Bat Mitzvah girl Hannah has a deep love for and concern about the environment. Some activities on Hannah’s family itinerary include:

• Bat Mitzvah ceremony on the rim overlooking the Mitzpeh Ramon crater, followed by a bike ride.
• Bat Mitzvah tour of Golan Heights to witness the natural beauty and strategic advantage of the Golan Heights mountain range. Visit a variety of strategic and historic sites including Har Bental.
• Visit to Mt. Eitan where agriculture was developed by the Israelites thousands of years ago. We found an easy hiking trail in the area for her family.
• Rafting on the Jordan River.
• Hiking in the Ein Gedi desert oasis at Nachal David.
• Dead Sea- lunch and swimming.
• Boat Ride on the shores of the Kinneret and fish dinner at Kibbutz Ein Gev.
• Planting a tree with JNF.
• Chan Shayarot- Bedouin Haflah (meal) and hospitality plus camel riding. First hand learning opportunity about Bedouin culture – IE offered this family overnight options for cabins or a Bedouin tent.
• Night stargazing
• Participate in a unique co-existence and ecological seminar at Kibbutz Ein Shemer.
• Cave rappelling and archaeological dig

Bar Mitzvah boy Jacob’s family wants to learn more about current events and leave Israel with a better understanding of what they read about in the newspaper. Key elements of this family’s itinerary include:

• Bar Mitzvah ceremony on the Haas Promenade, a beautiful vista offering commanding views of the Old City of Jerusalem.
• Viewing the security fence and discussing Israeli/Arab border issues and co-existence at Givat Haviva. The Givat Haviva Institute educates and acts to promote the values of equality and human dignity. The institute implements activities to develop the experience of equality between Jews and Arabs living in Israel, and provides tools to this end. This will also be an opportunity to view and discuss the separation fence.
• Ayalon Institute Ammunition Factory. The family enjoyed a visit to this hidden ammunitions factory that played a significant role in Israel's War of Independence.
• Visit the Galilee Jewish-Arab Children’s Circus for a performance and discussion about this amazing project.
• An opportunity to learn about Druze culture and the relationship of the Druze to the Jewish population of Israel with a visit and lunch in a Druze village.
• A stroll through Machane Yehuda Market to eat lunch in the famous Jerusalem market. Timed on a Thursday or Friday it’s a great way to see how Jerusalem prepares for Shabbat.
• A visit to Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam, the only community in Israel created with the express purpose of co-existence. It’s a unique village where Jews and Arabs live & learn side by side in peace. Neve Shalom is also home to an amazing school where Jewish and Arab children learn together. This can be a highlight of your family’s Bar or Bat Mitzvah tour in Israel.
• Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum. (Your group can be divided for this portion if you have children who are too young for Yad Vashem. A parallel program can be organized for them.)
• IsraelExperts program- “The Changing Map of the Middle East ” family activity and discussion program, focusing on the political and historical background that led to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 and the current situation in Israel and the Middle East in general
• A guided tour of Kirot Yamit. In 1979 Egypt and Israel signed an historic peace agreement. Their leaders took tremendous risk, faced strong opposition, and made sacrifices. Kirot Yamit is the location of the transferred remains of an Israeli Sinai city dismantled as part of the land-for-peace agreement. The family explored the personal, national and international impact of decisions.

Noah’s a biblical history and archaeology buff. His family wants to encourage his interests on a trip for his Bar Mitzvah.  Some key moments on their trip include:

• Bar Mitzvah ceremony at Masada, the site of ancient palaces and fortifications on an isolated rock overlooking the Dead Sea. Lunch afterward in Bedouin tents.
• Touring Tzipori, one of the most exciting national parks in the country. The family followed a wide Roman Cardo to marvelous fifth-century mosaics, stepping on crevices in the stone made by chariot wheels long ago
• Participating in Beit Guvrin’s Dig for a Day, a hands-on archaeological site.
• Southern Wall Excavation in Jerusalem. The family got a rare opportunity to explore and study the most significant archaeological site in Israel by means of exhibitions and illustrations describing Jerusalem's main historical episodes.
• Tzfat- IsraelExperts organized a Family Treasure Hunt for the family to explore this fascinating city. A wonderful addition to their Bar Mitzvah tour, Tzfat is regarded as one of the four holy cities in Judaism along with Jerusalem, Tiberias, and Hebron, and is a center for the Kabbalah, an esoteric form of Jewish mysticism. Tours of the ancient synagogues and artists’ square.
• One hundred years ago a handful of young idealists left Eastern Europe in order to lay the foundation for the Jewish state. Visiting the Kinneret Cemetery, on the shores of Lake Kinneret (Sea of Gallille), was an opportunity for this family to learn about the lives and loves of these pioneers.
• Visit to Caesarea including the “Caesarea Experience,” a fascinating cinematic experience, which takes you on a voyage through history. This experience allows participants to meet characters from Caesarea's past such as King Herod, Rabbi Akiva and Saladin, in a state-of-the-art interactive project
• Rafting on the Jordan River.

Emily’s a computer whiz. Her passion is high tech and her parents want to encourage her interests. Furthermore, her mother and grandmother are lifelong members of Hadassah. Some itinerary items which particularly interested this family on their Bat Mitzvah tour include:

• Bat Mitzvah ceremony at Hadassah Hospital Synagogue. This famous hospital in Ein Karem is home to a synagogue with the famous Chagall windows. Celebration meal followed at one of the excellent restaurants in Ein Karem artists’ village.
• A visit to Better Place, a tour of the electric car demonstration center, the only one in the world. Featured in the book, Start-Up Nation, Better Place envisions and supports a vision for the future of transportation
• A tour of a robotic dairy farm.  The family explored a unique dairy operation where the cows choose when to be milked. This totally robotic dairy farm utilizes the latest in technology for production of milk.
• Visit to the Sheba Medical Center virtual reality lab and simulation center
• Tefen Hi Tech Industrial Park tour & Open Museum. This unique industrial park brings together industry, art and community in an environment of co-existence. The visit concluded with a tour of Iscar, a model of robotic technology in production
• Visit to the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology to see where many of today’s innovations began; continue to Madatech Israel National Museum of Science.
• Gedera Zeraim: An agro-technology company specializing in development of low pesticide vegetable species. The family enjoyed a tour and explanation of the innovative approach this company is taking to developing breeds of attractive vegetables with superior taste and long shelf-life.