Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia Next Generation Mission- June 2025

Activities:

• Arrive at Ben Gurion Airport

• Gather in the hotel lobby to begin the trip

• Opening circle and introductions

• Opening Speaker Jessica Steinberg or other- What is the psyche of Israelis today? - Jessica Steinberg is the culture editor at the Times of Israel, covering Israeli life, culture, food, travel and business.

• Opening Dinner at Ha'Achim - Haachim, located on Ibn Gvirol offers a spin on the middle eastern cuisine by modernizing classic dishes.
  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 to IDF soldiers! The restaurant offers a spin on middle eastern cuisine by modernizing classic dishes.

• Tal Hotel, Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Hagal Sheli (My Wave) - Surfing lesson with Hagal Sheli (My Wave), an NGO that uses surfing as a vehicle for personal development and advancement. In 2012 Omer and Yaron, educational entrepreneurs and avid surfers, developed a unique surfing program for transforming the lives of youth-at-risk. Their mission: Empower youth to never give up, to continue to pursue their dreams and to ultimately succeed: ‘In the ocean, as in life’. Must be age 11 and up to participate.

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Volunteer at MOLET - Sustainable Workshops & Design - At the onset of the war, MOLET began focusing on meeting the needs of evacuees. Volunteer and build functional equipment that evacuees need in their temporary homes. MOLET is a sustainable and modular way of thinking about furniture using upcycled wooden pallets.

• Free time

• Time for lunch on your own at the Carmel Market (Shuk HaCarmel) - The Carmel Market is a culinary and cultural experience and the largest market in Tel Aviv.

• Check out Nachalat Binyamin Arts and Crafts Market - Enjoy time to explore the local artistic spirit in Nachalat Binyamin open-air market in the heart of Tel-Aviv. It has become synonymous with quality Israeli crafts and folk art. The market comprised over 100 stands representing specialty local crafts in virtually every medium imaginable: wood, stone, glass, ceramics, and various metals, all original and handmade. The unique architecture as well as the graffiti on the walls provide a perfect backdrop for the arts and crafts market.

• Kabbalat Shabbat

• Shabbat dinner at Yulia Restaurant in the Tel Aviv Port

• Tal Hotel, Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Visit and program at ANU Museum of the Jewish People - The newly re-imagined ANU Museum of the Jewish People tells the story of the Jewish people through the generations and up to the present time. Today you will participate in the Jewish Resilience Project beginning with a conversation “In October 7 and its Aftermath: Mending the Broken Jewish Story to Find Our Resilience” followed by a Gallery Experience: “Highs and Lows: How the Jewish People tell the Everlasting Story” and ending with a Processing Workshop: “Highs and Lows: How You and I tell our Story”

• Shabbat lunch at Aroma

• Beach or rest time

• Innovation Inspiration with Dr. Nir Tsuk - Dr. Nir Tsuk is a seasoned practitioner, academic and facilitator with over 25 years of international experience in the fields of social capital, entrepreneurship and culture of innovation. Serving as a Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship at University of Osaka, and New York University’s Global Distinguished Scholar, Nir is the founder NYU’s of Institute for Impact and Intrapreneurship. Prior to this, Nir served as the head of growth at Idealist.org – the world's largest social online talent acquisition platform, and brought Ashoka – the world's largest social entrepreneurship organization – to Israel, after serving as a Ashoka's Global Fellowship Director in Washington DC, Nir holds a PhD from Cambridge University in social and political sciences.

• Painting Jaffa - Deepen your experience with Tel Aviv's beauty by Immersing yourself in the stunning views that surround us as we draw and paint with inspiration from our natural surroundings. Professional and dynamic instructors will guide you step by step, revealing the magic behind creating breathtaking artwork.

• Dinner on your own

• Tal Hotel, Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Drive towards Philadelphia's Partnership in Netivot

• Geopolitical Tour with Rafi Babyan

• Drive to the Nova Music Festival site - Stop at the Nova Festival memorial site - at Re'im Forest stop and bear witness to the tragedy of the Nova Festival.

• Continue to Netivot for programs with the Partnership - Volunteering, Barbeque

• Lunch and dinner will be provided

• Return to Tel Aviv

• Unwind from the day with Guru Zuzu - Have an unusual Tel Aviv experience through an unforgettable way to see the city and immerse yourself in Israeli culture and music. Imagine the most fun and invigorating event you have ever experienced -mixed with information about this history and life in the city.

• Tal Hotel, Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel - Check out of the hotel

• Conversation with Shaul Amsterdamski - Shaul Amsterdamski is an Israeli journalist and economics editor at Kan, Israel's public broadcasting corporation. He previously worked as a senior reporter for Calcalist, covering national budget issues, macroeconomics, and healthcare. In 2019, he was awarded a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University, where he focused on enhancing his journalistic expertise

• Depart Tel Aviv

• Experience A Healing Place - The Healing Space is an emergency mental health facility that was established during the war in response to the need for care for thousands of traumatized young people at music festivals around the Gaza Strip. Within a few days, a new model for initial mental assistance was developed, offering a holistic, integrative, and community-based approach.

• Druze cooking workhop and meal in a private home - 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.

• Drive to Haifa - Check into the hotel

• Haifa Graffiti Tour - Graffiti has been part of the rejuvenation of Haifa’s Downtown and many other parts of the city. During the Walls Festival, graffiti artists from Israel and around the world painted full buildings and their influence spread throughout the city. What makes Haifa’s street art scene different? Find out!

• Time for dinner on your own in 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.

• Briefing on the security situation on Israel's northern border - Explore Israel’s security challenges along its northern border, its relations with neighboring countries in the Middle East, and the latest developments from an expert speaker.

• Haifa, The Schumacher Hotel

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel - Check out of the hotel

• Get wet on a Tornado Boat Ride - Take a fun tornado boat ride near Israel’s northernmost coastal border. It is best known for its stunning chalk-white cliffs. Enjoy the view of the Mediterranean coastline stretched out before you and the view of the grottos below the cliff, created by pounding waves’ eroding the rock for thousands of years.

• Hummus lunch in Akko

• Explore the Old City of Akko - The ancient city of Akko is situated on the Mediterranean, is one of the oldest ports in the world, and is a city shared by Jews, Muslims, Christians and even Bahai. Walk narrow streets past towering ramparts, green domes, venerable synagogues, slender Muslim minarets, and secret passageways, visit local artists' studios and meet local vendors. Learn about the city’s ancient history as well as its important role in Israel’s modern history.

• Drive towards Jerusalem

• Stop for dinner at Jems Beer Factory in Petach Tikva

• Drive to Jerusalem and check into your hotel

• Cassia Hotel Jerusalem

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Tour The National Library of Israel - Founded in Jerusalem in 1892, the National Library of Israel (NLI) holds the collective memory of Israelis of all backgrounds and faiths and the Jewish people worldwide. While continuing to serve as Israel's preeminent research library, over the past decade NLI has embarked upon an ambitious journey of renewal to encourage diverse audiences in Israel and around the globe to engage with its treasures in new and meaningful ways. This transformative renewal is taking place through a range of innovative educational, cultural, and digital initiatives, as well as through the construction of a new landmark campus, on schedule to open its doors in 2023.

• At the Shaharit institute explore ways issues of Social Cohesion are being addressed

• Visit Tzora Vineyards and enjoy tastings of excellent wines and a light lunch - Tzora is a small boutique winery located on Kibbutz Tzora in the Ella Valley near Beit Shemesh. The winemaker Eran Pick holds the title “Master of Wine.” He is an experienced agronomist and vintner and is involved in the entire process, from growing and tending the vines to harvesting and winemaking to producing fine wines.

• Visit the Lod Colorado Center

• Visit Brothers For Life - Brothers for Life is devoted to ensuring that every wounded combat soldier receives the care and support needed to ensure his/her return to a fulfilling and contributive life. Meet staff members and clients and join them for lunch at their center. Brothers for Life was created by and is run by injured Israeli veterans, and gives critical and immediate help to other injured Israeli combat veterans who sacrificed their lives for the safety of the Israel's citizens.

• 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

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• JAFI/JDC visits

• Volunteering - Lunch will be provided

• 'Shtisel' Tours - Encounters outside the box - Walk the streets of the ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods and get to know the people, the food, and feel the vibrations of this life. Gain a more complex appreciation for the people by listening to their music, visiting synagogues, various institutions, seeing unique leisure, fashion, and art this world encompasses, and, of course by eating traditional foods.

• Dinner and evening on your own

• Cassia Hotel Jerusalem

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Visit the grave of Michael Levin

• Mapping your Journey at Beit Avi Chai - Finding our Way- Mapping Journeys. Traditionally, when lost, humans have looked to the sky, sea and land to map our journeys, to locate ourselves and to ground us, literally. In this visual arts workshop, we will begin to interpret our journeys from October 7th through the lens of artist’s maps and use the process of mind-mapping to help us find our footing in this unstable new reality. Beit AVI CHAI serves as a center for the creation and expression of Jewish and Israeli culture and education.

• Time for lunch on your own in the Machane Yehuda Market - In the heart of Jerusalem sits this bustling, multi-ethnic market bursting with life, art, and flavor. Immerse yourself in the world of Middle Eastern cuisine as you indulge in a tasting tour through Machane Yehuda Market. Learn about the market's rich history, and meet the vendors who bring this place to life, as you experience the vibrant energy unique to this iconic culinary destination.

• Time to get ready for Shabbat

• Kabbalat Shabbat as a group (or in the First Station)

• Shabbat Dinner - Home Hospitality

• Cassia Hotel Jerusalem

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Old City Touring - Tour Jerusalem’s Old City and meet the people and places that make this place so unique. explore Jewish history in the Jewish Quarter, spanning from the First Temple era to the present. Visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Christian Quarter and, conditions permitting, Delve into the complexity of a city sacred to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

• Lunch in the Old City (included)

• Afternoon resting and packing

• 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.

• Final Processing Session

• Final Dinner