Synagogue Tour & Itinerary
Synagogue Tours to Israel are among the most important educational and community and congregation building tools available to Rabbis and Synagogue leadership.
A well-designed Israel travel experience can lead to increased Jewish identity and ultimately to increased involvement in Jewish life for participants and their families when they return to their home communities.
This is what you can expect from Israel Celebration Israel on your Synagogue Israel Experience:
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Israel Celebration Tours director in Israel is an American-trained rabbi who has been presenting Israel to Diaspora Jews for many years.
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Israel Celebration Tours programs are designed to reflect not only historical sites and geography, but to build upon Jewish values.
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Israel Celebration Tours guides are personally selected and trained for synagogue tours.
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Israel Celebration Tours guides work with the rabbi, cantor or educator enabling them to share in the presentation of Israel to his/her community.
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Israel Celebration Tours ensures that the quality of hotels, buses, meals and personal comfort are of the very highest quality, with no compromise.
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Israel Celebration Tours is conscious of economic factors: our tours are offered at the most competitive prices.
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Israel Celebration Tours is aware that an excellent Israel program must be fun for all. Every day allows for fun, adventure and experiential elements, and opportunities to meet the real, living Israel.
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Israel Celebration Tours builds programs for Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist congregations, providing opportunities to meet and share with their respective movements in Israel.
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We are not just another tour of Israel for your synagogue: Israel Celebration Tours understands the power and potential of Israel for your community and strives to realize that potential.
Remember, you can have a private tour designed specially for you – private tour guide, private driver and an itinerary to suit your needs. Contact us now.
Sample Synagogue Tour Itinerary
Note: Actual locations, sites, times and details may change according to requirements.
12-day tour
Day 1, Thursday: Arrival and “Shehecheyanu” Jerusalem
First stop, Mt. Scopus, to break bread, share in a cup of wine (or grape juice) and toast our arrival. Check in to hotel, brief discovery walk, then falafel dinner.
Day 2, Friday: Digging into our Heritage Bet Guvrin
Archeological Dig for a Day, then Tel Gezer, to open our story of Jewish history in the land of Israel. Back in Jerusalem to the “Time Tunnel” and a journey into our past. Erev Shabbat on foot the Kotel — the Western Wall, returning for Kiddush and dinner — Oneg Shabbat — group singing, stories and games. Shabbat Shalom.
Day 3, Shabbat: “Eternity Uttered a Day...”
After Shabbat services, a Jerusalem neighborhood walking tour. After lunch and a rest, we can choose either Mincha services overlooking the walls of Jerusalem or group map session about the geography of Israel. After Havdala, evening at leisure in downtown Jerusalem on the Ben Yehuda Pedestrian Mall.
Day 4, Sunday: Jerusalem of Old – Jerusalem of Gold
Climb the ramparts of the Walls of the Old City; view the four quarters of Jerusalem — Armenian, Jewish, Moslem, and Christian. Then to the most ancient part of Jerusalem — the “City of David,” to hear the 3,000-year-old story of one of our favorite heroes and kings.
The new Davidson Center at the Southern Wall Excavations presents an interactive story of King Herod: we visit the excavations and climb the ancient steps of the Second Temple, once again underground through the Kotel Tunnels. Then a moment of prayer at the Kotel itself. Lunch on the street in the Jewish Quarter, then to the Herodian Mansions. Thereafter to the Israel Museum to Shrine of the Book, home of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Conclude at the Holyland model of Jerusalem in Second Temple times.
Day 5, Monday: The Masada Option!
Leave early for the Dead Sea and Massada to arrive before the intense heat. Take the cable car to the top and learn about this fascinating episode in Jewish history. We take the cable car down and then head off to float in the Dead Sea. Camel rides are an option prior to a Bedouin “Hafla-Bash” meal, served at a Bedouin campsite. Our route back to Jerusalem stops at the Ein Gedi springs and a visit to Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered.
Day 6, Tuesday: Jews and Romans – Caesarea and Tzipori
First stop, Caesarea, an ancient Roman port city and seat of government during Herod’s rule. Then inland to Tzipori, the ancient capital of the Galilee, known for the recently discovered brilliant mosaics. Then further east to “Sachne” or “ Gan Hashlosha” — pristine open-air swimming pools created by the Romans more than 2,000 years ago. Overnight at at Kibbutz Ma’agan on the south eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, the “Kineret.” Dinner in Tiberias.
Day 7, Wednesday: Returning Home over the Ages – Safed and Degania
We begin with a visit to Kfar Nachum (Capernaum) to examine the beginnings of Christianity and its ancient Jewish roots. Drive up the mountains to the mystical city of Tzfat (Safed), refuge of many of the Jews expelled from Spain in 1492. Safed also has an active artists colony.
We will also visit one of Israel’s fine wineries in the hills of the Galilee and the Golan for a tasting. Next we visit Chavat Kinneret – the original training farm for pioneers. Finally to Kibbutz Degania, for an insight into the old days and a view into the Kibbutz of the present.
Day 8, Thursday: The Golan Heights – Peace and Security
We drive to the Golan Heights, conquered by Israel in 1967, to visit some of the pre-1967 Syrian bunkers and hear the stories of residents from these difficult days. Next, we reach the snowy top of Mt. Hermon and look down upon Israel, Lebanon and Syria. On the way down we stop at Kalat Nimrod, an intact Crusader castle and then hike to the Banias waterfalls or go white-water rafting on the Hazbani River. A visit to Kiryat Shemona, one of Israel’s northernmost cities and then overnight at Kibbutz Kfar Giladi.
Day 9, Friday: Israel – A Home to the Worlds Major Faiths
Destination Tel Aviv, with a stop on the way at Akko, today a mixed city of Jews and Arabs. We will see the El Jazar Mosque and learn about the beginnings of Islam and its connection to the Land of Israel.
Next, we visit the Crusader Hall of Knights and follow this with a visit to the walls and "shuks" — the markets of Akko. Then on to Haifa visiting the Bahai Shrine and gardens; we continue on to Tel Aviv — “The Big Orange.” After Kabalat Shabbat, Kiddush and dinner in our hotel and a walk on Tel Aviv’s beachfront promenade.
Day 10, Shabbat: Tel Aviv—A City of Jews or a Jewish City?
After Shabbat prayers, a walking tour of the old neighborhoods of Tel Aviv, starting in Jaffa, then Neve Shalom and Neve Tzedek; a visit to the Tel Aviv Art Museum. Early afternoon free for walking along the beachfront or resting. After Havdalah, on to Old Jaffa for dinner and possibly a concert at the Suzanne Dalal Dance Center in Neve Tzedek, or a stroll on Dizengoff Street — Israel’s “Times Square”.
Day 11, Sunday: Preparing for Statehood
Rehovot and a visit to Machon Ayalon, a secret pre-state arms factory hidden under a kibbutz. Then to the Weizmann Institute, home of some of Israel’s greatest research breakthroughs. Lunch in the Weizmann cafeteria.
Return to Tel Aviv to Independence Hall where David Ben Gurion declared the State of Israel on May 14th 1948. Next, we visit the Diaspora Museum, on the campus of Tel Aviv University. Our closing banquet is at a restaurant in Tel Aviv’s Yemenite quarter.
Day 12, Monday: If I Forget Thee O Jerusalem
On our last day, we return to Jerusalem to sum up our Israel experience, starting with a visit to Yad VaShem, the official memorial to the Holocaust. At the conclusion of our visit, we will have a special ceremony of dedication in the Ohel Yizkor.
From Yad VaShem we proceed to Mt. Herzl and Israel’s national military cemetery. Here we visit the graves of the founders and leaders of Israel and then to the military cemetery.
After lunch, we drive to the Knesset and Supreme Court. On our way to the airport we will stop at Mini Israel, the amazing miniature recreation of the most significant sites in Israel.
Interested in a customized tour? Click here to see how we can create a tour designed specially for you.
