city of Tel Aviv a little over 100 years ago. In the heart of the “White City”, it is lined with Tel Aviv’s iconic architecture, the Bauhaus style, which led to its recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Many of these buildings have been beautifully restored and now house the offices of financial institutions, creative firms, cafes, and luxury residences.

• Tel Aviv

Activities:

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

• Latrun - One of the fiercest and most important battles of the War of Independence was the fight for the fortress of Latrun, which commanded the main road between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

• Dig for a Day at Beit Guvrin - Explore Beit Guvrin National Park where you will be able to take part in an archeological dig. 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.

• Ayalon Institute - Visit the Ayalon Institute, a clandestine ammunitions factory built in 1945 by the Haganah. In just three weeks, preparations for the factory were completed and it was code named the Ayalon Institute. Above ground, it appeared to be no more than a kibbutz. However, located eight meters below ground, this was the country's largest bullet factory. It has been said that the bullets manufactured at the Ayalon Institute played a crucial role in the success of the War of Independence.

• Return to Tel Aviv

• Farewell dinner

• Transfer to Ben Gurion Airport - Departure or continue to Jordan extension

• Farewell - Safe travels and we hope to host you again in our beautiful country!