Day One

Haifa Bahai Lookout

Over half a million visitors from around the world flock to Haifa to see the UNESCO World Heritage Site Bahai Gardens covering some 200,000 square meters cascading down 19 different terraces.
Besides being a holy place for the Bahai, it is also the burial site for the Bab, the founder of the Bahai faith. It offers one of the most stunning views of Haifa from the Carmel Mountains.

Akko Old City and Knights Halls

On a small peninsula jutting out of Israel’s northern coast, lies a walled port city that has almost 4,000 years of continual use. Although Akko has seen the Phonecians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, besides numerous other conquerors, its golden age was in the 12th century when it became one of the most important and wealthiest cities of the Crusaders.
We will explore the walls and moats of Akko, as well as the newly uncovered Hospitallers fortress. We will go underground through tunnels and crypts going back in time 800 years to the age of knights and maidens.
If we have time we can explore the market, Ramchal Synagogue,, port and perhaps even take a quick speed boat out of the Akko Port!

Akko Tunisian Synagogue

We will also visit the Ohr Torah Tunisian Synagogue, the most decorated Synagogue in Israel and arguably the world. The synagogue boasts 7 torah arks and nearly seven decades worth of constant artistry, portraying all of Jewish history in its 140 stained glass windows, and more than a million mosaic stones. Nearly every surface has been used to create an amazing work of art unparalleled anywhere else in the world.

Rosh Hanikra Grottoes & Cable Car

On Israel’s northern border with Lebanon sits one of the most magnificent natural phenomenons in Israel. We will take cable cars down to grottoes that were carved into the mountainside over thousands of years by the beating waves of the Mediterranean Sea. From the cliff sides we will get one of the most picturesque views of the Mediterranean coast that you can imagine.

Tzfat Old City & Artist Quarter
In Judaism’s most mystical book, the Zohar, Tzfat is described as having the purest air in all of Israel and that’s not only because Tzfat is almost 3,000 feet in elevation. Of Judaism’s four Holy Cities, Tzfat is the one described as mystical and connected to the element of air, that which is intangible… hidden.

It is for this reason that 500 years ago Tzfat attracted mystics and rabbis and built breathtaking synagogues which we will explore.  In recent years Tzfat’s beauty has attracted artists from all over who have opened their galleries to the public, making Tzfat a highlight of any trip to Israel.

Sleep Haifa

Day Two

Welcome to Jerusalem – Mount Scopus viewpoint

The rabbis of the Talmud state that Jerusalem is the highest place in the world because everyone “ascends” to Jerusalem.  The spiritual plateau of the world is here in this most famous and yearned after city.  As we enter Jerusalem we will breathe in her beauty from the Mount Scopus Viewpoint and recall the words of the Sages that one “doesn’t come to Jerusalem, rather they return to Jerusalem.”

The Kotel – Western Wall

If Jerusalem is the heart of the Jewish People then the Temple Mount and its western retaining wall are its soul.  After the Temple’s destruction, the kotel is one of its last remaining walls.  Today we only see a fraction of it exposed, but it spans over a quarter of a mile and once stood 20 stories high!  Although made of limestone, local tradition holds that it is really made up of the tears and prayers of 2,000 years of Jews yearning for “Next year in Jerusalem.” According to Jewish thought the Temple Mount is the holiest place on earth and the entryway to the spiritual world.

Four Quarters Walking Tour

From the Hotel we will ascend on foot to the Old City Via the Jaffa Gate, passing through Jerusalem’s oldest and most picturesque neighborhood outside the Old City’s walls, Yemin Moshe.  Besides being Judaism’s holiest city, it is a holy city to both Christianity and Islam.  Today Jerusalem has four distinct areas colloquially called “the four quarters”, the Jewish Quarter, Christian Quarter, Muslim Quarter, and Armenian Quarter.  Together we will explore the hidden gems of this holy city, climbing her rooftops, wandering her alleys, and unlocking her secrets.

Jewish Quarter

The Jewish Quarter has had a Jewish presence almost continuously for 2,700 years!  Home to nearly 3,300 residents, it combines history, religion, and archeology as well as shops and restaurants, yeshivas and synagogues.  Although there is a modern neighborhood on top of these ancient ruins, the stones come to life and whisper the prophecy of Zachariah that “there will once again sit old men and women in the squares of Jerusalem, and the streets will be filled with playing children.” 

Western Wall Tunnels

The Kotel Plaza today has an exposed section of 57 meters out of 488 meters of wall! Underneath the Muslim Quarter of today is the excavated sections of the Western Wall which were once open to the sky. 

Although the average stone in the wall is only 2-3 tons, we will see the largest stone that weighed a whopping 570 tons, making it one of the largest hewn stones in the world.

Sleep Ashdod

Day Three

Machon Ayalon – Clandestine Bullet Factory – Pending Reservation

Just outside of Tel Aviv, on a small hill is located one of the State of Israel’s best kept secrets. Now a museum, this former bullet factory was hidden under a laundromat on a kibbutz training facility and arguably saved the State of Israel.  In 1943 as the War of Independence was approaching the hagana (the pre state army) desperately needed weapons and ammunition but the British ruled the land. This secret underground factory was established, and in 3 years produced over 2 million bullets under the nose of the British.  It was so secret that for the next 30 years no one had even heard of it!

Yad Vashem – Israel’s Holocaust Memorial

Yad Vashem was founded in 1953 as Israel’s central holocaust memorial and museum.  It’s for this reason that, after the Kotel, it is Israel’s most visited site.  It is here where visitors will hear the story and the meaning of the holocaust within the greater story of the people of Israel and the Land of Israel.  All political delegations that come to Israel must come to Yad Vashem to see for themselves what can happen when the Jews don’t have a place to call home.

Israel Museum & Dead Sea Scrolls

Covering an area of over half a million square feet, and strategically situated next to the Knesset, sits Israel’s foremost cultural institution…the Israel Museum.  This museum houses the largest comprehensive collection of biblical artifacts in its archeological section, as well as the world’s largest collection of Judaica, Jewish art and manuscripts.  Besides the famous “ahava”  statue and the 20 acre model of the Second Temple and Jerusalem, the biggest highlight on the premises  is the Shrine of the Book, which displays the Dead Sea Scrolls; the oldest biblical manuscripts in the world!

Machane Yehuda Shuk – Jerusalem Market

There are no words to accurately describe the “shuk”…one must immerse themselves in the sights, smells, and above all, tastes of Jerusalem’s largest outdoor food market.  It teems with locals and tourists alike, and is a meeting place for Jerusalemites from all over.  Make sure to taste the chalva, techina, the famous marzipan rugalach, and get a fresh Juice from Uzi.

Sleep Ashdod