Birthright Israel: Hillel -Yoga and Mindfulness Sample Itineary

Day 1
FROM 4 CORNERS OF THE EARTH
  • Arrival at Ben Gurion Airport: Welcome to Israel!
  • Pick up pre-ordered cell phones and change money.
  • Drive to the Tel Aviv Beach for a short opening Meditation and Sharing experience.
  • Continue with a guided visit through the meandering alleyways of Jaffa, where the founders of Tel Aviv first arrived in the Land of Israel, concluding at the ancient port.
  • Stop at Rabin Square, formerly Kings of Israel Square, Tel Aviv’s central plaza, a site of great events and commemoration of one of modern Israel’s most tragic events, the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
  • Lunch on own.
  • Visit Independence Hall, originally one of the first homes built in Tel Aviv, which later became the Tel Aviv Museum, where the state of Israel was declared in May 1948.
  • Check into the hotel, followed by dinner and free time.
  • Welcome to Israel: Orientation, security briefing, and ice breakers.
Overnight: Tel Aviv
 
Day 2
MOUNTAINS & MYSTICS: DREAMS & REALITY
  • Sunrise Yoga on the Tel Aviv Beach.
  • Drive north along the Trans Israel Highway, with a close up look at the Seam Zone Barrier.
  • Tour the mystical city of Tzfat, for a guided exploration of the city, with its many alleyways, synagogues and mystical stories, with possible yoga session at the Safed Citadel time permitting.
  • Lunch on own.
  • Drive to Tiberias, check into the hotel, and prepare for Shabbat.
  • Hanukah Candle Lighting
  • Kabbalat Shabbat - celebrate the beginning of Shabbat with a choice of services: Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, and additional Creative Options.
  • Festive Shabbat Dinner at the hotel.
  • Oneg Shabbat with stories, singing and food…
Overnight: Tiberias
 
Day 3
SHABBAT IN THE GALILEE
  • Shabbat Yoga on the shore of the Kinneret.
  • Shabbat morning programs.
  • Festive Shabbat Lunch
  • Shabbat Menucha (rest).
  • Havdallah: Bein Kodesh Le Hol – A Transition: From Shabbat to the regular week.
  • Hanukah Candle Lighting
  • Drive into the Amuka Forrest for an opportunity for Hitbodedut (individual reflection and meditation) followed by a group Yoga session.
  • Nigh out in Rosh Pina with dinner on own.
Overnight: Tiberias
 
Day 4
SYNTHESIS OF GEOPOLITICS, NATURE & HISTORY
  • Optional Yoga Session.
  • Off-road Jeep Ride along the dirt roads of the Golan, exploring its natural beauty and the Golan’s strategic significance to Israel.
  • Visit the Tel Dan Nature Reserve and walk along the streams of the largest source of the Jordan River.
  • Lunch on own.
  • Mount Bental: Security seminar while overlooking Syria for a glimpse at the delicate relationship between Israel and Syria in the wake of the Syrian civil war, all the while taking in the natural beauty of the Golan plateau.
  • Return to the hotel, followed by free time and dinner.
  • Dance Israel: Partake in a unique initiative that offers exciting educational encounters and multi-faceted experiences through Jewish and Israeli folk dance.
Overnight: Tiberias
 
Day 5
CREATIVITY & FREEDOM
Optional Yoga Session.
  • Visit the home of Amna Camana, an Arab-Israeli pioneering woman and learn about the complex life of women in Arab society.
  • Mifgash: One People – Different Lands… Begin five days of traveling with Israeli soldiers.
  • Drive south towards Tel Aviv.
  • Lunch on own.
  • Guided walk through Tel Aviv exploring the old and new, and what makes Tel Aviv what it is today. Possible visits include Neve Tzedek, Rothschild Boulevard and the Sarona.
  • Drive to Jerusalem and check into the hotel, followed by free time and dinner.
  • Hanukah Candle Lighting
  • Night out in Jerusalem.
Overnight: Jerusalem
 
Day 6
JERUSALEM: THE PEOPLE, THE STORIES, THE STONES
  • Stop at the Haas Promenade for an overview of Jerusalem and a Shehechiyanu Celebration.
  • Guided visit through the Old City of Jerusalem, exploring the 3000 years of history hidden in stories behind the stones.
  • Lunch on own.
  • Return to the hotel.
  • Torah Yoga: experience Jewish Wisdom through Iyengar yoga instruction together with the study of traditional and mystical Jewish texts, with Diane Bloomfield.
  • Hanukah Candle Lighting at the Western Wall.
  • Dinner in the hotel.
Israel Update - an update on currents in Israeli society, from geopolitics to daily life.
Overnight: Jerusalem
 
Day 7
THE WEAVE OF ISRAELI SOCIETY
  • Mount Herzl: Visit Israel’s national cemetery where the leaders of the nation are buried, alongside fallen soldiers from all of Israel's wars.
  • Drive south towards
  • Zman Midbar – Use the desert as inspiration for mindful Yoga, Breathing and Meditation.
  • Experience traditional Bedouin Hospitality and a traditional Hafla Feast at the Kfar Hanokdim Encampment.
Overnight: Kfar Hanokdim, Negev
 
Day 8
THE DEAD SEA BASIN: REFUGE AND CREATIVITY
  • Camel Ride.
  • Green Activity: Creating power from the desolation of the desert, a workshop at Kfar HaNokdim.
  • Ascend Masada via the Roman Ramp for a guided visit and dialogue about the significance of the Masada story in contemporary Israeli society.
  • Yoga mini-workshop atop Masada.
  • Lunch on own.
  • Float in the buoyant waters of the Dead Sea.
  • Drive to Jerusalem and check into the hotel, followed by free time and dinner.
Overnight: Jerusalem

Day 9
MEMORIES FOR THE FUTURE
  • Mind and Soul – A Holistic Approach to Processing Memory, with Yael Turner.
  • Visit the Yad Vashem memorial complex, dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Shoa (Holocaust), including the Avenue of the Righteous Among the Nations, the Historical Museum and the Children’s Memorial.
  • Summary Mifgash Conversation: conclude the Mifgash with the Israeli soldiers.
  • Stroll through the Machane Yehuda Market, Jerusalem’s legendary open air market, as residents prepare for Shabbat, with lunch on own.
  • Return to the hotel and prepare for Shabbat.
  • Hanukah Candle Lighting
  • Kabbalat Shabbat - celebrate the beginning of Shabbat with a choice of services: Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, and additional Creative Options.
  • Festive Shabbat Dinner at the hotel.
  • Oneg Shabbat with stories, singing and food…
Overnight: Jerusalem
 
Day 10
SHABBAT IN JERUSALEM
  • Shabbat morning yoga.
  • Festive Shabbat Lunch
  • Bar/Bat Mitzvah Ceremony
  • Conclusion Conversation
  • Shabbat Menucha (rest).
  • Havdallah: Bein Kodesh Le Hol – A Transition: From Shabbat to the regular week.
  • Checkout of the hotel.
  • Hanukah Candle Lighting
  • Living Jewish, with Avraham Infeld, President Emeritus of Hillel International.
  • Dinner on own.
Drive to the airport.