Itinerary

The Jewish Journey – Educational Tourism

Beth Jacob Oakland Learns Together community trip June 2013

(Note: Itinerary subject to modification, but this is pretty close…)

Monday, June 17th 2013
Topic of the Day: Arrival 

• Afternoon arrival
• Visit to Mini Israel (A bird’s-eye view of Israel; scale models of all the major sites)
• Kotel (Western Wall)
• Dinner at restaurant in Jerusalem
• Overnight – Prima Kings Hotel Jerusalem

Tuesday, June 18th, 2013
Topic of the day: Sefer Yehoshua – Book of Joshua 

• Kasser El Yahud - Where the Jewish people crossed the Jordan River and entered Israel
• ATV ride in the Judean Desert – reaching Mt. Azazel and viewing Jericho and Jordan
• Dinner at hotel
• Overnight – Prima Kings Hotel Jerusalem

Wednesday, June 19th, 2013
Topic of the Day: Sefer Shoftim –Book of Judges. Focus on Shimshon/Samson 

• Tour Tour Shilo and Tel Shilo (site of the Tabernacle for 300+ years)
• Visit and lunch at the Binyamin Winery and Visitors Center (Sha'ar Binyamin)
• Tel Beit Shemesh – ruins of an ancient Biblical Canaanite city
• Ashkelon & Ashdod – Cities of the Plishtim (including the Philistine museum in Ashdod)
• Tel Azeka – introduction to King David; An ancient Israelite city near Beit Guvrin, the
  'Tel' overlooks the valley of Ella where David fought Goliath.
• Dinner at hotel
• Overnight – Prima Kings Hotel Jerusalem

Thursday, June 20th, 2013
Topic of the Day: Shmuel 

• Masada (several option for how to get to the top of this ancient fortress including walking paths and cable car)
• Ein Gedi – springs near Masada, an area where David hid from King Saul
• Dead Sea
• Dinner at restaurant
• Overnight – Prima Kings Hotel Jerusalem

Friday, June 21st, 2013
Topic of the Day: Patriarchs and Matriarchs 

• Visit the Cave of Machpelah – resting place of Avraham and Sarah, Yitzchak and Rivkah, and Yaakov and Leah
• Walk the “Path of the Patriarchs”
• Segway tour on the Jerusalem promenade (age 18 and up)
• Manchaneh Yehudah outdoor Market (shuk)
• Candle lighting
• Kabbalat Shabbat at the Kotel (Welcoming Shabbat at the Western Wall)
• Meal at hotel
• Oneg Shabbat (time to relax and snack and learn and share with one another)
• Overnight – Prima Kings Hotel Jerusalem

Shabbat, June 22nd, 2013
Tefilah – morning services available at many wonderful Jerusalem locations

• Kiddush
• Learning session
• Lunch
• Rest and free time
• Afternoon walking tour in Jerusalem
• Mincha (afternoon services)
• Seuda shlishit (3rd meal)
• Ma'ariv
• Havdala
• Relaxed evening
• Overnight – Prima Kings Hotel Jerusalem

Sunday, June 23rd, 2013
Topic of the Day: Yerushalaim – (David)

• City of David
• Hezekiah’s water tunnel walk (alternatives available if you don’t like tunnels)
• Old City tour
• Kotel/Western Wall tunnels
• Dinner at hotel
• Overnight – Prima Kings Hotel Jerusalem

Monday, June 24th, 2013
Topic of the Day: Melachim 

• Mt. Carmel and Mukraka (site of Eliyahu/Elijah’s showdown with the prophets of Ba’al)
• Kerem Navot (Navot’s vineyard – site of a key story with King Achav and his wife
  Jezebel)
• Dinner at the hotel
• Overnight – Kibbutz Lavi Hotel in the Lower Galilee

Tuesday, June 25th, 2013
Topic of the Day: Tzfat and Kabala 

• Tel Dan
• Torah Scribe Center; learn how Tefillin and Torah are written and try writing
• Tour of the old city of Tzfat (Safed)
• Kabbalist synagogues
• Evening cruise on Kinneret (Sea of Galilee)
• Dinner at restaurant in Teveria
• Overnight – Kibbutz Lavi Hotel in the Lower Galilee

Wednesday, June 26th, 2013
Topic of the Day: The Roman Era 

• Tzippori
• Beit Shearim
• Caesarea (Herodian sea port from Roman times, amphitheatre, audio visual show)
• Parting Dinner at restaurant
• Transfer to airport
• Those continuing on can use the bus to return to Jerusalem, depending on times.
• Late night departure

POST-TRIP Thursday, June 27th, 2013 

• Bar Mitzvah morning service for Aharon Akiva Dardik at the western Wall…

Please email me with any questions, concerns or comments at rmatthl@gmail.com.
 
Thanks,
Richard Leavitt

Q&A

Dear Prospective Travelers,

June is fast approaching when Beth Jacob will embark on our unique learning travel adventure to Israel, led by Rabbi Judah Dardik, experiencing various books of the Bible first-hand, at the actual sites mentioned in the text, as our ancestors did.
 
Please look at the questions, answers and itinerary below. If you have other questions or
concerns, email me at rmatthl@gmail.com.

To reserve your place on this trip, please do the following:

1. Email me if you will be joining us: rmatthl@gmail.com
2. Send a check for $500 payable to Beth Jacob Congregation by February 1 to secure a
   place on the trip. We will hold your check until we have the minimum necessary to
   book the tour and airfare package.
3. In your email, indicate whether you want to participate in the airfare package (see
   below for details).
4. Final payment will be due by March 12.

Q: What are the dates of the trip?
A: Leave Oakland Sunday, June 16, arrive into Israel Monday, June 17. Leave Israel
Wednesday night, June 26-27 and arrive into Oakland Thursday, June 27. If you plan to
stay in Israel beyond the trip, Rabbi Dardik is hoping to have a short morning Bar Mitzvah
ceremony for Aharon Akiva at the Kotel/Western Wall on Thursday morning the 27th before flying back to Oakland later that day to have a Shabbat Bar Mitzvah that weekend at Beth Jacob. You would be welcome to attend.
 
Q: What is the cost of the tour part of the trip?
A: The final cost depends on the number of people going, but will be right around $2180,
which includes tour guide, all ground transportation (air conditioned buses), entry fees,
hotels, three meals per day (the food is excellent and includes some first-rate restaurants), taxes, medic/guard and medical insurance. Does not include tips, personal expenses, alcohol, shopping or travel insurance.
 
Q: What is the cost of the airfare package?
A: The round trip group rate (SFO-JFK-Tel Aviv and Tel Aviv-JFK-SFO on American
connecting to El Al) will be around $2000, coach, if we have at least 20 in the flight group. Fewer than that, may not get the group discount. Anyone flying the group rate will have to start with the group, but you may make one alteration on the return leg, so you may extend your stay without penalty. You need not fly with the group; feel free to make your own flight arrangements instead. You should arrange to arrive by Monday early-afternoon, June 17, when we will start our first excursion. Some people may wish to come to Israel early and meet up with us upon arrival and that works out fine. If you arrive later, we will let you know where/how to join us.
 
Q: Are there non-stop flights from the Bay Area?
A: No, but Rabbi Dardik has worked with a travel agency in NYC who are familiar with flights to Israel: B and D Travel (800-223-1114). They book from New York, so if you contact them, be sure to tell them you are coming from California. There is a also a long-time member of the shul who is a travel agent, named Ginette Attias of South Shore Travel in Alameda (510) 865-5555 x11.
 
Q: What hotels will we be using?
A: The Prima Kings Hotel in an excellent location right in the center of Jerusalem. It is a fine hotel, not super-deluxe, but comfortable, centrally located, each room with private bath: http://tinyurl.com/PrimaKingsJerusalemHotel. Our hotel up north, the Lavi, will be of similar quality and set-up http://hotel.lavi.co.il/HOTEL/2/23/627.aspx.
 
Q: Are there other singles going, so I can share a room and lower my expenses?
A: There are several people planning to travel single/without a spouse. I can let you know who is travelling single so that you can determine mutual compatibility of sharing a room. The surcharge for a single occupancy room, if you prefer, is $80/night.
 
Q: How much walking will there be?
A: There will be walking, mostly on level ground, probably not more than 25 minutes' walks. It won't be particularly strenuous.
 
Q: Will there be any free time?
A: On Shabbat, in Jerusalem, the day is yours. We will have services and a walking tour, but you are free to attend elsewhere, or not at all. No one's watching. There will also be free time in the evenings and we will be staying near the Old City, so you can see whatever/ do whatever you would like. Shops are open in the evenings. Last year, several people chose to add free days on to their trip by arriving early or departing later than the trip.
 
Q: Do I have to speak and/or read Hebrew or know much Torah?
A: No. Our tour guide (Shulie Mishkin) and Rabbi Dardik will be leading us in English,
and the focus of the trip will be to learn together, as we do at Beth Jacob. What
makes this trip unique is that we will be experiencing Israel through various books
of Torah, recalling and experiencing moments or times in our history.
 
Q: Will there be a political slant to the trip? Will there be a request for a donation?
A: The trip is designed to be apolitical (to the greatest extent possible in a country where political issues abound) and there will be no requests for donations by our trip/program. The aim of the trip is to learn together.
 
Q: Can I opt for fewer meals and thereby lower the cost?
A: No. Three meals a day are included in the group rate. You can eat fewer meals, of course, but the cost will be the same.

Q: Will the food be kosher?
A: Yes.

Q: Do I need to be orthodox to be on this trip? Is there a dress code?
A: No. This is a Beth Jacob trip, and part of what makes our community so wonderful is that everyone is on their own religious path. The trip will certainly be compatible with an orthodox life commitment (kashrut, shabbat, etc.), but your personal practices and beliefs are up to you. As for dress, it is Israel in the summer and can get hot. People should dress as they please and are comfortable, though having a long skirt handy in one’s back pack (for women) and a yarmulke (for men) may be useful/appropriate at a few of the sites that we will visit.
 
Q: Will my cell phone work there?
A: You should check with your carrier to determine coverage in Israel. You can purchase
limited-use cell phones in Israel. Costco sells Verizon International Calling cards for $30, I am told. The per-minute cost is minimal and they work on all phones in Israel. There are also easy methods to rent an Israeli cell phone that arrives at your door before you even leave for Israel, with very affordable plans. Check out a company called "Travelcell"
(http://www.travelcell.com/rates/middle-east/israel.asp) and also one called "Amigo"
(http://www.amigo-us.com) on the internet. Evidently, Afikomen in Berkeley also has
Israel cell phone rentals.
 
Q: Will there be Wifi in the hotels?
A: Yes.
 
Q: Will emergency medical care be available?
A: Yes.
 
Q: What about travel insurance?
A: The trip cost includes medical coverage while in Israel on the trip. For further insurance, Travel Insurance Services (800-937-1387) sells policies for health insurance to travel abroad.
 
Q: What if I really, really want to go but just can't quite afford it?
A: There are limited scholarship funds available. Please contact Rabbi Dardik privately to
discuss.

Beth Jacob Goes to Israel...again!

I S R A E L

 JOIN BETH JACOB FAMILY AND FRIENDS 

JUNE 17 - 28, 2012

EXPERIENCE AN EDUCATIONAL TRIP LED BY RABBI DARDIK WITH PLENTY OF LEARNING, JOY AND LAUGHTER FOR EVERYONE

• Learn from the books of Joshuam Judges, Samuel, Kings and more
• Reach the heights of Mt. Azazel, Mt. Carmel and Masada
• Visit the Old City, Western Wall, Kotel tunnels
• Discover Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism
• Uncover the history of the Jews and the Roman Empire and see Caesarea and the Bar Kochba caves

•  Take an ATV ride in the Judean desert
• Walk the Jerusalem Promenade
• Relax on an evening cruise on the Kineret
• Celebrate Shabbat in the Old City

  ALL THIS AND MUCH MORE! 

Contact Richard Leavitt at rmatthl@gmail.com

for more information on this fantastic trip!