ORTHODOX UNION/RCA
Solidarity Mission to Israel

January 19 - 27, 2002   6- 14 Shevat, 5762

Itinerary

Subject to change. Updated as of Jan. 14, 2002

Saturday, January 19

·        Departure from New York, via El Al Flight #008, 11:50PM

·        Departure from Newark, via El AL Flight #018, 11:30PM

Sunday, January 20

·        5:10 PM Arrival at Ben Gurion Airport; meeting/assistance inside the arrivals hall.

·        Hotel luggage tags to be attached to suitcases at the airport prior to loading on buses

·        Transfer to Kotel for Tefilat Arvit

·        Check-in at Sheraton Jerusalem Plaza Hotel

·        Registration

·        OU Hospitality Desk Opens (main lobby)

·        Overnight – Sheraton Jerusalem  Plaza Hotel

Monday, January 21

·        6:15 AM  Daf Yomi

·        7:00 AM Tefilat Shacharit

·        8:00 AM Breakfast - speaker Rabbi Benny Elon, Minister of Tourism 

Binyamin

·        Depart hotel, travel via Pisgat Zev and the Ramallah Bypass Road, which passes major Biblical sites and modern settlements.

·        Psagot - meet with head of the Binyamin Area Council, Pinchas Wallerstein;   visit situation room which responds to emergency calls from motorists; meet with senior officer from Yesha army headquarters.

·        Shilo –    model of the Mishkan and audio visual presentation; possible participation in new archaeological dig; meet with residents, including the Shoham and Rubin families. 

·        Eli –        tour of the settlement including observation point overlooking the Binyamin area; Army "Mechina Bnei David" - meet staff and student/army candidates; absorption center for olim from France

·        Ofra –     lunch plus simultaneous visits to:

                   - Givat Amuna - meet with young settlers residing in  caravans

                   - Emergency Center - meet with volunteers

                   - Elementary school - meet with school children

                   - Ulpana for girls - meet with staff and students

·        Return to Jerusalem

Evening programs will be held at Jerusalem Renaissance Hotel

·        Meeting with Honorable Shimon Peres, Minister of Foreign Affairs

·        Dinner with Honorable Daniel Kurtzer, United States Ambassador to Israel 

·        Tefilat Arvit   

·        Overnight – Sheraton Jerusalem Plaza Hotel

Tuesday, January 22

·        6:00 AM Daf Yomi 

·        7:15 AM Tefilat Shacharit

·        8:00 AM Breakfast  with Rabbi Yizchak Levi, Member of Knesset (NRP)

Kever Rachel

·        Visit Kever Rachel

·        Travel via the "Tunnels" highway in the valley between Beit Jala and Gilo

Tekoa

·        Visit to the local school and meet with students

·        Visit Tekoa 'Daled'

·        Meet with the Mandell and Ish Ran families

·        Ceremony in memorial of Kobi and Yosef at Nahal Hariton

Gush Etzion

·        Meet with Shaul Goldstein, Head of the Gush Etzion Area Council

·        Lunch at Yeshivat Har Etzion with Rav Lichenstein

·        Meet soldiers and local volunteer area residents at the Gush Etzion 'way station'

Hevron

·        Tefilat Mincha at Ma'arat HaMachpela

·        Meet with residents of the Jewish Settlement in Hevron

·        Return to Jerusalem

·        7:30 PM  Cocktail Reception in celebration of a united Jerusalem, with The Honorable Eli Suissa, Minister without Portfolio responsible for Jerusalem affairs, at the Sheraton Jerusalem Plaza

·        8:00 PM  Dinner with Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert

·        Tefilat Arvit   

·        'Shuk' of local merchants in the hotel.

·        Overnight – Sheraton Jerusalem Plaza Hotel

Wednesday, January 23

·        6:00 AM Daf Yomi

·        7:00 AM Tefilat Shacharit  

·        8:00 AM Breakfast with Avraham Duvdevani, Chairman, Settlement Department of the World Zionist Organization

·        Meet with President Moshe Katsav at Beit Hanassi

·        Visit Yeshivat Beit Orot for an extensive tour of its Mt. Scopus Campus and environs – Tefilat Mincha.

Travel to Lod to participate in the Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebration of children of recent immigrants from Ethiopia, Iraq, Iran, Russia in the presence of Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron, Chief Sefardic Rabbi, Rishon Letzion and Yuli Edelstein, Deputy Minister of Immigration and Absorption.  This program is a part of the OU Seymour J. Abrams Orthodox World Center's "Makom Balev" Outreach program.  Presentations by children, music and dancing with families, including a light dinner.

·        Evening at leisure

·        Overnight Sheraton Jerusalem Plaza Hotel

Thursday, January 24,

·        6:00 AM Daf Yomi

·        7:00 AM Tefilat Shacharit

·        8:00 AM Breakfast

Selection of Tours (please choose one):

Option 1.        Old City Jerusalem/Ateret Cohanim including Western Wall Tunnel and the Davidson Center/Southern Wall Excavations

(Option 1: no charge, limited capacity)

Option 2.        Shomron Solidarity Tour

Option 3.        Massada/Dead Sea/Kfar Adumim

Option 4.        Tsfat/Meron

(Options 2 - 4 subject to minimum registration. $55 if booked before 01/18/02, $75 after that date)

OR

Full day Yom Iyun - a taste of Torat Eretz Yisrael, on the theme of:

The Temple in Jerusalem

Featuring outstanding shiurim at the Seymour J. Abrams Orthodox Union World Center in Jerusalem.  Featuring Rabbi David Derovan (Director, Jewish Value Education Institute), Rabbi Shalom Gold (Rav of Young Israel of Harnof), Rabbi Chaim Richman (Dir. Public Affairs, Temple Institute, author, The Holy Temple of Jerusalem) and Tzachi Zweig (Committee for the Prevention of Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount).

·        Evening: Solidarity Rally with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon

·        Overnight – Sheraton Jerusalem  Plaza Hotel

Friday, January 25

·        6:00 AM Daf Yomi

·        7:00 AM Tefilat Shacharit

·        7:45 AM Breakfast  with Honorable Rabbi Michael Melchior, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

·        8:30-10:00 AM  Hasbara briefing by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

·        Day at leisure for shopping; exploring; visiting

·        Return to hotel to prepare for Shabbat.

Shabbat

·        4:29 PM - Candlelighting

·        Kabbalat Shabbat at the Great Synagogue or at the Kotel (bus to the Kotel will be provided)

·        6:30 PM Shabbat dinner in the hotel in the presence of the Chief Rabbi.

·        Oneg Shabbat featuring Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, Chief Ashkenazic Rabbi of Israel

·        Overnight – Sheraton Jerusalem Plaza Hotel

Saturday, January 26

·        7:00 AM Daf Yomi

·        Cake and coffee is available to Mission participants in the hotel prior to tefila.

(Full breakfast will not be served).

·        Shacharit at the Seymour J Abrams OU Jerusalem World Center - Dvar Torah by Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb

·        Gala Kiddush / "Seuda Shniya" and shiur by Chief Rabbi Lau

·        Mincha

·        1:00 PM Gala buffet lunch at the hotel (seuda shlishit)

·        Tefilat Arvit

·        5:47 PM - Havdala

·        Evening – check out of hotel; transfer via the Kotel  to the airport for departure flight (Newark passengers will stay overnight and transfer to airport in the morning)

·        Depart from Israel