Italy with a Jewish Twist

The Jewish Community Center
of Metropolitan Detroit’s Center Travel,
SAJE (Seminars for Adult Jewish Enrichment)
and the Cohn-Haddow Center for
Judaic Studies Present:
Tuesday, July 19
Venice
This morning we’ll take a walking tour with our guide to see
St. Mark’s Basilica, known for its extraordinary mosaics, as
well as the Doge’s Palace. The doge was the leader of the
Republic of Venice for more than 1,000 years, and the palace
is filled with unbelievable treasures and tales! We will visit
the doge’s apartments, home to secret chambers, glorious
art, a rooftop garden and lavishly decorated rooms.
Lunch is on your own, followed by a trip to the Peggy
Guggenheim Museum, featuring one of the world’s greatest
collections of modern art.
In the evening, we will see the strolling opera “La Traviata,”
combining beautiful music, entertainment and fun!
Wednesday, July 20
Venice
Breakfast in the hotel will be followed by a visit to the Jewish
Ghetto and the Jewish Museum. Established in 1516, this
was the world’s first ghetto, and what was once an area for
confining Jews is now a thriving center of Jewish life. The
Jewish Ghetto hosts an annual international conference on
Hebrew Studies, is home to five synagogues, a kindergarten
and a residence for seniors, a yeshiva, Judaica shops, a kosher
restaurant and a bakery.
After lunch on your own, we’ll head off by boat for the Islands
of the Lagoon, where we’ll see Murano, the center of glass
manufacturing, and Burano, known for its colorful houses.
And for our memorable last stop: The Bridge of Sighs where,
according to legend, you will be able to secure eternal love
with your sweetheart if you kiss while on a gondola, drifting
below the bridge at sunset.
Farewell dinner at a kosher restaurant.
July 21, 2016
Breakfast and departure to the USA
COST:
$5,125 per person, double occupancy
For a single occupancy, add $1,500
Group air ticket is available for $1,525 per person, economy
class, including taxes. Taxes subject to change until
ticketed. Call 1.800.624.2947 to make your reservation.
Airport–hotel, hotel–airport transportation is included in
group air ticket.
Italy
with a Jewish Twist
The price includes:
• 10 nights at superior, four-star hotels:
- F our nights at De la Nazioni
(www.hotel-dellenazioni-rome.com) or similar in Rome
-T
hree nights at Brunelleschi
(www.brunelleschihotelflorence.com) or similar in Florence
- Three nights at Bonvecchiati (www.hotelbonvecchiati.it)
or similar in Venice
• Buffet breakfast at all hotels
• Four three-course dinners in kosher restaurants
• Two lunches at kosher restaurants
• Two kosher boxed lunches
• Two bottles of mineral water per person on bus days
• Bus and boat transfers
• Tour guides and tour leader
• Entrance fees to all synagogues, museums, palaces and
other sites not listed as optional
Scholar-in-Residence
Professor Howard Lupovitch
July 10-21, 2016
Not included:
• Airfare
• Meals not listed
• Gifts, souvenirs and other personal items
INFORMATIONAL MEETING:
January 28, 2016 at 7 p.m.
Greenberg Suite at the JCC
For more information please contact Marilyn Wolfe:
mwolfe@jccdet.org or 248.432.5471
Seminars for Adult Jewish Enrichment
The Jewish Community Center
of Metropolitan Detroit
The Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit’s Center Travel,
SAJE (Seminars for Adult Jewish Enrichment)
and the Cohn-Haddow Center for Judaic Studies Present
Italy with a Jewish Twist
Scholar-in-Residence: Professor Howard Lupovitch
July 10-21, 2016
You are invited for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience one of the most beautiful countries
in the world – a nation steeped in history and magnificent art, filled with romance and home to
some of the most incredible Jewish culture that ever existed.
Marilyn Wolfe will escort the trip, and Professor Howard Lupovitch, director of the Cohn-Haddow Center for Judaic Studies
at Wayne State University, will serve as educator. The trip will include visits to one of the oldest synagogues in the world;
to see Michelangelo’s statue of David; to charming towns filled with cobblestone streets and coffee shops;
to the breathtaking “Little Jerusalem” mountaintop area of Tuscany, home to a synagogue, mikvah and matzah bakery;
to the Vatican, seat of the Catholic Church; and to exquisite Florence, where you’ll hear the unforgettable story of
how a synagogue was saved from Nazi destruction; and much more.
YOUR ITINERARY
Vatican City and Rome
After breakfast, we will have a tour of the smallest country
in the world: Vatican City. Here, we will be able to see one of
the world’s most extraordinary art collections, notably the
Sistine Chapel, which reflects Michelangelo’s knowledge of
Judaism. (Be on the lookout for images of Jewish prophets,
Hebrew letters, Judith and David, Esther and Haman and
many more). While at the Vatican, we’ll also see St. Peter’s
Square and the Basilica, which Ralph Waldo Emerson
labeled “the sublime of the beautiful.”
Lunch will be on your own, after which you’ll have time to
explore at your leisure. Walk through the streets of this
eternal city, shop in boutiques, find treasures at the markets
or have a cup of delicious cappuccino at one of Rome’s
many coffee shops.
Friday, July 15
Pitigliano and Florence
Monday, July 11
Arrival at Fumicino Airport in Rome
Today will be a fabulous adventure to Pitigliano, also known
as La Piccola Gerusalemme, or “Little Jerusalem,” because
it is home to a longtime (though today very small) Jewish
community. Located on the top of a mountain, Pitigliano
includes a synagogue built in 1598, a mikvah and an unusual
matzah bakery – inside a cave! One of the fascinating stories
about Pitigliano: its Jewish population survived WWII thanks
to the help of Christian neighbors. You’ll be provided with a
kosher boxed lunch before our drive to Florence, where we’ll
have dinner at a kosher restaurant within walking distance
of the hotel.
After unpacking at the hotel, we’ll head out by motor coach
for an introduction to Rome. Sit back, relax and enjoy a
panoramic tour of a city that has had a Jewish presence
for more than 20 centuries. Next, we’re off for a delicious
dinner at a kosher restaurant (included).
Tuesday, July 12
Rome
Our tour begins after breakfast. First, we’ll visit the
St. Peter in Vincoli Church, home to Michelangelo’s
statue of Moses. Next, we’ll see marvels of the Roman
Empire period including the Forum, the Colosseum, the
Arch of Constantine and of Titus, the Piazza Venezia and
Campidolgio.
Following lunch (on your own), we’ll visit the Spanish Steps.
The steps have been featured in dozens of songs and
films (including “Roman Holiday,”) and are the site of the
Keats-Shelley Memorial House, home to the world’s most
extensive collection of memorabilia relating to the two
Romantic poets. Next, we’ll go to the exciting Piazza (town
square) Colonna, Piazza della Rotonda, the Piazza Navona,
the Pantheon, the Fountain of the Four Rivers and the
“Three Coins in the Fountain,” Fountain de Trevi.
Thursday, July 14
Saturday, July 16
This morning you’ll have time to attend Shabbat services or
enjoy strolling the streets of elegant Florence before lunch
(included) at a kosher restaurant.
In the afternoon, we’ll have a walking tour that includes
the famous Brunelleschi Dome, the largest masonry dome
ever built; the Baptistery, home to Ghiberti’s famed Gates
of Paradise doors, which the artist created from 14251452 and include exquisite images of Adam and Eve, and
Jacob and Esau (the Baptistery also was where Dante and
Collodi [the author of Pinocchio] were baptized); the famed
Ponte Vecchio bridge; and the Uffizi Gallery, with works by
Botticelli, da Vinci and many more.
Sunday, July 17
Florence or optional trip to Pisa
($85 per person additional fee/minimum 25 participants)
Enjoy more time in fabulous Florence on your own, or join
us for a trip to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower. We’ll climb
the tower (with 300 steps that can be slippery, so this is for
those in excellent physical shape only) and see the Piazza
de Miracoli, one of the finest architectural complexes in the
world. If there’s time, we’ll visit the Jewish cemetery and the
synagogue. Kosher boxed lunch included.
Then, head back to Florence for a guided tour of the Accademia
Gallery, to see Michelangelo’s masterpiece, the statue of David.
Optional evening kosher cooking demo and dinner provided
by Scuola di Arte Culinaria Cordon Bleu at the synagogue kitchen
and salon. Minimum number of participants: 20. Maximum: 25.
$175 per person
Monday, July 18
Florence, Padua, Venice
Wednesday, July 13
Ostia and Jewish Rome
First breakfast, then we’re headed to the delightful town
of Ostia on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Here, we’ll visit the remains
of a synagogue from the first century CE, the oldest known
synagogue in Europe and one of the oldest in the world!
After lunch (included) at a kosher restaurant in Rome, we
will visit the city’s old Jewish Ghetto, the synagogue and
the Jewish Museum, famous for its impressive collection
of textiles. We’ll also stroll through the Trastevere
neighborhood, with cobbled streets, restaurants and
academia.
Dinner is on your own.
After breakfast at the hotel, we’ll visit Florence’s Jewish
museum and synagogue, which has an extraordinary history.
Built in 1882, the synagogue was used as a storehouse by
the Nazis, who tried to bomb the building before the end
of the war. (The synagogue survived thanks to the efforts
of Italian resistance fighters, working with British and
American soldiers). Wait until you hear the incredible story
of how the Torah scrolls were saved!
You’ll receive a kosher boxed lunch (included), after which
we will go to Padua, which has had a Jewish presence since
the 11th century, is famous as a center of Talmudic studies
and is home to the only university in Europe to have accepted
Jewish students to the school of medicine since the 15th
century. We’ll also visit the ghetto near the Piazza delle Erbe,
the center of Padua’s political and economic life. Next, we’ll
return to Venice for a delicious dinner at a kosher restaurant.