Tourism is a huge part of Israel’s economy and it has suffered as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. The Israel Hotel Association predicts the tourism industry will lose $1.6 billion this year.
In an effort to help struggling Israeli tour guides, as well as educate people about Israel, the Jewish National Fund (JNF) is offering virtual tours of the country via Zoom through its program JNF Virtual Travel & Tours. During the week of July 20, JNF held a tour for the Valley Beth Shalom Sisterhood. The daily, hourlong tours ran from 4-5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, followed by a cocktail hour. On Friday, participants were invited to a pre-Shabbat gathering.
“This tour is a unique opportunity to engage people in the United States, while at the same time helping the economy in Israel,” said Louis Rosenberg, executive director of the JNF in Greater Los Angeles. “I’ve heard from people who have visited Israel many times that they found out new information they never knew before.”
He added that to date, JNF has run about 100 tours around the U.S, and more than 2,500 people have participated.
The VBS Sisterhood’s tour started in Jerusalem, where 25 participants “landed” at Ben-Gurion Airport, visited the Kotel, heard the story of the city’s reunification at Ammunition Hill, visited the religious neighborhood of Mea Shearim, and saw Hadassah Medical Center’s Chagall windows. Throughout the week, they toured with guide Jacob Shoshan and visited Tel Aviv, Akko, the Sea of Galilee, the Golan Heights, Jaffa and Be’er Sheva.
Additional stops on the tour included visits to JNF projects including the Sderot Indoor Playground, a 21,000-square-foot space that doubles as a bomb shelter; the 9/11 Living Memorial Plaza in the Arazim Valley of the Jerusalem suburb of Ramot (the only memorial to 9/11 outside of the U.S.); and The Boys Promenade in Gush Etzion, dedicated to yeshiva students Gilad Shaar, Naftali Frenkel and Eyal Yifrach who were kidnapped and killed by Hamas in June 2014.
JNF’s Greater Los Angeles Board President Alyse Golden Berkley and VBS member was the lay leader for the tour. She told the Journal, “We need to maintain the connection between us and our homeland and a political connection to the country and ensure its growth, health and safety.”
“This tour is a unique opportunity to engage people in the United States, while at the same time helping the economy in Israel.” — Louis Rosenberg
The latest tour was the second one for VBS, and it sold out within 24 hours. “On the tour, you have the opportunity to jell with other guests,” Berkley said. “I can’t tell you how many people from my tours are not only interested in returning to Israel, but going on a JNF mission as well.”
Grace Mitnick said she learned things she never knew, including the history of Jaffa and how the historical society got involved to preserve buildings there. “It’s these little details you don’t learn when you’re roaming the streets on your own,” she said.
Rosenberg said that there are people on the tours like Mitnick who are very familiar with the country, while there are others who haven’t visited since the Six-Day War, and some who have never set foot in the country. The cocktail hour at the end of each day is the perfect opportunity for people to share their experiences, he said. “It’s become an awesome networking thing with people since we can get together with friends and experience unique opportunities to visit Israel. The discussion part is the most interesting.”
Mitnick added she is excited to hopefully go back to Israel next year to see her extended family. “When [my family and I] visit Israel, we don’t usually go on a tour,” she said. “But now, we’re going to go back and see all these places we never knew existed.”
The tours cost $50 per person for the entire week. All monies go directly to the guide who runs the tour.
For more information or to book a tour visit JNF.
