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Cultural Travels
Explore exciting journeys filled with fun, interesting, and delicious experiences while connecting with culture and community.
Trips
Come to Israel with the JCC | March 8-18, 2027
Israel’s culinary landscape tells a story of resilience, innovation, and cultural fusion — a living testament to the ingathering of exiles and the flourishing of a modern nation. By teaching Israel through food, we invite trip participants to taste history, to understand coexistence through shared meals, and to discover how a small nation has become a global culinary powerhouse. Food opens hearts and minds in ways that textbooks cannot — it makes Israel tangible, delicious, and deeply personal.
Highlights include:
• Asif Israeli’s Culinary Institute in Tel Aviv: preserving & promoting the food cultures of Israel
• Graffiti Tour
• Visit to Milk and Honey Distillery
• Tishbi Vineyard
• Lewinsky Spice Market in Tel Aviv
• Food Tour of Machene Yehuda in Jerusalem
• Moroccan Food Demonstration
• Ashkelon Partnership
• Shabbat in Jerusalem with tour of the old city
• Volunteering with Leket – picking or packing
–PROGRAM SUBJECT TO CHANGE–
More details and registration coming soon!
The land costs include hotels, double occupancy, half board – i.e. breakfast and lunch or dinner each day, transportation; educational program (tour educator, guest educators, entrance fees and educational materials); health insurance up to the age of 60 years and administrative overhead expenses; the actual costs will depend on the final program and number of participants. The variables for reducing land costs are group size and choice of hotels.
- Single Room (1 adult): $6038
- Double/Twin Room (2 adults): $5208*
*double room cost requires that the participant finalize the room partner and lists the roommate in the registration form
- Deposit: $500 due upon registration to secure your spot (non-refundable)
- Final Payment deadline: October 31, 2026
$500 deposit is non-refundable. Advertised group pricing is based on a minimum number of paying participants unless otherwise noted on the promotional materials. If fewer participants travel, a nominal per person group supplement may apply.
Once the final group price has been determined based on the size of the group and the program, then individuals who cancel will be required to pay their share of the fixed costs (e.g. bus, tour educator, educational programs). This payment will ensure that the cost for the other participants remains unaltered. We will endeavor to credit the individuals with out-of-pocket costs as far as we are able, however hotels are at liberty to charge full costs for cancellations received a month or less to date of arrival.
- 4 Tel Aviv hotel nights at Prima City (or similar)
- 3 Jerusalem hotel nights at Prima Kings (or similar)
- 2 North hotel nights at Isrotel Ayala (or similar)
- Breakfast everyday
- 7 Lunches
- 6 dinners – including two cooking workshops (does not include alcohol)
- Travel by air-conditioned bus each day as per program (plus associated costs for driver, accommodation food etc)
- Water and snacks on the bus
- Experienced, licensed tour guide, Dari Arbel with the group for length of trip
- Entrance fees and activities per day based on program draft #2
- Medical insurance (for participants up to age 60)
- Personal public liability insurance
- Medic/Guard Package
- VIP service from airport for group arrival based on meeting at passport control through to arrivals hall to bus collection
- Airfare
- Medic/Guard Package
- Guests at meals, beyond the number of the group
- Alcoholic beverages
- Gratuities to tour educator and driver
- Health insurance for 60+ (we can arrange this at additional cost)
- Travel insurance (luggage, cancellation etc) We strongly recommend that participants take out travel insurance – this needs to be taken out prior or during the first payment for the trip by the participant
- Members of the group who are Israeli, regardless of where they currently reside, are by law required to pay an additional 18% VAT at hotels (non-Israelis are exempt from paying the value added tax) and therefore they may be charged VAT by the hotel, and this will be added to their final invoice.
- Any COVID-19 related costs such as PCR or serological tests or quarantine
The itinerary for this trip is intense. We will get up early in the morning and stay up relatively late at night. Participants must be capable of standing and walking at least 5 miles a day.
Travel Leaders
Sara Shalva
Sara is well qualified to lead an Israel trip, bringing both academic depth and meaningful on-the-ground experience. She lived in Israel for four years, during which she studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. Her immersive experience includes volunteering on a kibbutz, working in a Bedouin village with Rabbis for Human Rights, and supporting elementary schools and community centers in Ashkelon and Beit Shemesh. In addition, she spent a year supporting advancement and fundraising at the Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion’s Jerusalem campus, further strengthening her familiarity with Israeli society, culture, and institutions.
As Chief Arts Officer at the JCC, Sara oversees the strategic vision for the Center for Arts and Culture. Sara graduated from Mary Washington College with a BA in Political Science, and, as a Taub Fellow, from NYU with dual masters in Nonprofit Management and Judaic Studies. Previously, Sara served as the Assistant Director at the Pearlstone Center and the Chief Program Officer of Jewish Life and Learning at the Edlavitch DCJCC. Sara lived in Israel for four years where she studied at Hebrew University and the Pardes Institute, volunteered on Project Otzma and worked at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.
Hadara Arbel
Hadara Arbel is a longtime licensed tour guide and Israel educator. Born in Ohio and raised in Jerusalem, she is an active educator with expertise leading educational seminars; geopolitical tours; multi-religious groups; academic tours; JFNA missions; high-tech, business tours; family tours; private VIP tours; culinary tours; and tours that highlight modern Israeli culture. Although her range of tours continuously expands, she remains devoted to providing an in-depth approach to the most ancient and modern facets of the Middle East. She is the co-founder and leader of the mothers’ tour guide forum of Israel.
Arbel was a sergeant in the Israeli Air Force, where she served two years on active duty and eight years in the reserves. She is the former director of Marom Tel Aviv, a community she built for liberal Judaism in Israel; she later was promoted to the organization’s national director. She was director of guide training at ÄNU-Museum of Jewish Peoplehood, formerly the Diaspora Museum, where she built a network of docents and tour guides, including a community of Arabic-speaking guides, making ANU the largest Jewish museum accessible to various Arabic societies. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Jewish history and mysticism from Tel Aviv University and a master’s degree in Israel studies and Jewish art from the Schechter Institute in Jerusalem. In 2005 Arbel settled in Tel Aviv where she lives with her husband, Noam, and four children.
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