VIPIsrael Bnai Israel Rumson Community Trip

1 888.448.4778 | www.vipisrael.com

I S R A E L

VIPIsrael – B’nai Israel Rumson

Community Trip Sunday, August 19, 2007 - Tuesday, August 28, 2007

11 Sunday, August 19, 2007 (VIP & Transfer) Welcome

WELCOME TO ISRAEL

• Touchdown at Ben Gurion International Airport.

• After clearing passport control a VIPIsrael representative will be waiting to welcome you.

They will facilitate luggage identification and handling; & escort you through customs.

• Ascend to Jerusalem.

• Upon your first view of the eternal Holy City, stop for a moment of reflection and

davening. Make the “shehechianu” prayer as you gaze upon the Temple Mount in Jerusalem

from the Haas Promenade.

• Check into your hotel and spend the afternoon relaxing.

• You may like to take a walk down Ben Yehuda Street. On Saturday nights, Ben Yehuda

Street is one of the favorite gathering places for many young Jerusalemites. There are many

artists displaying their jewelry and crafts, as well as many wonderful sidewalk cafes.

• Enjoy a Welcome dinner at your hotel with orientation; meet your guides and a visit from a

representative from the Ministry of Tourism

OVERNIGHT: Jerusalem, Leonardo Plaza


22 Monday, August 20, 2007 (Guide & Vehicle) Old City

• After breakfast, visit the Davidson Center – the newly opened visitors’ center, located at

the Jerusalem Archaeological Park to tour the Southern Wall Excavations where some of

the most important archaeological discoveries have been unearthed, proving this to be one

of the key areas of Jerusalem. Amongst these remains is a complex of royal palaces dating

back to the 7th century.

• Visit the New Generations Center at the Western Wall Plaza where you will find an

unusual and enchanting fusion of many creative elements: music, sculpture, archeology and

light effects that together create a masterpiece to delight all the senses.

• Descend to tour of the archaeological discoveries excavated in the Western Wall Tunnels.

Inside, a most interesting model shows the different dwelling periods and history of the

inhabitants of Jerusalem.

• Next, take a Guided tour of the Jewish Quarter that was reconstructed after the city was

unified at the conclusion of the Six-Day War in 1967.

• In the evening you may like to take a walk down Ben Yehuda Street, one of the favorite

gathering places for many young Jerusalemites. There are many artists displaying their

jewelry and crafts, as well as many wonderful sidewalk cafes.



33 Tuesday, August 21, 2007 (Guide & Vehicle) Center

• After breakfast, check out of your hotel and visit the Ayalon Institute Museum, situated

north of the city of Rechovot. This was the first clandestine bullet production factory

operated by members of the Hatzofim Aleph, Palmach, and Habonim pioneer groups during

the British Mandate rule.

• Next, head north along the coast to visit the Caesarea National Park contains an

impressive Roman Amphitheatre, the Hippodrome, a horse-racing arena that could seat

20,000; also a giant headless statue on Byzantine Street, and the Roman Aqueducts.

• Take time to relax on the beaches of Caesarea, and enjoy some sunshine!

• Head to Tiberius to check in and relax, freshen up and enjoy dinner at your hotel.

• Enjoy free access to the famous Tiberius Hot Springs; indoor and outdoor hot mineral

pools, regular sweet water pool and a dry sauna (massage and other treatments may be

purchased separately).

OVERNIGHT: Tiberius

44 Wednesday, August 22, 2007 (Guide & Vehicle) Golan

• After breakfast, visit Tzfat’s restored Old City including the artists' colony. Tzfat has much

to offer in the way of art galleries, gift-shops and restaurants found tucked away amongst the

winding, cobblestone streets.

• Next, ascend the Golan Heights, where you will have the very special privilege of being the

guest of an IDF Brigade at their base. During your visit, meet and talk with soldiers and

officers stationed there.

• Go Rafting on the Jordan River. near Kfar Blum!

• Enjoy sunset at the observation point on Mount Bental, overlooking the Mount Hermon

area and the entire Golan Heights. From here you can see the mountains of the Galilee, and

eastward into Syria.

• Here likes the Visit the Valley of Tears, where one of the bloodiest battles of the Yom

Kippur War. A great lookout to see the Heights, and especially the Syrian side of the border,

is from the now abandoned Israeli bunker 4,000 feet (1,200 m.) above sea level on Mount

Bental.

OVERNIGHT: Tiberius


55 Thursday, August 23, 2007 (Guide & Vehicle) Galilee

• After breakfast, check out of your hotel and head west toward the sea.

• On route toward the Sea, stop to tour the ancient, magnificently excavated city of Tzippori,

home to Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi. This city did not participate in the rebellion against the

Romans, and hence was not destroyed.

• Drive to Mukhraka, the Place of Sacrifice and the site of the contest between the prophet

Elijah and 450 false prophets of Baal, to see which god was greater. The contest, won by

Elijah, brought about a revival of the peoples’ faith in God. From this vantage point, the

beauty of the Lower Galilee and the Jezreel Valley can be seen.

• Continue to Haifa through the Druze village over Mount Carmel.

• Arrive in the beautiful harbor city of HaifaIsrael's third largest city – capital of the north.

• Overlook the Baha’i Gardens and a panoramic view of Haifa.

• Enjoy shopping time and taste some of Haifa’s local café’s cuisine & explore Haifa with your

guide.

• Continue to Jerusalem to check into your hotel for the evening.



66 Friday, August 24, 2007 (Guide & Vehicle) Jerusalem

• After breakfast, head out to participate in a ‘hands-on’ historical experience, we will sift

through archeological excavations at Emek Tzurim.

• For those who prefer, the bus will transfer you to Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in

Jerusalem after we drop off the younger participants and tier parents at the Archeological

dig.

• Located on Har Hazikaron, the Mount of Remembrance, Yad Vashem is a vast, sprawling

complex of tree-studded walkways leading to museums, exhibits, archives, monuments,

sculptures, and memorials. (Children under 10 years of age not permitted entrance).

• Reunited as a group, we will walk & test our “Israeli bargaining skills” at the Machane

Yehuda Shuk (open market), this is a great place to enjoy a falafel and relax.

• Towards evening we will prepare to.....WELCOME SHABBAT AT THE KOTEL

• Light Shabbat Candles in your hotel.

• As a community we will enter the Old City and filter down through toward the Western

Wall…

• Look around you and notice how people from all corners of the world enter through the

various gates with one purpose in mind, to welcome the Shabbat Bride at the holiest place

on earth.

• Enjoy a festive Shabbat Dinner led by Rabbi Bloom at your hotel dining room.


77 Saturday, August 25, 2007 (Free Day) Shabbat Shalom

• After breakfast, enjoy Shabbat services at the Great Synagogue, the Fuchsburg Center or

any of the many Shuls in the area.

• Enjoy Shabbat Lunch at the Fuchsburg Center led by Rabbi Bloom.

• As Shabbat expires, participate in a moving Havdallah service with Rabbi Bloom in the

hotel.

• After Shabbat, enjoy shopping and dinner at Jerusalem’s Ben Yehuda or Emek Refaim, a

great area for dining & shopping in the German Colony, where the young Jerusalem comes

to life; shops, café’s, boutiques, there is much to see!!



88 Sunday, August 26, 2007 (Guide & Vehicle) Dead Sea

• After breakfast, depart to the Dead Sea area traveling south through the Judean Wilderness.

• Arrive at Masada - Ascend the cliff top fortress by cable car to explore the ancient remains

of the fortifications, King Herod’s palace, storerooms and baths.

• Continue along the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth, and a rich source of minerals for

export.

• Take a swim or ‘float’ & let the buoyant waters support you as you relax on your back and

think of nothing else but the sea and the salt all around you!

• Enjoy a Camel Ride & Bedouin style dinner at ‘Eretz Beresheit’ / Genesis Land.


99 Monday, August 27, 2007 (Transfer) Tel Aviv

•• After breakfast, depart toward Tel Aviv.

•• Learn about the history of the modern state at the Hall of Independence where Ben

Gurion declared Independence in 1948.

•• Ascend the highest observatory in the Middle East (located on the the 49th floor of the

Round Building at Azrieli Center), it's possible to see the coastline that stretches from

Ashkelon in the south, to Hadera in the north.

•• In nearby Jaffa is a flourishing flea market (Shuk Hapishpeshim) where you can test your

bargaining power and pick up a few souvenirs and presents from the array of old, new,

antique and odd objects on sale. These range from furniture, pottery, brassware, rugs and

clothing.

•• Browse the shops and experience the unique flavors and ambience of the famous Dizengoff

St., Shenken St. & Rothchilde Ave.

•• Farewell Dinner at China Lee Restaurant, Tel Aviv.

•• Transfer to Ben Gurion Airport for the departure flight home where you will be met by a

VIPISRAEL representative will be waiting to assist you in your temporary departure from

Israel.

Begin planning your next VIPIsrael adventure!!!!

VIPIsrael Bnai Israel Rumson Community Trip

Documents

Transcript of VIPIsrael Bnai Israel Rumson Community Trip