Poland plus 12 Days Israel with Petra & Eilat

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Poland Jewish Heritage Tours

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Our Jewish Heritage Tours to Poland and Israel are available every Tuesday, May through November for groups of 15 or more. Please call for more information.

Day 1
Depart on an overnight flight to Warsaw

Day 2
Afternoon arrivals in Warsaw Meet with your guide/host Transfer to hotel.
Enjoy a walk in the Old Town Square with the many cafes, shops, galleries, museums and the near by university. Here there is much to see and explore on your own… a list of recommendations, tour guidebooks and city maps are available.
You can enjoy a casual dinner at Stacja Rynek on the Old Town Square; outdoor seating, weather permitting. Walk back to the hotel.
Overnight Warsaw

Day 3
Our tour today will start with an orientation to the incredible Jewish revival in Poland by one of the Taube Foundation Warsaw office staff.
Later in the day,a tour of Warsaw; this guided tour that includes the “Ohel” for an installation & tour of ultra modern Museum of the History of Polish Jews (scheduled to be opened in 2011). The tour will provide an overview of the nation’s capital and its important landmarks during the last century’s dramatic upheavals. The city was rebuilt after its destruction by Nazi Germany and is undergoing enormous construction and renovations since the 1989 defeat of the communist system. Our tour will also include two important Jewish sites: Mila 18, the last hideout of Warsaw ghetto resistance fighters, and the Umschlagplatz, the Nazi train depot from where thousands of Warsaw ghetto inhabitants were deported to Treblinka.
Later we will visit the Ringelblum Archives and other collections at the Jewish Historical Institute (JHI), the world’s largest repository of 900 years of Polish Jewish history and the first research institution to document the Holocaust immediately following WWII.
We will complete our tour today with a visit to the Warsaw Jewish Cemetery. The cemetery director is Yisroel Szpilman, cousin of Wladyslaw Szpilman, portrayed in the Roman Polanski film, “The Pianist”. Yisroel Szpilman who takes pride in his important work of preserving the past, often is available to “guide” the visitors.
Option for this evening is a concert at theNational Opera House, one of the nation’s pinnacle attractions.
Dinner and overnight – Warsaw

Day 4
Arrival in Krakow. Transfer to our centrally located hotel, close to the Old Town Square. We will enjoy a comprehensive walking tour of the Old Town Square, called Rynek Glowny and the walled castle. We continue with a visit to the Galicia Jewish Museum, in the Jewish district Kazimierz and the near by 900 seat Tempel Synagogue. Here on Szeroka Street is the district’s main town square, complete with historic and renovated synagogues, coffee houses, restaurants, bookshops and galleries.
Onto a comprehensive tour of Czestochowa. Czestochowa is the world-famous pilgrimage site, where hundreds of thousands of Catholics gather in August to pay homage to the Black Madonna icon at the Jasna Gora convent. Czestochowa was also the home to a thriving Jewish population prior to WWII. Today, city officials, university and secondary school teachers, librarians, archivists and ordinary townspeople are preserving the Jewish past and educating younger generations through innovative projects that have earned awards by the Ministries of Culture and Education.
Dinner and overnight in Krakow

Day 5
Our tour today will pay tribute to the millions who perished by the hands of the Nazis during the war years. Our tour is to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and death camp. We will be guided by the best guides trained by the Auschwitz State Museum. After touring the Nazi camps, we will visit the Auschwitz Jewish Center in the nearby town of Oswiecim, where the glorious history of the prewar Jewish community is exhibited and where study internships for American college students and military cadets are held. The Center is under the auspices of the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York. Dinner and overnight in Krakow

Day 6

Flight to Tel Aviv, Arrival in Ben Gurion Airport, clear Customs and meet your Tour Guide, transfer to the hotel on the Mediterranean waterfront , rest of day at leisure. (meals D)

Day 7

We start the day with an orientation tour of Tel Aviv, including Rabin Square where Prime Minister Itzhak Rabin was assassinated. Continue on to the Palmach Museum to see how the Israeli army started and grew into the strong defense force of today. Proceed to Independence Hall, where David Ben Gurion announced the final declaration of statehood after the U.N. vote. Enjoy a visit to Jaffa to see the excavations and stroll through the artist colony before arriving to your hotel to check in for overnight, Evening dinner at hotel. (meals B,D)

Day 8

After breakfast depart to Caesarea. VIsit the Roman Theater, which still hosts concerts today. Also see an aqueduct and partially intact Roman Street. Continue to Yemin Orde Wingate Youth Village, which is home to more than 500 immigrant, disadvantaged and at-risk children and youth from 20 countries around the world. Located just south of Haifa in the Carmel Mountains, Yemin Orde is both a home and school environment. We will visit the kids and join them for lunch. continue to Haifa and view the picturesque panorama and the colorful Bahai Gardens. Time permitting we will drive to Acco to visit the newly reconstructed Crusader Fort. Continue to your kibbutz for dinner and overnight. (meals B,L,D)

Day 9

This morning we will travel to Safed, Israel's mystic city. Visit the artist colony and the ancient synagogues. Time for shopping. Drive up to the Town of Pekiin where it is believed that Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, Miasmatic-era sage, rebel against Rome and author of the Zohar, hid with his son from the Romans. No knows how old the synagogue is, the last time it was restored was in 1890. We now make our way to the Golan Heights stopping at the Ben Tal overlook to see the former Syrian Bunkers from where the Syrians sent rocket attacks on the valley below. Our next stop is the Talmudic Village at Katzrin. The remains of the ancient village are fascinating with reconstructed homes, complete with their interiors and the farming implements used by the inhabitants. The central site is a magnificent synagogue from the 6th century, evidence of a prosperous community. A few hundred meters further south is the industrial area where two well-known companies each produce very different but essential drinks - the Mei Eden water bottling plant and the Golan Heights Winery.Time permitting we will visit either both plants or just one of them. Return to your kibbutz for dinner and overnight. (meals B,D)

Day 10

This morning we will make our way to Jerusalem. Drive to Tiberias to visit Rambam’s grave; Visit Naharayim, the Island of Peace, located on the border between Israel and Jordan and explore the environmental relationship between Israel and Jordan. Visit Beit Shean National Park, one of the largest archaeological sites in Israel with its Biblical Tel and ongoing excavations exposing the vast Roman-Byzantine City. Drive through the Jordan Valley to Jerusalem. Welcome to Jerusalem. Enter the vibrant and colorful 3,000 year old city of Jerusalem and experience the convergence of the old and the new. Stop at Mount Scopus to recite the traditional "shehechiyanu" blessing, upon entering Jerusalem. Check into the hotel.Dinner at hotel.(meals B,D)

Day 11

This morning drive to the Old City for guided walk through the Jewish Quarter. Visits to some of the sites excavated over the past 30 years, including: The Cardo, a Byzantine street that is now the oldest shopping arcade in the world, Hurva Square, the central square of the Jewish Quarter, and a guided visit through the 2,000-year old Herodian Mansions in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City. Guided visit to the Davidson Archaeological Park with a special visit to the Davidson Center, to view the new three-dimensional computer generated presentation of "Life During the Time of the Temple," followed by a guided visit to the Southern Wall Excavations. The Kotel (Western Wall). Visit the Western Wall Tunnel, the underground continuation of the Western Wall along the Temple Mount. Return to your hotel to prepare for Shabbat Dinner at your hotel.(meals B,D)

Day 12

Breakfast at the hotel. Optional Shabbat Services. Enjoy a Shabbat lunch at your hotel. This evening free for dinner on your own (meals B,L)

Day 13

Today we depart early and drive to the shores of the Dead Sea. Driving along the shore road, we arrive at Massada. Ascend by able car to the top of Herod's mountain fortress to see where the Jewish Zealots lived and died rather than submit to Roman tyranny. Descend by cable car and start our drive through Arava for a chance to behold the natural beauty of the desert. Evening dinner at hotel. (meals B,D)

Day 14

This morning we depart the hotel to the Arava border crossing with Jordan. Cross the border and meet our Jordanian Guide. Upon arrival in Petra you will travel by horseback or horse drawn cart to the Suq and then walk the remaining distance to the city. Tour of the city with your local guide. After tour return to the Arava border and board you waiting motor coach and travel back to Eilat. (meals B)

Day 15

We will visit the Underground Observatory to see some of the world's most exquisite fish,, before departing Eilat and driving through the beautiful Negev desert to the Raman Crater where you will see one of natures most interesting sites. Stop for a visit at Sde Boker to see the home of David and Paula Ben Guiron in the desert. Continue to Beersheva, the capital of the Negev. Visit the air force base at Hatzerim. Return to Jerusalem. Dinner at your hotel. (meals B,D)

Day 16

Today is dedicated to the New City of Jerusalem. Our first stop will be Yad Lekashesh where you will meet with Israeli senior citizens. Proceed to Hadassah Hospital to see the beautiful Chagall Windows that adorn the walls of the hospital synagogue. Continue to Yad Vashem the memorial to the six million who perished in the Holocaust. Our last stop of the day will be the Israel Museum and the Shrine of the Book where the dead see scrolls are housed. Return to hotel. Evening at leisure. (meals B)

Day 17

After breakfast we take part in Leket Program at Kibbutz Kzuzat Shiller. This afternoon history comes alive as you participate in an archeological dig at Tel Maresha! Tour the Bell Caves and the Columbarium at Beit Guvrin. Return to Jerusalem and this evening prepare for your departure home and our farewell dinner. (meals B,D)

Day 18

Drive to the airport for check in for your flight.

Call for more info: 1-800-355-9994

Our Jewish Heritage Tours are based on groups of 15 and more.
Individuals and smaller groups can still enjoy the tour at additional supplement.

Poland Jewish Heritage Tours