Enhanced Birthright Israel Sample Itinerary

• Arrival at Ben Gurion International airport.
• Meet the Israelis who will be joining the group for five days ten days (because we’re awesome) as part of the mifgash (encounter).
• Drive along the Coastal Highway towards the northern part of Israel.
• Lunch on route.
• Visit Caesarea – ancient Roman amphitheater on the Mediterranean Sea.
• Orientation/ice breakers/security briefing/expectation session on the beach.
• Transfer to Kibbutz hotel in Northern Israel.
• Festive Opening Dinner at Kibbutz.
• Moonlight walk around Kibbutz.
• Overnight: Kibbutz Hotel.

Day 2: Tuesday 

• Opening lecture about the current situation in Israel with Middle East expert from Kibbutz Tuval.
• Walk through the Banias Nature Reserve; cool off underneath a refreshing waterfall.
• Lunch on route.
• Raft down the Jordan River, or zip line into it!
• Visit an Israeli Defense Force Base
• Overnight at Kibbutz Guest House.

Day 3: Wednesday 

• Hike Mount Arbel – beautiful Cliffs in Northern Israel.
• Visit Tzfat – Center of Jewish Mysticism for centuries and a contemporary artists’ colony.
• Visit the many synagogues and explore the origins of Kabbalah.
• Lunch on promenade in Tzfat.
• Visit Tzippori- a city where Jews and Romans lived together after the destruction of the Second Temple.
• Conversation: Special and Normal
• Dinner and leisure time in Tiberias.
• Overnight: Kibbutz Hotel.

Day 4: Thursday 

• Drive to Tel Aviv- Israel’s most modern city.
• Visit Independence hall – spot where the Declaration of Independence of Israel was signed.
• Visit Rabin Square and the Yitzchak Rabin Memorial.
• Walk around Neve Tzedek, one of Tel Aviv’s first neighborhoods and now home to galleries, quaint  restaurants and shops.
• Lunch in Neve Tzedek.
• Walk through the streets of Tel Aviv on a Graffiti tour and check out the street art scene in Israel.
• Drive South.
• Camel Riding.
• Dinner at Bedouin Tent – learn about Bedouin culture & customs.
• Star gazing in the desert.
• Conversation: Spirituality/Wrestling with God
• Overnight: Bedouin tent.

Day 5: Friday 

• Climb Masada by sunrise via the Roman Ramp, site of the Jewish Zealots’ last stand against the Roman Legionnaires. Explore Herod’s mountain palace, synagogue and bathhouse.
• Descend Masada via the snake path.
• Hike in Ein Gedi – a fresh water spring and waterfall in the desert.
• Enjoy the Dead Sea – cover yourself in mud, float in the Dead Sea and enjoy the natural sulfursprings.
• Lunch at the Dead Sea.
• Drive to Jerusalem.
• Welcome to Jerusalem! Shehechiyanu ceremony overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem.
• Welcome Shabbat with your group.
• Festive Shabbat Dinner and Oneg Shabbat.
• Overnight: Jerusalem.

Day 6: Saturday 

• Service options.
• Kiddush Luncheon at Hotel.
• Free time.
• Optional Shabbat activities, including Bar/Bat Mitzvah Ceremony.
• Conversation: How I Relate to Israel, How Israel Relates to Me
• Group Havdallah service to mark the end of Shabbat.
• Enjoy dinner and shopping on Ben Yehuda Street.
• Overnight: Jerualem.

Day 7: Sunday 

• Explore the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem.
• Visit the Western Wall.
• Experience the sites, smells, and tastes of Jerusalem while walking through the Machaneh Yehuda Market.
• Tzedek Program: Visit the home and meet the children of Save A Child’s Heart, an Israeli-based international humanitarian project providing life-saving heart surgeries and follow-up care for children from around the world.
• Evening lecture with Avraham Infeld, the immediate past president of Hillel and one of the originators of the Taglit-Birthright Israel project.
• Overnight: Jerusalem.

Day 8: Monday 

• Visit Yad Vashem – Israel’s national museum and memorial to the Holocaust.
• Conversation: My Connection to Jewish Memory
• Visit the graves of Theodore Herzl, founder of modern Zionism, and Yitzhak Rabin, late Prime Minister of Israel; hear personal stories from Israelis about their fallen comrades.
• Mifgash conclusion.  For Mizzou Hillel, the mifgash doesn’t end until the end of the trip!
• Meet an Israeli filmmaker and view short films created by young Israelis.
• Overnight in Jerusalem.

Day 9: Tuesday 

• Hike in the Jerusalem Forest to the Sataf Spring.
• Israel Goes Green at Shvil Hasalat, The Salad Path, a unique hydroponic farm located in the Northern Negev which combines agriculture, care for the environment and fun.
• Visit the Lakiya Weaving Project of the Association for the Improvement of Women’s Status and dialogue with local women.
• Travel to Ashkelon, a town on the Mediterranean coast.
• Overnight in Ashkelon.

Day 10: Wednesday 

• Morning at the Beach in Ashkelon.
• Final conversation/evaluation.
• Farewell lunch at restaurant in Tel Aviv.
• Depart for Airport.