Shaar Zahav Congregation Israel Trip | October 2023

Activities:

• Arrival at Ben Gurion airport - After arrival procedures and collecting your baggage, you will be taken to meet your guide and driver.

• Travel north

• Toast L’Chaim at Rosen Park - Adjacent to the Baha’i Garden and overlooking the gorgeous Haifa Bay

• Visit The House of Communities for Pride and Tolerance in Haifa - Learn about the LGBTQ community in a mixed city, the challenges and successes.

• Tasting tour in Talpiot Market

• Visit Sindayanna of the Galilee - Sindyanna of Galilee, a female-led non-profit that actively promotes the concepts of “business for peace” and Fair Trade in Israel. Sindyanna’s premium products are sold in the international marketplace according to Fair Trade principles with the profit being channeled back locally to Arab women’s education. Taste their excellent olive oil and learn about the craft of basket weaving that they teach women in order for them to earn money.

• Continue to hotel - Check-in to hotel and dinner at hotel

• North

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Drink of the day - Word of the Day - Every morning the group will meet fir 10 minutes to enjoy a morning (non alcoholic) Israeli traditional drink, and learn about it - along with a Hebrew and Arabic word of the day.

• Hike 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.

• Light lunch and wine tasting at Tel Winery - Tel Winery is a woman-owned micro boutique winery, offering intimate tours led by the passionate and knowledgeable Lital. All wines are single varietal, made exclusively from Northern Golan grapes and feature high acidity and fruits flavors which provide for a refreshing sip.

• Meet with Miri Eisen and Yaakov Selavan in Tel Saki - And hear about the historical and current challenges in the IDF as well as a security brief and challenges Israel faces today in the northern border.

• Druze Cooking Workshop and Dinner (optional traditional olive picking) - 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 - And check-out from hotel

• Travel to Nazareth and Visit Polyphony - An organization that aims to bridge the divide between Arab and Jewish communities in Israel through music

• Meeting with Maoz Inon, at Fauzi Azar Inn - Meet Maoz Inon, the first Jewish Entrepreneur in Arab Nazareth, that his backpackers hotel won several prizes for its hospitality and well known for building a bridge between the Arab and Jewish community.

• Continue to Afula and Meet with Tarbut Movement - An organization which is promoting social resilience through culture and art in underserved areas of Israel

• Travel to Jerusalem

• Early dinner at Majda restaurant - Majda, a restaurant in the Jerusalem Hills village of Ein Rafa, is famous for its innovative fusion cuisine, beautiful property and views from its rooftop and an appearance on Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. The menu is full of creative local dishes all prepared by Yakub and Michal, the Arab-Jewish couple who own Majda.

• Jerusalem Lookout and L'Chaim - Panoramic view of Jerusalem and the surrounding area. You choose if you want to see Jerusalem and the Judean desert from Mount Olives or the Haas Promenade – OR - to appreciate Jerusalem’s splendor from the Mount of Olives, home to many biblical events. All of these lookouts offer an unrivalled vista of the Old City and its environs.

• Jerusalem

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Tour Ramallah

• Visit Sinsila Center - An organization in East Jerusalem, that is dedicated to educate, inspire, create with, and empower local communities. Its goal is to heal the urban environment of Jerusalem by providing local and sustainable solutions.

• Visit alQaws for Sexual and Gender Diversity in Palestinian Society - And hear about Palestinian grassroots activism, challenges and successes within the LGBTQ Palestinian community.

• Return to hotel - And prepare for Shabbat

• Friday night service with Kol HaNeshama Congregation

• Shabbat dinner at the Jerusalem Open House

• Jerusalem

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Minyan Shivyoni Baka - Spend Shabbat morning with Minyan Shivyoni Baka, an open egalitarian community and minyan in Jerusalem

• Morning with Ir Amim - Ir Amim (“City of Nations” or “City of Peoples”) focuses on Jerusalem within the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The mission of Ir Amim is to render Jerusalem a more equitable and sustainable city for the Israelis and Palestinians who share it and to help secure a negotiated resolution on the city through sustained monitoring, reporting, public and legal advocacy, public education, and outreach to re-orient the public discourse on Jerusalem.

• Shabbat Lunch at Hebrew Union College

• Optional: Queer Beit Midrash - Meet with Uriel Levy, the founder and teacher of the Jerusalem Queer Beit Midrash.
  By day - an administrator at the Jerusalem Open House, by night - a dreamer and weaver of connections between Jewish and Queer thought and life.
  Uriel believes that the world will be a better place once all binaries are shaken up, and gender is a good place to start.

• Optional: Rainbow tour of Jerusalem - We are taking our pink experience to the holy city! We will tackle the mosaic of Jerusalem and explore how LGBTQ life is represented and co-exists in Jerusalem

• 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, and, if conditions permit, visit the one of the holiest Muslim sites, the Temple Mount. Throughout the tour explore the complexity of a city that is holy to these three major religions.
  If not possible - Temple Mount will be visited on Sunday morning.

• Dinner with MK Amir Ohana, The first openly gay Knesset Speaker

• Jerusalem

Activities:

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

• Travel to Tel Aviv

• Tasting Tour in Levinsky Market - 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.

• Achoti - "My Sister" - stop at the Achoti Fair Trade shop, part of an initiative that was the first of its kind in Israel which combines economic empowerment for women from the geographical and social periphery in Israel, and education for alternative consumerism, according to the values of fair trade.

• Dinner with Cool-Lior (Meitar) Colton from Hoshen and Founder of QueerYourself - Cool is a gender-queer, bisexual, entrepreneur and activist who also volunteers in Hoshen, a leading LGBTQ education and outreach organization

• Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Tour the Ajami neighborhood of Jaffa - A predominantly Arab neighborhood in Jaffa, you’ll hear a challenging narrative about the city and its history. Continue your tour through Jaffa, enjoying the beauty of the winding streets and the beautiful port with its biblical reference.

• Visit Beit System Ali - A cultural educational movement whose activity is based on the belief in the power of artistic action to promote equality and generate socio-political change.

• 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.

• Meet with Dr. Gali Sambira - Previously Shaharit's director and recently finished a six-year tenure as Director of the 120 Program. Hear about Shaharit and the 120 program, a multiyear-long initiative, that aims to build a cadre of young multicultural national political leadership that can help change the fabric of Israeli politics and promote a public discourse based on promoting the common good.

• Optional: Evolution of Street Food

• Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Morning with BINA - The Jewish Movement for Social Change - בינ״ה - התנועה ליהדות חברתית - BINA means “Wisdom” in Hebrew. It is also a Hebrew acronym from a poem by Israel’s national poet, Chaim Nachman Bialik, for: Home for the Creation of a Nation’s Soul, meaning a nation which embodies the Jewish values; pluralism, social justice, social solidarity, democracy and peace.
  BINA is an Israeli-born movement at the intersection of Jewish education and social activism. BINA works to advance democracy, pluralism and justice in Israel and the Jewish world through limud (study), ma’ase (action) and kehilla (community), emphasizing Jewish culture and values of tikkun olam (repairing the world).

• Lunch with Sir Lasalam - Meet with Daphne Kramer and Dr. Mozana Bishara, who both created Sir La Slam, a culinary encounter between traditional Palestinian cuisine and contemporary Jewish cuisine and tracing its origins in the Diaspora.

• Meet with leaders of Havruta and Bat Kol - Both LGBTQ religious organizations and hear about the challenges of religious LGBTQ and successes.

• Rooftop Cocktail Night - Meet representatives from the different LGBTQ organizations and 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.

• Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Tour the White City - Explore Lev Ha'ir, the Heart of the City, where the first roots of Tel Aviv were planted in 1909. Lev Hair contains some of Tel Aviv’s most beautiful buildings, being at the center of the UNESCO designated “White City” known for it’s Bauhaus, Eclectic, and International Style architecture. The area is densely populated, rooted in history, and with a glance towards the future with impressive skyscrapers, and a high concentration of start-up companies. Bordered by Habima Theater in the north and Florentin and Neve Tzedek in the south, Lev Ha’ir is a gateway to almost every district in the city. Lev Ha'ir is a cultural hub, filled with galleries, restaurants and parks.

• Volunteer at Beit Dror - Spend the morning in giving back to homeless LGBTQ youth at Beit Dror

• Kikar Rabin (Rabin Square) - Renamed in honor of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated in this square in 1995, Rabin Square is a public space at the heart of Tel Aviv. Ringed by trendy cafes, the square often hosts political rallies and demonstrations, parades, and public events.

• Continue to The Israeli Museum at the Yitzhak Rabin Center - This museum’s riveting exhibit contrasts the life of former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated at a Peace Rally in 1995, with the development of the State of Israel.

• Dinner with "Omdim B'Yachad" - Standing Together is a grassroots movement mobilizing Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel in pursuit of peace, equality, and social and climate justice.

• Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

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

• Meet with members of the BUSH Collective - The BUSH collective was founded in 2015 to promote queer, feminist art. The collective sustains platforms for sharing stories, creating a safe space that encourages an open discussion and solidarity.

• Late check-out from hotel

• Farewell dinner at Ouzeria - A fun, festive and popular mezze restaurant in the heart of the market. Meet Chef Avivit Priel, who was named Best Female Chef of Tel Aviv in 2017.

• Trasnfer to Ben Gurion Airport

• Farewell - We hope to host you again in our beautiful country!