Itinerary "A Nation born in a day" Tour
Itinerary (subject to change)Day 1 – Sunday May 08, 2016
- Arrival on Ben Gurion Airport
- Introduction to the program and meeting with David Nekrutman, executive director of the CJCUC
- Visit to the Eshel HaShomron Biblical Garden in Ariel. The garden is an educational project where people can see, smell and taste the Bible while learning about the rights of the Jewish people to the Biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria.
- Dinner and overnight in Eshel HaShomron, Ariel
Day 2 – Monday May 09, 20156
- Lookout on biblical Samaria from Mount Gerizim also called Har Bracha, the Mountain of Blessing, view over ancient Sichem and the valley where Joshua and the people of Israel entered the Promised Land. Study the Abrahamic Covenant.
- Tel Shiloh was a religious center for the Israelites even before Jerusalem: it was the place where the children of Israel brought the Tabernacle to. Visit the exposition “Until Shilo Comes”, visit the ancient excavations of the Biblical city Shilo and explore the place where the Tabernacle stood for 369 years
- “You shall plant vines on the hills of Samaria” (Jeremia 31:5) and “Sons of the foreigner will be your vinedressers” (Isaiah 61:5). After many centuries of wasting land, vine is being cultivated again on the hills of Samaria. Visit the HaYovel community and discover the relevance of the Smitta, the sabbatical year for the Land of Israel and the role of agriculture in the establishment of Israel.
- “Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen (…) and bring them into their own land and I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel (Ezekiel 37: 21,22)”. Prophesies are being fulfilled. Visit the Girls’ School in Ofra where many Jewish “olim” from all over the world study.
- Dinner and overnight in Eshel HaShomron, Ariel
- Visit the Mount of Beatitudes. Discover the principle of “Derech Eretz Kadma Le Torah”, the way of the world precedes the Torah.
- Visit ancient Capernaum where the remains of a synagogue stand opposite the ruins of an ancient church. Study the Jewish-Christian relations in the time of the early church.
- Visit Netafim. Netafim is pioneer and world leader in smart irrigation solutions for agriculture. Netafim's solutions transformed the manner in which farmers and agriculturists all over the world deliver water and nutrition to crops. Study the role of agriculture in the establishment
- Visit a Kibbutz, a collectively organized agricultural settlement, in the upper Galilee. Meet a Kibbutznik who will tell about life along the Lebanese border, some kilometers away from the area where Hezbollah, a militant Islamic movement, is in power.
- Meet Israeli soldiers, young guys that are responsible for Israel’s safety on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. An on-site briefing regarding Israel’s security challenges concerning the Iranian supported Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon. · With the sunset falling in, Israel’s national Remembrance Day is starting. Join a ceremony with Israeli soldiers to commemorate the fallen soldiers and terror victims.
- Dinner and overnight on the Sea of Galilee
Day 4 – Wednesday May 11, 2016 (Yom HaZikaron, Memorial Day)
- Meet with Father Gabriel Nadaf, the Israeli Greek-Orthodox priest in Nazareth dedicated to integrating the Christian community in Israel within the Israeli society and army. A talk about the position of the (Arab-)Israeli Christians in the Israeli society, loyalty dilemma's and the relation to their Islamic surrounding.
- Visit Yemin Orde Youth Village. A Youth Aliyah Rescue Project that provides a home, a family and a future to more than 500 immigrant children from around the world
- Visit the N.I.L.I Museum in Zichron Yaakov, commemorating the World War I Jewish espionage network headed by the Aaronsohn family; this is the story of the first Jewish underground – Nili (Netzach Israel lo Yishaker – The Eternity of Israel will not deceive).
- With sunset falling in, Israel’s Independence Day is starting. Celebrate Israel’s 67th year of Independence!
- Overnight in Tel Aviv
Day 5 – Thursday May 12,
2016 (Yom Haatzmaut, Independence Day)
- Drive up to Jerusalem and discuss the Hallel, the psalms that were sung when coming to Jerusalem to celebrate the High Holidays.
- Visit a special service of thanksgiving in a synagogue in Efrat, where the Hallel is recited marking Israel's national deliverance.
- An independence day BBQ culture has developed in Israel as an inseparable part of the recognition and respect for the country. On this day, Israelis will visit forests and parks to barbecue heaps of meat, kebabs, skewers, wings, sausages, etc. Join the culture, BBQ in the HaYarkon Park.
- Visit to the Independence Hall. On the 14th of May 1948, the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel was signed in a small hall on Rothschild Avenue in Tel Aviv. This Independence Hall is part of the famous UNESCO World Heritage buildings in Bauhaus style.
- Dinner in Tel Aviv
- Meeting in the hotel with a (non-Jewish) Knesset member
- Overnight in Tel Aviv
Day 6 – Friday May 13, 2016
- Visit the Weizmann House, the private residence of Chaim Weizmann, former President of the World Zionist Organization and first President of the State of Israel and founder and first President of the Weizmann Institute of Science.
- Visit the Weizmann Institute of Science, The Weizmann Institute of Science is one of the world’s leading multidisciplinary research institutions. Discover the pioneering spirit that led to the establishment of Israel and made Israel a blooming innovational country.
- "And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city" (Ezekiel 11:23). Drive to the tip of the Mount of Olives, discover Jerusalem in the Second Temple Period and have a panoramic view of the Old City of Jerusalem.
- Tour the major sites of Jerusalem’s Old City: Visit the colorful markets, the Via Dolorosa and the Cardo, an ancient Roman site now filled with shops brimming with Middle Eastern artistry. Walk through the atmospheric Jewish Quarter and see the Western Wall, where people gather to pray.
- Drive to Efrat
- Visit to the Synagogue for the Shabbat Evening Service
- Enjoy a traditional Shabbat dinner with explanations about the customs
- Overnight in Jerusalem
Day 7 – Saturday, Shabbat, May 14, 2016
- Visit to the Synagogue for the Shabbat Morning Service
- Workshops in the CJCUC
- Meeting with Jerusalem pastor Steven Khoury, the youngest Local ordained Arab pastor in Israel and surrounding Arab countries. Speak about Jewish-Arab cooperation and the challenges for Arab Christians living in the Palestinian Authority.
- Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem
- Departures
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