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Shalom-Salaam-Peace -- The Unity of Oneness:

Saturday October 10--Fly to Tel Aviv

Flight--From your Gateway City to Israel You may travel with the group or on your own to arrive Tel Aviv- October 11. Frequent flyer miles may be used by making your own arrangements. You can fly either with the group on our regularly scheduled commercial flight through Frankfurt and on to Tel Aviv (Ben Gurion Airport--one of the most secure airports in the world) or via another airline.

Advice will be shared about rest and jet lag during your travels to Israel.

Sunday October 11--Tel Aviv

Arrival in Israel Our group will be met at Ben Gurion Airport and transferred to Dan Panorama Hotel. After time to rest, we will travel by bus to Jaffa/Yaffo (immediately south of TA) for dinner on the Mediterranean.

Jaffa is a place for beginnings, both of many tours of Israel, and in the Bible. Jonah's journey, Tabitha's restoration to life, and Peter's conversion of Gentiles all began here. Thus, Jaffa, Tel Aviv's "older sister" boasts bountiful biblical history, along with charming lanes, antiquities, quiet churches, galleries and a picturesque fishing port believed to be one of the oldest in the world.

Monday October 12--Tel Aviv to Haifa

Abu Gosh-Cesearea-Megiddo-Haifa
Our first stop of the day will be Abu Gosh, a village first settled over 6,000 years ago. The Ark of the Covenant was placed here, and it is ascribed as where Jeshua revealed himself after the resurrection. Built on a mountaintop, the impressive scenery of the Jerusalem hills can be seen.

Megiddo
Megiddo stands at the hub of history where 25 past civilizations once stood. Here the greatest trade route of the ancient world crossed from Canaan to the far reaches of the Fertile Crescent. Joshua, King Solomon, and King Josiah all beheld its walls. Standing at the top of Megiddo you can see Mount Carmel, Mount Gilboa, and Nazareth.

Cesearea
Caesarea's antiquities park is one of Israel’s most impressive. There are architectural remains from the Hellenistic period (the 3rd century BCE) to the Crusader period (the 12th century), when Caesarea was a port city and spent many years as Israel's capital. Caesarea was given to King Herod as a present by Augustus Caesar and is named after him.. The early fathers of Christianity (Origen and Eusebius) lived here.

Haifa
Haifa crowns Mount Carmel high over the Mediterranean. For centuries it was a simple fishing village. Christians and Jews have always made pilgrimage to the Cave of Elijah, now in the heart of town, and the Carmelites built a monastery here, Stella Maris, "the star of the sea," dedicated to Mary. Haifa is known to be the original heart of the Essene community of Jeshua's time.

--Monday-Tuesday pm: Dan Panorama Hotel Haifa--

Tuesday October 13 – Haifa

Haifa

Time in Haifa to include:
Bahai Shrine and Gardens
Cave of Elijah
Haifa Essene Community
Druze Villages
Shopping--contemporary

Haifa - Israel's third largest city, is situated in a broad natural bay between the beautiful Mediterranean Sea and the awe - inspiring Carmel mountain. The city's terraced landscape offers a rich variety of breathtaking panoramas, giving the observer the sensation of being on a heavenly peninsula. To the northeast, across the sparkling waters of the harbor sits the medieval walled fortress city of Acre/Akko.

Wednesday October 14- Akko to Zefat

Akko/Acre
Akko is a 4,000 year old city. Step back in time as you walk this ancient port city. The former capital of the Crusader kingdom is also the birthplace of the Bahai religion. A Hospitaller Castle, Templar tunnel and the largest prison during the British Mandate (now a museum) can all be found here. Acre is now one of Israel's three World Heritage Sites.

Amirim
Originally founded in 1950 by immigrants from Yemen and North Africa, Amirim was later abandoned. In 1956 a group of vegans and vegetarians settled here. Today some 180 families live in this coop farm village, dedicated to health, art, and tourism. Amirim has two observation points that offer a view of the Sea of Galilee, the Golan Heights, and the Lower Galilee.

Zefat
Zefat, in Northern Israel, is 3200 feet above sea level in the mountains of the Upper Galilee and commands magnificent views east to the Golan, north into Lebanon, west to Mt. Meron, and south to Tiberias & the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). Zefat, first of the four mystical Israeli cities, represents Air. According to the great mystics of the past, Zefat will play an important role in the coming of redemption. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, said the Messiah will come from Zefat and on to Jerusalem. The Ari HaKodesh said that until the Third Temple is built, the Shechinah (God's Manifest Presence) rests above S'fat. Not to be missed is the Old Cemetery and the artist’s alley.

--Wed/Th/Fri nights- Ruth Rimonin Hotel Zefat--

Thursday October 15 Zefat

Zefat
Early am visit- meditation in the Old Cemetery
Artists's alley
Kabbalah Holy Sites-Synagogues
Kabbalah teachings w/ Amanda Cohen

Friday October 16 Golan Heights- Tel Dan-Katzrin-Shabbat

Golan
The Golan Heights, Israel's mountainous northern region, is one of the most beautiful and most traveled parts of the country. There are wonderful scenic treasures alongside lovely nature reserves, historic and archeological sites.

Tel Dan Nature Preserve
In the Golan Heights we visit the remains of a Chalcolithic Era settlement (from about 5,500 years ago). There are also burial grounds from 4,000 years ago, a 2,000-year-old Jewish city, a monastery with a Byzantine church (from 1,500 years ago) and more. The remains of the ancient village are fascinating with reconstructed homes, complete with their interiors and the farming implements used. A visit to a winery will complete our day.

Kabbalat Shabbat Service
On this Friday evening we will share together a traditional Sabbath/Shabbat celebration with music and meditation in the style of the Essenes' mystical belief. The Backmans and their Zefat friends will guide the honoring of the Unity and Oneness of All.

Saturday October 17 Peki'in Galillee Jesus Boat-Tiberius

Peki'in
Recognized for hundreds of years as an area where Arabs, Druze, and Jews lived peacefully together. In Jewish tradition, Peki'in is famous for a local cave in which Rabbi bar Yochai, in hiding, lived off spring water and the fruit of a miraculous carob tree. Yochai passed the time by writing the most important book of Jewish mysticism..A small Jewish community existed here, almost continuously, since the Second Temple period.

Galillee Jesus Boat
The Sea of Galilee Jesus Boat, discovered in 1986, is an ancient fishing boat from the 1st century AD/CE. The Boat provides an example of the type of boat used by Jesus and others for fishing and transportation.

Sea of Galillee-Lake Kineret-Tiberius
The Kineret has attracted people for thousands of years, offering both a source of water and a livelihood. History has rendered both the Kineret area and Tiberias itself important to both Christians and Jews. Herod founded the city in 22 C.E., naming it after his patron, the Roman Emperor Tiberius. A few years after its establishment, Jesus moved his base of activities to Lake Kineret, Tiberius, symbolic of Water, is the second of four spiritual cities.

--Sat & Sun nights-Moria Gardens Hotel-Tiberius--

Sunday October 18 Galillee Boat Ride-Nazareth-Capernaum-Mt Beatitudes

Galilee Boat Ride
The early morning finds you in a wooden boat, resembling ancient ones. You’ll feel you’ve gone back to a time when people depended on wind and waves for their livelihood and their miracles. The highlight is when your captain cuts the motor and you’re surrounded by sacred landscapes.

Nazareth
Nazareth, or Natsrat in Hebrew, is the cradle of Christianity, the city where, according to tradition, the angel Gabriel told Mary that she would conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit, and the place where Jesus spent his childhood and youth. You will visit churches, monasteries, mosques, and synagogues. The market is a visual feast of fashionable fabrics, spices and local foods, and artwork. All the sounds, sights, smells and flavors promise an authentic Middle Eastern experience.

Capernaum
At Capernaum – known as Jesus' "own town" – "walking where Jesus walked" takes on thrilling new meaning. As you sit on the stone benches of Capernaum’s ancient synagogue, you’ll be reminded that right here, Jesus taught and healed.

Mount of Beatitudes
This is the hill upon which Jesus was said to have preached the "Sermon on the Mount". The lie of the land next to the church forms a natural amphitheatre sloping down to the lake side.

Tabgha
This is the traditional site of the events of John 21 after the resurrection – Jesus cooking breakfast for the disciples, the miraculous catch of fish and Peter’s reconciliation.

Monday October 19 Tiberius-Ancient Synagogues-Jerusalem

Bet Shean-Bet Alfa-Bet Saida
Beit Shean must have been familiar to the first believers in Jesus, as it was the capital of the Decapolis cities, through which word of Jesus’ miracles and teachings spread. It was also the scene of the tragedy 1000 yrs earlier when the Philistines hung the body of Saul from the ramparts.

Beit Alfa National Park, boasts the remains of one of the most beautiful synagogue mosaic floors in Israel, dating from the early sixth century CE. The center panel reveals a zodiac, labeled in Hebrew, revealing that this community was comfortable borrowing artistic motifs from the surrounding culture.

Bethsaida is known as the birthplace of three of the Apostles – Peter, Andrew and Philip. The excavations revealed that the settlement at Bethsaida was founded in the 10th century BCE, in the biblical period. By that time the areas north and east of the Sea of Galilee were part of the Aramaean kingdom of Geshur. Its royal family, which ruled for several generations, was connected by marriage to Davidic dynasty.

Jerusalem
We arrive in Jerusalem, the ancient city representing Fire, at the end of the day.

--4 nights-Moria Classic Hotel-Jerusalem--

Tuesday October 20- Jerusalem Old City

Tour of Old City-Jerusalem
The Old City of Jerusalem is one of life’s key experiences. Such is Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, the only city in the world that has 70 names of love and yearning.

Old City Experiences:
Western Wailing Wall Tunnels
Church of Holy Sepulchre
Via Dolorosa-Gethsemane
Kabbalah Museum
Dome of the Rock
Coenaculum-Last Supper

We will spend the day touring the Old City with it’s Jewish, Christian, Armenian, Muslim Quarters. Sights, smells, and spiritual energy in the Old City (dating back to the 11th Century BCE) are indescribable.

Wednesday October 21-Hebron-Masada-Qumran

Hebron
The most famous historic site in Hebron sits on the Cave of the Patriarchs.. According to Genesis, Abraham purchased the cave and the field surrounding it from Ephron the Hittite to bury his wife Sarah, subsequently Abraham, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob and Leah were also buried in the cave (the remaining Matriarch, Rachel, is buried outside Bethlehem). For this reason, Hebron is also referred to as 'the City of the Patriarchs' in Judaism, and regarded as one of its Four Holy Cities, symbolizing Earth.

Masada
At Masada we take the cable car to the top to view the ruins of King Herod’s mountaintop fortress and the last stronghold of the Jewish revolt against the Romans in 73 CE.

Ein Gedi-Qumran-Dead Sea
At the Ein Gedi Antiquities National Park see the remains of the Talmudic village with its synagogue and mysterious mosaic floor Standing among the 2,000 year-old ruins of Qumran, overlooking the Dead Sea on the edge of the Judean Wilderness, we gain deeper appreciation for the Dead Sea Scrolls, containing the oldest Bible ever found. At the visitor center, designed like Qumran’s ancient buildings, an exciting film links the fabulous landscape with the story of its people, recalling that John the Baptist may have lived here. A dramatic view of the cave in which most of the Dead Sea Scrolls is noteworthy. We’ll end the day with a dip in the Dead Sea, the “greatest outdoor spa in the world” and the world’s lowest, saltiest body of water.

Thursday October 22-New Jerusalem

Final Day-New Jerusalem Visits:
Yad Vashem-Holocaust Memorial
Israel Museum-Dead Sea Scrolls
Herzl Museum
Ein Karem

Our final full day of touring Israel will include a profound visit to the Holocaust Memorial where you’ll view a train car symbolic of those used to 'cart' away the Jews. We’ll view the actual Dead Sea Scrolls providing evidence of the Qumran Essene community. A visit to the extensive model of the Second Temple will assist you to feel the times of Jeshua.

Nestled in the terraced hills southwest of Jerusalem is the village of Ein Karem, where picturesque lanes lead you to the traditional spot where Elizabeth "felt life" when she met her kinswoman Mary, and where John the Baptist was born and raised.

Closing Dinner and Music
Together we will share our final dinner with music and a spiritual focus provided by the Backmans and their Jerusalem friends.

Friday October 23-Flight Home

Transfer to Ben Gurion Airport-Tel Aviv

TRIP INFORMATION:

This Spiritual Tour of Israel is designed to provoke and stimulate an energetic, mystical experience for each of us traveling together. The energy of our group and the energy of the land of foundational beginnings of our Abrahamic selves, tied to Jeshua and his life as a mystic and Essene, will leave each of us with profound memories, not to be forgotten.

Time for meditative, regression, and deeper experience will be threaded throughout the journey.

You will get to know your fellow travelers through a shared gathering at the Backman’s home, prior to the trip. Those not able to be in Colorado will be included on speaker phone via conference call.

Our traveling spiritual community (those of us on the journey) will be small and intimate.

If you are interested in being a part of this profound trip and unique life experience, PLEASE RESERVE A SPACE ON THIS MYSTICAL PILGRIMAGE!!

Land Package Includes:
Hotels as listed
Bus-11 days
Departure transfer
Guides-12 days
Entrance fees-sites listed
All breakfasts and dinners
Two lunches
Porters at hotels and airport
Mystical Teachers

Cost:
Land Package-$2600 USD (double room)
--$760 USD (single supplement)

Air Options:
Travel with the group on United/Lufthansa:
Denver-Chicago-Frankfurt-Tel Aviv

Saturday-October 10
Depart Denver 10:30am
or Depart your home city airport to Chicago
Depart Chicago 2:30pm
Arrive Tel Aviv-Oct 11-2:00pm

Tel Aviv-Frankfurt-Chicago-Denver

Friday-October 23
Depart Tel Aviv 4:00am
Arrive Chicago 3:00pm
Arrive Denver 6:30pm
or Arrive your home airport

Air Cost:
Out of Denver--$2150-$2350 depending on number of group travelers--or depending on your home airport airfare to Chicago

Air Arrangements:

Linda Cain-Cain Travel-Boulder CO (our travel partner) can arrange your air travel for you.

Less expensive airfare can be arranged if you are not concerned with using frequent flyer miles. For example, Newark-Tel Aviv on El Al is approximately $1500.

You can make your own travel arrangements in order to arrive Tel Aviv Sunday afternoon, October 11 and depart anytime on or after October 23.

Linda Cain-Cain Travel-Boulder CO
303-443-2246
800-346-4747
lindac@caintravel.com