Jewish Travel has some unique opportunities. Definitely something to include when making your family travel bucket list. Check out these great ideas!
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As Jews, we have some unique needs and considerations when we travel. But, we also have some AMAZING opportunities for growth and exploration. Therefore, our Travel Bucket List includes some “Jewish” destinations and activities. Here are a few ideas for you Jewish Travel Bucket List.
7 Essential Family Travel Bucket Lists
Visit Israel
Visiting Israel should be on the top of anyone’s bucket list not just one specifically geared towards Jewish Travel. But your itinerary will vary greatly depending on how often you’re able to go as well as the ages and stages of your kids. Any trip will include praying at the Western Wall. Take your time. Let the holiness wash over you. Take the moment(s) in.
When I’m there I can’t keep but thinking about the millennia that the Jewish People spent yearning for the opportunity to do so. I know people who visited Israel as recently as the 1960s and were only able to get a glimpse of the Western Wall by climbing on the rooftops and peering over at just the right angle. We’re so fortunate. (But we know that this is not what geula is and we’re still living in galus. We pray everyday for Moshiach to come! That will be the ultimate “Jewish Travel” experience.)
However the holiest site in Judaism, the Western Wall, is not the only place of religious significance in Israel. There are the Four Holy Cities: Yerushalayim, Tzfas, Teveria, and Chevron (Jerusalem, Safed, Tiberias, and Hebron). Each is worth a visit and its own itinerary.
In addition to Mekomos HaKedoshim (“Holy Places”) throughout the country, there is such a varied landscape as well. You can float on the Dead Sea, which is the lowest point on Earth. You can ski on Mount Hermon. We’ve hiked to the top of Masada at sunrise (there’s a cable car too) and toured through 2000-year-old ruins.
Don’t worry about getting lost in the alleyways of the Old City, we’re all family. Someone will show you the way (and tell you to put a sweater on the baby).
Shabbos in Jerusalem
Shabbos anywhere is special. But, Jerusalem has its own special quality. You can go to the Western Wall on Friday night and be invited home with a total stranger—although this may be more difficult if you have half a dozen kids in tow. Or enjoy a meal with 100 other people who somehow fit in an apartment designed for a family of six.
As you go shopping in Geula Erev Shabbos for a huge bag of popcorn, fresh baked challah, kugel, cholent, and chocolate, be sure to take in all the crazy traffic. Come back a few hours later—after the Shabbos siren–and watch all the kids playing in the middle of the same street that’s now closed for Shabbos.
When my son was three years old, we spent the summer in Israel. The first Shabbos after we got home he ran into the street and all the adults around screamed and grabbed him. But he so innocently responded, “But it’s Shabbos”.
Shabbos in Different Communities
We have found a renewed appreciation for Shabbos when we travel, for so many reasons. For example, it’s an opportunity to connect in a way that’s not possible when constantly on the go. And, when we travel to different communities, we love the opportunity to immerse ourselves. We daven in their shuls and enjoy meals with locals. The Jewish world is very diverse, but very welcoming.
Our kids have experienced Shabbos in communities large and small. We’ve been to communities that are built around a yeshiva or a chassidus as well as communities with dozens of shuls or those with only one shul with barely a minyan (or a minyan only because we’re there).
All these opportunities have allowed our kids to see the ties that bind us together as the Jewish People. They’ve learned about unique customs and how to express their own. My kids have also enjoyed the opportunity to make friends all over the place. And, sometimes, the local rabbi’s children are the only ones in town and so they too revel in the opportunity.
(Jewish Travel also means that sometimes we spend Shabbos completely on our own. Because Shabbos is still Shabbos. And we wouldn’t trade it for anything. Maybe a future article will be about Shabbos on our own.)
Where Are You Spending Shabbos?
Explore Jewish Heritage Sites
You would be surprised where you’ll find Jewish Heritage Sites. The Jews have literally lived all over the world. While many people think a “Jewish Trip” involves visiting the concentration camps—and you can do that too—there’s so much more. There are historic shuls in China, India, and Curacao. You can visit historic–and still vibrant–Jewish Communities in Djerba, Rome, and Amsterdam. Some of the largest Jewish communities can be found in Buenos Aires, Paris, and Mexico City. Daven in the oldest active synagogue in Europe in Prague. Explore Venice where the term “ghetto” originated. Visit the old medinas in Morocco, where Jewish owned homes must remain vacant and claimable eternally, under penalty of imprisonment by order of the king.
Jewish Travel can be incorporated anywhere. On a cruise through the Greek Islands and Turkey, I remember being chased by a goat through the alleys of one of the islands and finding refuge in the doorway of an historic synagogue.
Unfortunately, I am not as familiar with as many of the Sephardic Heritage sites as I would like to be. (Also, much of those parts of the world are not currently as accessible.) Please share with me your top Jewish Heritage Sites.
Explore Jewish Neighborhoods
Take the time to wander around the Jewish neighborhoods on your travels. There are some universal similarities, but there are also subtle and not so subtle differences. The chassidim walking down the streets of Boro Park will have a lot more in common with those in Antwerp than with the Jewish community of [relatively] nearby Deal, New Jersey! But, those in Deal will have a lot in common with those in Mexico City.
Jewish Travel really tends to mean “traveling while Jewish”. As such, we stop in various communities simply to eat and daven (pray). But, often it is very briefly–just to eat and daven. But, when you slow down and look around, there’s so much to gain. Beware: in some of these locales you may stick out if you “slow down”.
Layover Tips for Jewish Travelers
And don’t worry about the language barrier. In most Jewish communities around the world you can get by in Hebrew or Yiddish (or Google Translate 🤷♀️)
I can’t tell you how many times just popping into the local kosher grocery has yielded a Shabbos invitation! And, when you stay a while, you develop lifelong friends. We spent a summer in Mexico City and on a quick visit back ended up at the bris of a friend’s grandson and a Bas Mitzvah of another’s younger sister. We’ve been invited to weddings all over the world. And had the opportunity to reciprocate when others visit our hometown.
As a bonus: meander through your own community with the eyes of an outsider and see what you learn.
5 Tips to Ensure a Minyan on Vacation
Attend Large Jewish Gatherings
There’s nothing like being amongst a crowd of tens or hundreds of thousands celebrating together. Whether it’s Uman for Rosh Hashana, a Simchas Beis HaShoeva in the great Chassidic Courts, the hilula of Rav Yitzchak Abuchatzeira in Toulal, Lizensk for the Rebbe Reb Meilich’s yartzeit, or Meron for Lag B’Omer. Other moving experiences include the Kinnus HaShluchim or Shluchos (annual), International Siyum HaShas (every 7.5 years), or Birkas HaChama (every 28 years). I actually know someone who was at Birkas HaChama 4 times!
Can’t wait to meet you at the greatest of all gatherings–the rebuilding of the Bais Hamikdash (Holy Temple in Jerusalem)!
Kosher Culinary Adventures
While many people may think that the combination of the words “Kosher Culinary Adventures” don’t go together, I beg to differ. There are many different types of “Jewish food”–not just the “brown and beige” Eastern European kugels, cholent, and baked chicken. Every Jewish culture has its specialties. One of my daughter’s favorites is Persian ghormeh sabzi and we had wonderful time at a Moroccan Mimouna.
When we travel I love to have my kids taste local cuisine. However, as kosher consumers it’s not always possible. We’ve managed Texas barbecue, but not Kansas barbecue, for example. Croissants, quiche, and napoleons in Paris. Jambalaya, Po’boy, and red beans and rice in New Orleans. Pizza, pasta and gelato in Italy. Quesadillas, molletes, jamaica, and horchata in Mexico. You get the idea. But, since most kosher restaurants have more than just the local stuff, we always order things we know the kids will eat, just to be safe (hot dogs, pizza, sushi, etc.)
We’ve also taken various cooking classes together. We did an ancient bread making workshop at Pat Bamelach as a family. And my husband and I did a “steak night” at the Kosher Culinary Center. My kids have also taken part in the activities at bee farms, breweries, distilleries, and olive oil producers. My son has become a certified shochet (ritual kosher slaughterer), and has had the opportunity to do so on multiple continents. (Don’t worry, I won’t share pictures here.)
Definitive Guide to Kosher Food in Prague
The kosher food and wine shows are growing by leaps and bounds. Keep in mind that the kosher food industry is a $25 billion business, so you’re bound to find kosher food all over the world.
And, for the more adventurous, you can try a “Mesora Dinner” if it comes to a city near you. Or, for a real cultural experience, try Gottlieb’s in Williamsburg.
Give a Class or Go To a Class
People are always excited to hear from someone new. When visiting other Jewish communities, we’ve often been asked to give a class. Even our kids have been asked to teach younger kids. When I was in South Africa, I was asked to speak just because of my accent!
Your class can be something as formal as “the Women’s Shabbos afternoon shiur” or as impromptu as a gathering around a campfire.
If you speak enough, you may gather a following and some of your travels may even be as a result of being brought to speak!
As far as classes being given by others when you’re visiting, it’s a great opportunity to meet the locals. On a Shabbos in Calgary, I went to a shiur given by the Rebbetzin. Turned out she had been one of my campers almost 20 years earlier! During the shiur, the husbands hang out in the local park with the kids. My husband met someone who told him about Takakkaw Falls (tallest waterfall in the Canadian Rockies and the second-tallest in Canada). It was A-Mazing!
Make a Kiddush Hashem
It is important to make a Kiddush Hashem wherever we go. However, for many of us in our day to day lives, we live in an environment where everyone is just like us. And, while it’s true that making a Kiddush Hashem applies even when we are alone, we’re much more cognizant of it when we’re “out and about”.
When you’re visibly Jewish, you are much more aware of how your behavior and how you’re being perceived. When my son volunteered to take tickets at the gate of the Lumberjack World Championship in Hayward, Wisconsin (pop <2500), he was well aware of the impression he was making. And when my husband started praying in his tallis and tefillin at Register Cliff, nobody was there. But by the time he finished, there was a southern preacher waiting to shake his hand.
We’ve also been questioned by others as to why we do what we do or look the way we look (skirts, peyos, yarmulke, tzitzis, etc). So, getting out of your familiar surroundings is a great chance to learn to articulate who you are and why. When you have to do so, it becomes more genuine than just habit. Isn’t authenticity, not rote, what we want for our kids?
Some of our greatest memories have been inviting others to join us for kosher hot dogs and marshmallows around our campfire and show them how “normal” we are. I think it was better than any Hebrew School class they ever had.
We’re often asked how much antisemitism we encounter on the road. People seem surprised when we say “practically none”. People sense genuineness and niceness and they tend to reflect the same, for the most part. We’ve had really positive experiences–even when blowing the shofar in the desert!
So traveling is a great opportunity for your family to learn to appreciate who they are and recognize how they are perceived. And decide what that means for them. What would you do if you were the only Jew in the world?
As Orthodox Jews, when we travel we do have to be adequately prepared. We need to ensure we can feed our families and aren’t on the side of the road when Shabbos starts, for example. However, that is not necessarily the sole definition of Jewish Travel. Everything we do and everywhere we go is through that vantage point. And that is wherein lies the opportunities for growth and self-development.
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