Bat / Bar Mitzvah Israel Tour (10 days)

Recommended for most families, even without a Bar Mitzvah
 

                       Day 1: Monday
 

 Arrival and pick up at airport

Caesarea National Park 

• Along Israel’s beautiful Mediterranean coast
• Israel’s version of Pompeii. One of the best preserved Roman cities in the world.
• It is nestled beautifully on the sea 

Quick tour of Kibbutz Lavi 

• Kibbutz and one of the few where everything is 100% collectively owned
• We will see what it is like to be a Kibbuztnik
• Collectively they own the largest Synagogue Furniture plant in the world.

Decks Restaurant in Tiberias for late lunch/early dinner

• Build on a pier which juts of the Sea of Galilee
• Known for it’s Saint Peter’s Fish and steak

Check into Ramot Resort Hotel

                Day 2: Tuesday

Breakfast at the hotel

Rafting on the Biblical Jordan River

• It is a Lazy River

Jeeping

Lunch at Iscandar

• Really tasty Meat place on the Jordan River
• Great Israeli Salads

Some of the sites we can experience that day include:

Olive Oil Factory Katzrin

• Most people take the oil out of the olives and sell the oil while throwing away the olive sediments.
• Here they take these sediments that the world considers garbage and re-use them to make one of a kind skin products.

Katzrin Talmudic Village

• Experience what is was like to live during Talmudic times(1600 years ago)
• Enter ancient homes and an original Synagogue from this time period

Har Bental

• A safe overlook of Syria (up to the outskirts of Damascus). 
• Hear the significance of the Golan Heights and walk through former IDF (Israeli Army) trenches

De Karina Chocolate factory

• In the first room, see how chocolate is made. 
• In the second room, we get to taste the chocolateIn the third room, each of us will ​make our own chocolate and bring it home with us (if we don't eat it first!).

Jilabun 

• Amazing Golan Heights Water Hike
• We will hike to stunning natural pool (which we can swim in)  and waterfall

Dinner in the Golan Heights in the quaint town of Ramot

Return to Ramat Resort Hotel

                           Day 3: Wednesday

Big Breakfast at the hotel

Swimming or Boating on the Sea of Galilee

Walking tour of Tzfat and Artist Colony

• One of the 4 holy cities. 
• This is the world center of Kaballah. 
• We will walk through its enchanting 500 year old alleys and walk through its artist colony
• We will see it’s ancient Synagogues

Some of the sites we can visit that day include

Tzfat Underground Tunnels (permitting it will be open then)

• Homes that existed before the infamous 1777 Earthquake
• The earthquake caused a landslide which preserved the buildings
• Were discovered recently by accident when a resident was doing an extension to their basement
• We will see guns from the Independence War

Cheese Factory of Tzfat

• Famous cheese factory in Tzfat which has been there since the early 1800’s in the same family
• Great place for tasting
• Besides cheese, they make amazing Halva, an Israeli pastry made from Sesame

Tzfat Crusader Fortress

•  Largest Crusader fortress ever in the middle East
• Great view of the surrounding areas including the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee)

Otzar HaStam Tzfat 

• Experience being a Sofer Stam (Scribe).
• First room is a multi visual trivia game on Mezuza’s, Tefillin, and Torah Scrolls (there is a beginner’s option for kids).
• The next room is a movie with moving seats. The third room allows you to write on the parchment with the proper tools (and help of a real
  ​Scribe) and bring your work home as a souvenir.

Tzfat Candle making workshop 

• In the heart of Tzfat’s Artist colony
• From a Kabalistic Perspective

Drive to Jerusalem and check into hotel

                Day 4: Thursday

​Breakfast at hotel
 

Bar Mitzvah at the Kotel (Western Wall)

• I can arrange a Rabbi for the ceremony
• I can also arrange a photographer and/ or a video specialist
   

Special Bar Mitzvah tour of the Kotel Tunnels

Special brunch (option for catering) in Jerusalem’s Old City

Special Bar Mitzvah "Mitzvah Opportunity" at Pantry Packers 

• We will have the privilege of helping Jerusalem’s Poor by packing food into packages
• Israel's oldest active charity founded in 1788
   

Dinner and free time at Ben Yehuda Street (Jerusalem's downtown)

• Jerusalem's downtown shopping trendy street

Return to Hotel
                   

​                 Day 5: Friday 

City of David- We will see the following:

• King David’s Palace
• Homes from the First temple period
• Underground water tunnel mentioned in Tanach (Bible)- There is a wet and dry option

Machene Yehuda

• Known as the Shuk
• Trendy and Authentic Middle Eastern Food Market place
• Many of the stalls have been there for generations and have interesting stories (and great food to sample)

Tel Azekah

• See the place where King David and Goliath had their fateful encounter.
• Beautiful, short hike through the enchanting Judean forest
• Gorgeous panaromic views of much of the country

Crawl underground through the secret Bar Kochva tunnels

• The Jewish people fought a Guerrilla war for three years against the Romans
• We will bring our flashlights with us.

Return to Jerusalem hotel to get ready for Shabbat

Friday night services at at the Kotel (Western Wall)
 

​Shabbat Dinner- Option to eat at the hotel or with locals
    
 

​                             Day 6: Saturday

Morning Services at a Historic Synagogue (also an option to sleep in)
 

Huge Shabbat Lunch
 

​Walking Tour of the Old City and Jewish Quarter
 

Havdalah (Ceremonial prayers for the end of Shabbat)

Free time at night
              
 

                         Day 7: Sunday

Breakfast at hotel

Hebron

• One of the four Holy cities of Israel. 
• Tour Hebron’s Jewish Community.

Cave of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs

• Visit the burial site of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. 
• This is the site mentioned in Genesis where Abraham buries his wife Sara. 
• Also buried here are Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, Leah, Adam and Eve. 

Visiting a Settlement

• Jewish West Bank Settlement, a concept often in the news

Some of the other sites we can visit include:

Zipline

• One of the highest in the world 
• You will be 120 meters above the group and you will go 400 meters

Gush Etzion Winery for Lunch and tasting

Caliber 3 

• Counter terrorism course with an IDF officer which includes learning how to fire a gun

Judaica Woodmaking Workshop

• Using high end wood with state of the arc carpentry equipment

Quick stop at the new US Embassy (from the outside)

• First embassy in Jerusalem of any country
• Moved by President Trump in May 2018

Tayelet (Promenade) in Jerusalem 

• A breathtaking view of the Old City.
• Stand where Abraham “saw the mountain from Afar” and the mountain where Avraham was tested in the binding of Isaac.
• King David passed through here en route to conquering Jerusalem and making it his capital.
• We will also see the infamous security fence of Israel

Return to hotel

                                 ​Day 8: Monday
 

Breakfast at hotel

Beautiful Drive through the Judean Desert

•  One of the world’s smallest

Ahava Factory

• The world famous Dead Sea skin products are made here

Ein Gedi

• Hiking in the desert, freshwater oasis (family friendly hike)
• Although the Judean desert is barren (50 mm of rain a year), plenty of water is found here.
• Besides the beautiful plants and usual spotting of Hyraxes (type of rodent) and Ibex (gazelles), there is an option for swimming in its cool natural pools.
• See why when future King David fled from King Saul, he came here.

Swimming in the Dead Sea

• More like floating.
• Feel free to read a newspaper while floating on the water. 
• The saltiest body of water on earth (save for Antarctica) and rich in minerals, the water is great for the skin.
•  The Dead seas therapeutic waters have been known since the Roman Times.
• Cleopatra had this sea seized for her. 
• Dead Sea skin products are sold all over the world.

Go to the Bedoiun tents

Dinner in a Bedoiun tent

After dinner, we will meet with a real Bedoiun in his tent and he will tell us about his life while serving us authentic bedoiun coffee

Return to the tents (Option for a room)

                     ​Day 9: Tuesday

Wake up for the early morning sunrise on Masada 

• Israel’s 2nd most visited site, famous for the Great Jewish Revolt which will climax with the destruction of the Second Temple. 
• The last stand of the revolt took place here and with Masada’s fall came the Jewish Exile which continues to affect us to this day.
•  Beautiful view of the Dead Sea from the top.

Return to the tents for breakfast  

Camel Rides

Check into Tel Aviv Hotel

Free time at the Beach

                 ​Day 10: Wednesday

 Machon Ayalon 

• Also known as the "Bullet Factory".
• Former “Kibbutz” which was really a fake cover for building bullets for the Jewish underground under the noses of the unsuspecting British who ruled here’
   

Old Jaffa-One of the world's oldest cities 

We will see (energy and time permitting):

• A view of Tel Aviv's Skyline and Jaffa's Old City.
• Andromeda’s Rocks- Jaffa has been a port city entrance way to Eretz Yisrael from Biblical times (for example, Yonah fled by boat from this location). 
• Jaffa board walk including former hospital of Napolean’s wounded French troops & Old Jaffa Port.
• Alleyways of Old Jaffa & Artist Colony- Many of the historic Jaffa buildings have been turned into Art Galleries.
• Weird Hanging Tree- suspended in mid-air. An amazing example of Israeli innovation
• Ramses 2 gate- Entrance to the former palace of Ramses 2nd, believed to be the same Pharoah as the one in Shemos (Exodus) where the Jews left Egypt from Slavery to Freedom.

Lunch at Regina at Jaffa’s Old Train Station 

• First train station in the Middle East
• Today a trendy place
• You are able to enter one of the original  old train

Carmel Market in Tel Aviv

• Trendy Tel Aviv Market place
   

Drop off at Airport

* The above is just a sample. ​Upon reservation of the dates, we will personalize each day to better fit your touring interests even if it ends up looking completely different than the above sample itinerary
 

Tour package options:
 

​* This 10 day Israel Bar Mitzvah tour includes your private Israel tour guide, your own personalized itinerary, and having us take care of your logistics. Admission, accommodations & car rental is extra (for no extra charge, we can take care of those logistics for you). You can bring as many participants as you would like. This option is $650 per day.
 

​** This 10 day Bat Mitzvah Israel tour includes your private Israel tour guide, private driver, vehicle, pickup/drop off at your door, personalized itinerary, and having us take care of your logistics. This option starts at $1095 per day (dependent on size of vehicle needed). Admission and accommodations extra .