Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.Taglit-birthright israel.

“This trip gave me the opportunity to connect with an amazing country and an inspiring group of people. I have learned more than I ever could have imagined about myself and my homeland.” Shoshi G.



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Campus Explore Israel Trip

Registration for Summer 2012 is Now Closed

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Want to travel with friends from your school and make new ones? And meet students from across the country?

What about a trip that provides an amazing introduction to the land and people of Israel while taking you to all the major sites?

Hillel's Explore Israel Trip is the program for you.

Highlights include:

  • A jeep ride on the Golan Heights
  • Visiting the Western Wall, and exploring the tunnels underneath
  • Floating in the Dead Sea
  • Sunrise on Masada
  • An archaeological dig
  • Hiking in a gorgeous nature preserve with a refreshing waterfall at the end
  • A night in a Bedouin tent
  • A mifgash (encounter) with your Israeli peers
  • Swimming in the Mediterranean at sunset

Sample itinerary

Departure: Sunday
Depart U.S.A.
Overnight: Flight

Day 1: Monday
Arrival at Ben Gurion International airport.
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.
Jeep ride in Golan heights in the footsteps of IDF soldiers and their battles in Israeli wars, for an insight into the strategic complexity of the Golan.
Walk through the Banias Nature Reserve; cool off underneath a refreshing waterfall.
Lunch on route.
Explore Israel's security situation in the Golan Heights. View Hula Valley, Border with Syria, UN Outpost.
Raft down the Jordan River.
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
Meet the Israelis who will be joining the group for five days as part of the mifgash (encounter).
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.
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.
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.

This is the premier trip to explore Israel for the first time.  Apply today, and encourage your friends to join you.