ALTNEULAND REVISITED

* Subject to change  *

The seminar, as its name implies, takes us on a journey to The Old-New Land, echoing Herzl's first and only visit to Palestine in 1898. It allows us to examine the background to the realities and the challenges faced by contemporary Israel, and the ways that people are working towards addressing these challenges, with their differing visions of the future.

NOTE: The seminar starts in Tel Aviv on Monday afternoon and ends in Jerusalem on the following Thursday. The last day includes dinner, but ends in time for late-night flights out of Israel.

PROLOGUE - (Dis)Embarking

DAY 1, Monday
Program commences at 2:00 p.m. in the lobby of the hotel

Brief greetings; personal introductions and introduction to seminar. Field trip to Jaffa: Points of Arrival. Starting Afresh: Earliest Tel Aviv and the Zionists. Opening Dinner. Overnight: Tel Aviv.

ACT ONE – Yama VaNegba / Tel(s) of Spring

DAY 2, Tuesday

View of Tel Aviv from above. Study session: The Place of the City in Zionist Thought. Field trip to southern Tel Aviv and Jaffa: The New Invisibles and Social Responsibility: Foreign Workers and Other Challenges to Israeli Society. With Maya Koso, a local social activist. Workers’ lunch break (at leisure in the neighborhood). Leave Greater Tel Aviv after lunch. Field trip to Tel Sheva: “Deep Are the Wells of the Past…” Travel via the Negev Highlands to Mitspeh Ramon. Group dinner at Pundak Ramon. Overnight: Pundak Ramon.

DAY 3, Wednesday
Of Cosmic Beginnings & Visionaries

Day Commences before dawn!! Have warm clothing handy. Pre-dawn overlooking the Ramon Crater: Desert Encounters. Breakfast at the hotel. Free time until 1:00 p.m. (swimming available). Lunch at leisure. Travel to Kibbutz Sde Boker, Ben Gurion’s home. BG’s Vision of the Negev and Israeli Society. Yeruham: Redeveloping Development Towns. Introduction and Tour of Town. Study session and Discussion with Michael Biton, Mayor, native son and community builder. Group Dinner with The Chefs of Yeruham and Summary Meeting. Overnight: Pundak Ramon.

DAY 4, Thursday
Taming the Southern Frontier: BG's Dream

Day Commences at 8:00 a.m. Visit at The Institute for Desert Studies, Ben Gurion University. Facing the Challenge: Taming the Desert (or Adapting to it?), Building the Future: Desert Architecture. Desert Aquaculture (with Dr. Shmuel Appelbaum). Brief stop at BG's graveside overlooking Nahal Zin. Lunch at leisure in Beer Sheva. Travel through Gerar (Netivot): Folk Religion and Contemporary Israeli Culture. Proceed to Jerusalem via Machal Memorial. Dinner together at Olive and Fish, across from the hotel. Overnight: Jerusalem.

ACT TWO – Likrat Shabbat

DAY 5, Friday

Day Commences at 8:30 a.m. Shabbat Shalom? Jews vs. Jews. Study session. Field trip self-exploring Haredi neighborhoods. (Optional) Exploration of Machaneh Yehuda Jerusalem's fresh produce market neighborhood. Rest of the afternoon free. Erev Shabbat: Meeting in the lobby; set out for Yedidyah Minyan. How Egalitarian can Orthodoxy be? Special pre-Shabbat presentation and discussion with Dr. Debbie Weissman. Hadlakat Nerot. Shabbat services at Yedidyah. Se’udat Shabbat. Overnight: Jerusalem.

SHABBAT

Lunch at the hotel dining room. Afternoon relaxation and neighborhood walk exploring Komemiyut. Se’udah shlisheet together, and discussion: On Jerusalem, Jews and Shabbat. Havdalah. Free evening from 8:45 p.m. Overnight: Jerusalem.

ACT THREE – Tsafona Vakedma (North and East)

DAY 7, Sunday
A Land of Many Voices

Day commences at 8:00 a.m. Field visit to Palmach Museum: The Battle to Build a Nation. Travel North along the Coastal Road. Lunch at leisure in Zichron Yaakov. Ein Hod vs. Ayn Houd: The Art of Symbols. Tour of the village. Travel to Haifa. Walk through section of Bahai Gardens, overlooking central Haifa. Overnight: Haifa.

DAY 8, Monday
Jews and Arabs Together… and Apart

Day commences at 8:15 a.m. Study session: Jews and “the Other”: The Portrayal of the Arab in Israeli Literature. Haifa: A Mixed City. Field trip: Wadi Nisnas and the Art of Co-Existence. Meeting with Shahira Shalabi, Haifa activist and educator. Lunch at leisure. Travel to Carmiel: Who is an Israeli? Street Survey and Anthropological Exercise. Travel to Kibbutz Lavi. Meet with IDF soldiers: What Role Does the IDF Fulfill in Building the New Israel? Group Dinner at Galileo, in Tiberias. Overnight: Kibbutz Lavi.

DAY 9, Tuesday
Galilee models of “Newer Jews” - Shaping Contemporary
Jewish Self-Expression

Day commences at 8:00 a.m. Tour of Kibbutz Lavi: Building an Ideal Society? Field trip: "From Beit Alfa to Nahalal" - Connecting over 80 years. Beit Alfa Synagogue at Kibbutz Heftsiba. Mt. Gilboa - Site and Text in context: The Deaths of Saul and Yonatan. Break for lunch in Beit Shean. Beit Shean - The Challenges of Nation-Building. Field trip to Nahalal cemetery: Whatever Happened to Meir Shalev’s “Blue Mountain”? Dinner en route. Overnight: Jerusalem.

ACT FOUR – In the Eye of the Storm

DAY 10, Wednesday
Is Jerusalem "as a city joined together?"

Day commences at 9:00 a.m. Study session: Palestine and Israel in Mirror Verses. Field trip: Jerusalem - The View Along the Seam. Group Lunch at Beit Ticho. Voices in Dialog: An Encounter with Jerusalemites, Jewish and Moslem. Debriefing Session. Free Evening. Overnight: Jerusalem.

EPILOGUE – Pulling It All Together

DAY 11, Thursday
Building Zion in Zion: Visions

Day commences at 8:30 a.m. Study session: The Whole Megilla – What Vision of Zion Does Israel Represent? Depart for Ben Gurion Government Campus. Justice in Jerusalem: Visit to the Supreme Court of Israel. Proceed to the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus. Meeting with Dr. Yonatan Mirvis, Int'l Director, FMAMS. Lunch at leisure and free time in city center (afternoon free). Summary Session: Modern Israel and the Jewish People. Festive Farewell Dinner.

NOTE: Please try to arrange flights from 11:45 p.m. on, so as to enjoy the dinner with the group.