Day One: Monday
DEPARTURE

• Depart the U.S.A.

Overnight: Flight

Day Two: Tuesday
ARRIVAL IN BERLIN

• Arrive at Berlin International Airport.
• Transfer to the hotel on your own. (Transfers can be arranged at additional cost.
•  2:00 p.m. Meet your tour educator and other group members in the hotel lobby.
• Introductory panoramic tour of Berlin, including:
  • Brandenburg Gate, originally commissioned by Friedrich Wilhelm II to represent peace, the gate was ironically incorporated into the Berlin Wall during the years of the Communist regime.  Perhaps Berlin's best known landmark, it now stands as a symbol of the city's reunification.
  • The Holocaust Memorial, the Monument to the Murdered Jews of Europe - designed by architect Peter Eisenman, this undulating field of reflection with thousands of concrete dark gray slabs forms a gentle wave, ankle-high in some places, designed to give visitors a sense of groundlessness and a loss of orientation; the memorial also includes a subterranean information center at the edge of the site which houses a permanent exhibition dedicated to the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
  • A visit to the Reichstag, the seat of the German Parliament and one of Berlin's most significant landmarks.
• Check into the hotel.
• LaDa'at Focus The Enigma that is Berlin: Introduction to Berlin : Welcome dinner and orientation dialogue with your tour educator.

Overnight: Berlin

Day Three: Wednesday
BERLIN - PAST AND PRESENT

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• LaDa'at Focus An Introduction to Berlin - Sociology, Economy, Politics & Culture: Dialogue with a leading journalist.
• Explore Berlin's rich history on a walking tour in East Berlin, including:
  • Alexander Platz, the city center of former Socialist East Berlin.
  • Unter Den Linden, the grand central boulevard in the Mitte District.
  • The Altes Museum (Old Museum) completed on the orders of Karl Friedrich Schinkel in 1830. The museum is one of the renowned museums on Museum Island and since its restoration work in 1966, it has been home to the antique collection of the Berlin State Museums.
  • View the famous Humboldt University of Berlin.
  • The Book Burning Memorial at Bebel Square.
• Lunch on your own, en route.
• Visit Checkpoint Charlie which was a crossing point between East and West Berlin during the Cold War.
• Visit Topography of Terror, where the central institutions of Nazi persecution and terror were located.
• Return to the hotel.
• Dinner on your own and evening at leisure.

Overnight: Berlin

Day Four: Thursday
JEWISH LIFE IN BERLIN

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• LaDa'at Focus The Distinguished Jews of Berlin: Introduction by your tour educator.
• Walk along Grosse Hamburger Strasse, once the center of Berlin Jewry. 
• Visit the Museum of Otto Weidt's Workshop for the Blind, a haven for Jews during the Holocaust years in Berlin.
• Tour to more Jewish sites in East Berlin, including:
  • The Hackescher Market
  • The Jewish Boys' School
  • The Jewish Cemetery, including Moses Mendelsson's grave
  • The site of the Women's Protest on Rosenenstreasse
• Lunch on your own, en route.
• Visit the New Synagogue and the Centrum Judaicum, one of the most important locations for contemporary Jewish life in Berlin.
• Guided visit to the Jewish Museum of Berlin, designed by architect Daniel Libeskind. One of the most conspicuous architectural landmarks in the city, it embodies remembrance, melancholy, and departure.
• Return to the hotel.
• Dinner on your own and evening at leisure.

Overnight: Berlin

Day Five: Friday
A PASSAGE THROUGH TIME

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• LaDa'at Focus Looking Backwards and Looking Forward with your tour educator.
• Drive to Potsdam, the capital of the federal state of Brandenburg and the former residence of the Prussian Kings and German Kaisers.
• Guided tour of the city, including the Glienicke Bridge, used during the Cold War for exchanging spies, and other famous sites.
• Lunch on own in Potsdam.
• Drive to Wannsee.
• Guided visit to the Villa in Wannsee, site of the infamous "Final Solution" conference, including a private introduction to the house with staff of the Wannsee Conference Educational and Memorial Site.
• Drive to Grunewald, an affluent Jewish suburb of Berlin.
• Visit Gleis 17 (Track 17) in the neighborhood of Grunewald, the main deportation center for Berlin Jews during the Holocaust.
• Return to the hotel with free time to prepare for Shabbat.
• Optional Kabbalat Shabbat services at a local synagogue.
• Shabbat dinner at a restaurant with members of the local Jewish community.

Overnight: Berlin

Day Six: Saturday
SHABBAT AT LEISURE IN BERLIN

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Day at leisure to explore Berlin on own, with the opportunity to:
• Visit Berlin's excellent museums, such as the Gemaeldegalerie or the Neue Nationalgalerie, or any of the museums on Museum Island. Museum Island features the Altes Museum, the Neues Museum, the Alte Nationalgalerie, the Bode Museum and the Pergamon Museum.
• Explore the city's many art galleries.
• Shop on the Kurfürstendamm (known locally as the Ku'damm).
• Visit the East Side Gallery, a part of the former Berlin Wall now serving as a memorial of 150 wall paintings from a slew of international artists.
• Visit the DDR Museum, an interactive museum that offers a snapshot of life in East Berlin in the days of the Soviet occupation.
• Festive farewell dinner and group reflection at a restaurant.

Overnight: Berlin

Day Seven: Sunday
RETURN HOME

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Check out of the hotel.
• Transfer on your own to the Berlin International Airport. (Transfers can be arranged at additional cost.)
• Departure flight to the U.S.A., arriving the same day.