Our Sephardic Birthright Trip to Israel has wrapped up another amazing summer! We arrived in Israel on June 27, and traveled all throughout northern and central parts of the country. Our group hiked in the Galilee, made a stopover in the city of Tiberias (home of the tomb of Maimonides), had a special Sephardic history walking tour of the holy city of Tsfat (with stops at the Abuav and Alscheh Sephardic Synagogues), rafted down the Jordan river, and had a meaningful tour of Yad VaShem focusing on the Sephardic experience in the Holocaust.
Later in the trip, we spent a Shabbat in Jerusalem, followed by a Saturday night out in the Mahane Yehuda Market. Later, our group went south to the Negev desert, where we spent a night in Bedouin tents, hiked Masada at 4am to see the sunrise and floated in the dead sea before making the trip back up north for one last night out in Tel Aviv. We even had the chance to meet up with the Turkish Birthright Trip from the Jewish Community of Istanbul and the Greek Birthright Trip from the Jewish Community of Athens!
One of the top highlights of the trip was the presence of our Israeli mifgashim - IDF Soldiers who joined us as active participants for the 10 day trip to Israel. All the Israelis are about the same age as our American participants, and they were able to spend a ton of time together bonding over their common Jewish identities, sharing insights into Israeli society, and tips for the best places to go out and eat in Tel Aviv. We had a particularly emotional moment with the Israeli soldiers at Mount Herzl, Israel’s National Military Cemetery in Jerusalem, where after visiting the graves of Theodor Herzl and great Israeli statesmen like Yitzhak Rabin and Yitzhak Navon (the first and only Sephardic President of the State of Israel), our Israeli soldiers shared the difficult experiences they’ve had to face, including emotional stories of losing loved ones in recent conflicts.
This Sephardic Birthright Trip was the best one yet, and if you or someone you know hasn’t been to Israel yet and qualifies for Birthright, make sure to reach out to us at info@sephardicbrotherhood.com for our Summer 2023 tour!
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