DAY ONE: Sunday
"POLIN" - EPICENTER OF THE JEWISH WORLD

1:30 p.m. Introductory session

• Excursion through the Warsaw city center, introducing pre-war Poland and its capital, Chopin and all....
• Praga: Old Home to the Jews of Warsaw
• Meeting with a member of the Warsaw Jewish community, over group dinner: To be a Polish Jew

Overnight: Warsaw

DAY TWO: Monday
WHAT WAS BUILT ? A WORLD THAT WAS...

Morning

• Study session at hotel; tour and study at The Museum of Polish Jewry
• Warsaw as the religious, cultural, economic and literary center of European Jewry before W.W.II
• Central Warsaw (through the eyes of Y.L. Peretz and IB Singer, great writers)

The Destruction of Warsaw During the Second World War

• Exploration of Warsaw Ghetto on the ground and through historical records
• Krochmaina Street: A microcosim of the effects of the war on the city
• Visit the Jewish Historical Institute (archives and exhibition)
• "Oyneg Shabbes": Study session on the Ringelblum Archives
• Janusz Korczak and his Orphanage (site visit and study session)

Evening

• Free

Overnight: Warsaw

DAY THREE: Tuesday
…AND WHAT DESTROYED?...

Morning

• Depart Warsaw from Umschlagplatz; travel towards Bialystok region
• Portrait of a Town over 300 Years
  Journey to Tikocyn and Lupochowa Forest
• Packed Lunch

Afternoon

• Into that Darkness
  Visit Treblinka and study session

Evening

• Free

Overnight: Warsaw

DAY FOUR: Wednesday
BETWEEN JEWS AND THE OTHER

Morning

• Today we travel south to Krakow via old Jewish communities, utilizing the route to learn about Polish history
• Stop at Pinczow: History and guided tour of synagogue
• Packed lunch en route

Afternoon

• Krakow as Old Polish Capital, including Stare Miasto and Rynek
• Tour of Jagiellonian University Library Museum

Evening

• Free or option to Unwind with Chopin - evening recital

Overnight: Krakow

DAY FIVE: Thursday
BETWEEN JEWS and the OTHER

Morning

• Krakow's Jewish Heart: Kazimierz
• Visit synagogues and other locations in Kazimierz to learn about a once-flourishing community
• Study session in the Remuh Synagogue cemetery
• Polish Society and the Jews - Meet with a Krakovian "Righteous of the Nations"
• Lunch at the Jewish Community Center
• Meeting with Jonathan Ornstein, Director of Krakow Jewish Community Center

Afternoon

• March 1941: Into the Ghetto
• Stop at Ghetto Walls, Plac Zgody and Pankiewicz pharmacy
• Visit Schindler's factory
• Plaszow: Memorial to One Camp
  
• Towards visit to Auschwitz - group session

Evening

• Free

Overnight: Krakow

DAY SIX: Friday
TO THE NADIR...AND BACK UPWARDS from AUSCHWITZ

Morning

• Anus Mundi: Universal and Particular Nightmares
• Visit Auschwitz and Birkenau camps

Afternoon

• Lunch and processing session in Oswiciem
• Which Questions Are We Left With?
• Which Have We Just Formulated?
• Return to Krakow and Prepare for Shabbat

Evening

• Kabbalat Shabbat at Remuh Synagogue
• Shabbat Dinner at the JCC

Overnight: Krakow

DAY SEVEN: Saturday
A DAY FOR PRAYER, TOURING, RESTING

Afternoon

• Study session: Parshat Hashavua with the Esh Kodesh and the Sefat Emeth
  Discussion and seudah shlishiet
• Havdalah service after sunset

Evening

• Free

Overnight: Krakow

DAY EIGHT: Sunday
SO WHAT WAS "OM YISROEL"?

Morning

• Early departure for Warsaw by train
• Lunch in Warsaw

Afternoon

• The Cemetery as Living Space: Tour and study session in Okopowa Street Cemetery, the great cemetery of Warsaw Jewry over 200 years
• Visit Warsaw Ghetto Fighters Square, site of the Museum of Polish Jewry

Evening

• Summary discussion with local voice of Warsaw Jewish community and dinner

Overnight: Warsaw

DAY NINE: Monday
BETWEEN THERE AND HERE

Morning

• Transfer to airport for flights to Israel (The cost of the flight is not included in the land package, and you will need to book your flight independently. This can be done through Gil Travel.)

Afternoon

• Arrive in Israel mid-afternoon and transfer to Tel Aviv hotel
• From Yellow to Blue: Starry, Starry Night
  Transition Session on Tel Aviv Beachfront

Evening

• Group Dinner at hotel

Overnight: Tel Aviv

DAY TEN: Tuesday
POLISH JEWS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF URBAN PALESTINE

Morning

• Meet with Shalmi Bar Mor, educator and son of first Israeli diplomat to Poland
• Exploration of Tel Aviv from "Lodzia" and Nahalat Binyamin through to today's "Israeli Poles"
• Group Lunch Polish-Jewish style…

Afternoon

• How Did We Rebuild Ourselves Here? The Shaping of Israeli Cultural Life
• Discussion with Polish-Israeli personality regarding the immense contribution to Israeli cultural life
• Optional: Visit to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.

Overnight: Tel Aviv

DAY ELEVEN: Wednesday
POLISH JEWS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL PALESTINE AND ISRAEL

Morning

• Travel north to the Sharon and Carmel regions, rural communities reflecting Polish contributions before and after the war
• Socialist Models and Educational Models: Giv'at Haviva
  

Afternoon

• Lunch with Shosh Yonnai at Kfar Hassidim
• A Rural Model of Community: The story of Kfar Hassidim
  
• Return to Tel Aviv

Evening

• Free

Overnight: Tel Aviv

DAY TWELVE: Thursday
STOCKTAKING: WHERE DID GOD DWELL?

Morning

• Depart for Jerusalem
• Into The Valley of the Shadow of Death - Yad Vashem's Valley of the Communities
• Israel: From Past Challenges to Challenges for the Future - Meet with faculty member of Hebrew University
• Lunch

Afternoon

• A Town That Was Lost... Agnon and Jewish Israeli culture after the Shoah (Study session)
• Reflections on Loss and Rebuilding: A View of the Shoah and Israeli Society - Prof. Gad Yair, sociologist
• Final processing session

Evening

• Farewell Dinner and transfer to Ben Gurion Airport or back to Tel Aviv

Note: Itinerary subject to change. Museum visits and personal shopping time may be disrupted due to unforeseen circumstances or the many religious, state and local holidays observed in the destinations being visited.

For more information about this tour, please write to us here or call 1–646–921–0747, Ext. 4.