Program is tentative and subject to change. For more information please contact Phyliss Abraham (901) 767-7100. Connect with our Customer Care Team by calling: (888) 230-6008 Mon.-Thur. from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET).
YOUR journey
J² crafts journeys of inspiration, education, and Jewish connections to Israel and worldwide. We are guided by a simple but powerful concept: No two trips are the same; each experience should be personal, meaningful, and backed by superb service. Travel is not just about the places you visit, but the connections you make along the way.
*Participants must be donors in good standing to Memphis Jewish Federation’s annual campaign.
Active 
Art & Culture 
Food & Wine 
Heritage 
Local Specialists
Program Itinerary
DAY 1
DEPARTURE
Tue. Oct 10, 2023
- Depart the USA.
DAY 2
A CITY OF ART, CULTURE, & INTELLECT
Wed. Oct 11, 2023
- Arrive at Vienna International Airport.
- Check into the hotel.
- 10:30 a.m. Orientation with your tour educator who will accompany you on this spiritual journey. Share group and personal goals.
- Take a panoramic orientation tour along the Ringstrasse, the main avenue circling the city center, for a view of the city's main landmarks, including: The Hofburg Palace, St. Stephen's Cathedral, St. Peter's Church.
- See The Kiss and other groundbreaking paintings by Gustav Klimt at the Belvedere Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Europe’s most beautiful Baroque buildings.
- Visit the Sigmund Freud Museum, where Freud lived, worked, and wrote, and examine the life and controversial legacy of the founder of psychoanalysis.
- Return to the hotel with time to freshen up before dinner.
- Festive Welcome Dinner at Alef-Alef kosher restaurant.
Overnight: Vienna
Meals: Dinner
DAY 3
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THEODOR HERZL
Thu. Oct 12, 2023
- Enjoy breakfast at the hotel before we start our day discovering Jewish Vienna through the lens of Theodor Herzl's life in this city.
- Visit the Stadttemple Synagogue, the only synagogue in Vienna to survive Kristallnacht and World War Two. Hear about the synagogue’s role in Vienna’s Jewish life today.
- Explore the Judenplatz, a center of Vienna’s Jewish life.
- See the Jewish Museum’s underground wing at the Judenplatz.
- Visit the Judenplatz Holocaust Memorial, also known as the Nameless Library because it resembles a library where the books are unreadable.
- Move to the main wing of the Jewish Museum of Vienna with its innovative exhibitions about modern Jewish life in the city.
- Look for signs of the large Jewish community that once lived in Leopoldstadt, an island in central Vienna.
- Stop by the Carmelite Market, which includes kosher shops among its many stores and stalls, to see how Jewish communal life in Leopoldstadt is beginning to make a comeback after its destruction during World War Two.
- Return to the hotel.
- Early dinner at a kosher restaurant.
- 8:00 p.m. Classical music concert at he Mozarthaus, in the gorgeous Baroque room Sala Terrena where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart performed and composed.
Overnight: Vienna
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
DAY 4
THE POWER OF REMEMBRANCE
Fri. Oct 13, 2023
- Check out of the hotel and depart for the Czech Republic.
- Arrive in Mikulov. Today a cute small Czech town, Mikulov was once the home to a vibrant and thriving Jewish community, the second largest in the country until the 19th century.
- Walk the streets of Mikulov on a special guided tour of its rich Jewish history.
- Symbolic Bnai Mitzvah ceremony at the beautifully restored Old Synagogue of Mikulov, the only Polish-style synagogue of its kind in the Czech Republic.
- Lunch at a local restaurant.
- Continue your journey to Prague.
- Check into the hotel.
- Shabbat service.
- Kosher Shabbat dinner in a private room at the hotel. We'll reflect and celebrate together.
Overnight: Prague
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Shabbat Dinner
DAY 5
SHABBAT IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF KAFKA
Sat. Oct 14, 2023
- Morning at leisure, with options:
- Shabbat services at a local synagogue.
- Meditation session at the hotel.
- Time to relax and enjoy the hotel's spa.
- Shabbat lunch at a kosher restaurant.
- Take a walk through the world of the writer Franz Kafka. We’ll view his apartment, see sites that inspired him and the café where, like a typical Central European artist, Kafka spent hours. Along the way, we’ll read excerpts from his novels The Metamorphosis and The Trial and explore his complex relationship with Judaism. Find out how an insurance broker, who died virtually unknown at age 40, became one of the 20th century’s most influential literary figures. Our walking tour will take us through the famous Charles Bridge, the Old and New Town, its architecture, history, and charm.
- Experience Havdallah by the Vltava river, as the Prague Castle and Lesser town slowly light up in the background.
- Enjoy a free evening and explore Prague’s nightlife.
Overnight: Prague
Meals: Breakfast & Shabbat Lunch
DAY 6
THE BEAUTY OF JEWISH PRAGUE
Sun. Oct 15, 2023
- Tour to the Old Town Square, Prague’s main marketplace since the 10th century. See its Astronomical Clock, a symbol of the city.
- Discover the sometimes glorious, sometimes tragic, past of Prague’s Jews with a walking tour to the Jewish Ghetto. Our visit will include:
- The Pinkas Synagogue.
- The Old Jewish Cemetery.
- The Spanish Synagogue.
- The Altneushul.
- Lunch on own.
- Afternoon options include:
- #TRACK 1: CREATIVE PERFUME IN PRAGUE: Delve into the fascinating world of scent and create your own bespoke perfume from scratch in a creative, hands-on, fun and expert-led workshop.
- #TRACK 2: PRAGUE – CITY OF DESIGN:
Enjoy free time for shopping and browsing from local designers. A map will be provided for an itinerary that will take you to the best designer shops in the city while walking the beautiful cobbled streets of Prague, including but not limited to:
- CZECHDESIGN: Working with local illustrators, graphic designers, ceramicists, fashion and jewelry designers, and industrial designers, it presents a great mix of fresh talent alongside Czech icons
- Deelive: A carefully curated selection of Czech designs including glass, lighting, furniture, and a fashion room, where you can find bold and often witty conceptual pieces. Everything is beautifully laid out, making even browsing a pleasure, with a good view of the river too.
- Debut Gallery: offering a carefully chosen selection of jewelry, fashion, ceramics, glass and more, from the best contemporary Czech and international designers presented in such calm, beautiful arrangement that a visit offers welcome respite from the gaudy surrounding souvenir shops and the chance to purchase something of far superior quality.
- Showroom: a boutique, atelier and meeting point, showcasing the work of 7 Czech designers, and some guests, from different fields including jewelry, leather accessories, fashion and shoes. It is all brought together in a complimentary whole by the clever interior and a designer is always on-hand to give advice.
- Artiseme: Located behind the famous Lennon Wall, in the former Sala Terrena of The Grand Priory Palace, this creative space is dedicated to a selection of hand-picked design that embody the Bohemian spirit of Design in the Czech Republic.
- #TRACK 3: GLORIOUS PRAGUE Visit the Prague Castle, enjoy an overview of the City of 100 Spires, and walk along the Golden Lane.
- Evening at leisure.
Overnight: Prague
Meals: Breakfast
DAY 7
MEMORY & CONTINUITY
Mon. Oct 16, 2023
- Check out of the hotel and depart Prague.
- Arrive in Terezin (Theresienstadt), the ghetto-camp established here during World War Two where over 100,000 thousand Jews were worked to death or sent to extermination camps in the East. Our visit to Terezin will include:
- The Historical Exhibition which explains the history of the camp and its role in Hitler’s Final Solution.
- Chilling propaganda movies made by the Nazis which were designed to convince the world that Terezin was a spa town and retirement center for elderly Jews rather than a death-ridden way station to the extermination camps.
- A reconstruction of the overcrowded dormitory and other parts of the camp complex.
- The Hidden Synagogue that an inmate, Artur Berlanger, created out of a tiny storage space.
- A memorial service, where we’ll remember those who died here as well as the more than 80,000 Jews who were sent to be killed in Auschwitz and elsewhere in the East.
- Boxed lunch, en route.
- On your way to Berlin, stop at a local vineyard for a kosher wine tasting at one of the few Kosher wine producers of Czech Republic.
- Arrive in Berlin and check into the hotel.
Overnight: Berlin
Meals: Breakfast & Boxed Lunch
DAY 8
JUDAISM AND WOMEN IN BERLIN
Tue. Oct 17, 2023
- Find out about German-Jewish identity then and now. Dr. Sandra Anusiewicz-Baer of the Zacharias Frankel College, Berlin’s Conservative-Masorti rabbinical seminary, will discuss how the country’s Jews have understood their relationship with German culture and the German nation, as well as how German Jews see their role in the country today.
- Get a glimpse of Berlin and its transformations through an introductory tour to two very different landmarks.
- The neo-classical Brandenburg Gate
- The Holocaust Memorial
- Tour the Jewish Quarter and see the following sites:
- Hackescher Market.
- The New Synagogue and Centrum Judaicum.
- The Jewish Cemetery.
- We’ll stop outside the home of Rabbi Regina Jonas, the first woman to be ordained as a rabbi.
- We’ll also visit two important reminders of German resistance to the Holocaust. The Museum of Otto Weidt’s Workshop for the Blind honors the man who risked his life during World War Two to hide and protect Jewish workers in his broom and brush workshop. The Rosenstrasse Sculpture commemorates the successful 1943 protests against Nazi plans to deport the last remaining Jews from Berlin. The protest was led by non-Jewish women seeking to protect their Jewish spouses from persecution.
- Why did a German student of Protestant theology convert to Judaism and begin a process that would see her become Berlin’s first female rabbi since the Holocaust? Find out as Rabbi Gesa Ederberg of the Oranienburger Strasse Synagogue shares her story of becoming Jewish and discusses her role in rebuilding egalitarian Judaism in the former East Germany. We’ll also tour this architecturally remarkable synagogue and find out how it was saved from Nazi destruction.
- Return to the hotel or have a break to enjoy a fresh German beer in one of Berlin's classic beerhall, part of the fabric of the town and its History.
- Evening at leisure.
Overnight: Berlin
Meals: Breakfast
DAY 9
ART & MEMORY IN BERLIN
Wed. Oct 18, 2023
- See the Places of Remembrance, perhaps the most controversial of Holocaust memorials. Hung, seemingly randomly, on street lampposts in the Bavarian Quarter are 80 signs that highlight anti-Jewish laws and regulations established by the Nazis. These signs push passersby to contemplate the almost-forgotten history of this neighborhood, which was once home to prominent Jewish intellectuals, including Albert Einstein and Hannah Arendt.
- Visit Gleis (track) 17, the railway track in Grunewald station from which many Berlin Jews were deported to the death camps and ghettos in the East. We'll hold a special remembrance ceremony there.
- Take an architectural tour of the Jewish Museum Berlin and see how architect Daniel Libeskind’s design – with its zigzagging lines, inclined walls, and concrete “voids” – retells German-Jewish history.
- Return to the hotel.
- Festive farewell dinner celebrating Jewish Life in Germany with special guests from the local Jewish community of Berlin.
Overnight: Berlin
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
DAY 10
UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN
Thu. Oct 19, 2023
- Check out of the hotel.
- Transfer to Berlin Airport and check in for your return flight to the USA.
Meals: Breakfast
RATES & LODGING
participants
37+
Cost p/p in double room
$6,299
Cost p/p in single room
$8,325
Cost of accommodations for pre & post nights including breakfast and all taxes:
-Vienna: Bristol $570,- per night per double occupancy room, $540,- per night per single occupancy room
-Berlin: Adlon $580,- per night per double occupancy room, $526,- per night per single occupancy room
*All rates are subject to availability. Registration open
-Vienna: Bristol $570,- per night per double occupancy room, $540,- per night per single occupancy room
-Berlin: Adlon $580,- per night per double occupancy room, $526,- per night per single occupancy room
*All rates are subject to availability. Registration open
Vienna: Hotel Bristol, a Luxury Collection Hotel
- Nights: 2
- Room Category: Deluxe Room
- Hotel Website
Prague: Four Seasons Hotel
- Nights: 3
- Room Category: Run of House
- Hotel Website
Berlin: Adlon Kempinski
- Nights: 3
- Room Category: Deluxe Room
- Hotel Website
What to expect
- 8 nights' accommodations.
- 8 days of touring with a tour educator (guide), 7 days of touring in a luxury, air-conditioned bus.
- Daily breakfast, 3 lunches & 4 dinners.
- Water on the bus.
- Porterage at the hotels.
- All site entrance fees & program fees as per your final program.
- Credit card fees.
- DAY 8: Food and drinks at the beer-hall on own expenses.
- Afternoon of DAY 6: TRACK 1 perfume workshop at an extra cost. TRACK 2 is a shopping-walking tour on own, without guide or transportation. TRACK 3 Visit to the Prague Castle including guide and transportation at an extra cost.
- Gratuities are excluded. For groups of 20 and more participants traveling to Central Europe: We recommend the following guidelines for tipping (amounts are in US dollars): Jewish Tour Educator: $12 | Local Guide: $10 | Driver: $5. Amounts are per day per person.
- Flights to & from Europe
- Individual airport transfers.
- COVID related expenses, including tests.
- Evening transportation when dinner is not included.
- Amendments to the program: In the event that any sites, programs or meals etc. are added to the program, an additional fee may be required.
- Personal extras: Items of personal nature such as laundry, wines, mineral water, beverages, coffee, tea, food other than the table d’hotel menu, passport and visa fees, insurance, and foreign port taxes, unless otherwise specified.
- US and foreign airport taxes, Q fuel surcharge and border taxes when applicable.
- Please review our terms & conditions (T&C’s) or request that we send you our full T&C’s. Until you do that, here is the small print, and other stuff you may want to know:
- Validity | All prices quoted are based on exchange rates as of the proposal date and are subject to change without notice. Rates are per person and are based on shared twin room occupancy.
- How to Make a Reservation | The quickest way to make a reservation is to register online or contact us by email. We accept VISA, MasterCard, and American Express credit cards. A non-refundable deposit is required in order to complete the registration process.
- For any assistance with this registration process or other trip-related queries, please email Customer Care: [email protected].
- Payments | The balance of your payment is due on April 1rst 2023, or as specified in your invoice. You will receive an email reminder 2 weeks before this date. Various payment options are available as follows:
- Credit card | We accept Visa, Mastercard and American Express. Please check with your credit card provider regarding international processing fees. We are unable to process payments of over $1,000 over the phone. Please submit payment online via a credit card or by wiring funds via your bank.
- Domestic bank wire transfer | Payment should be wired in the same currency that is listed on your invoice. Please add the name of your group or invoice number as a reference and forward a copy of the transfer receipt by email. The bank transfer should clearly state the beneficiary’s name on the wire transfer.
- Please use the following information: Investors Bank 101 JFK Parkway, Short Hills, NJ 07078 ABA Routing Number: 221272031
- Beneficiary Instructions: For the benefit of J² Adventures. Account number: 1001858331
- J² Adventures reserves the right to automatically cancel your reservation on that date and it may be subject to reconfirmation should the final payment not be received.
- Cancelation Policy | All cancelations need to be made in writing. The cancelation fee depends on the date when we receive written notification of your request to cancel your booking. Please note that the deposit is non-refundable.
- Cancelation fees | Cancelations made before April 1rst 2023 incur the loss of the deposit. Cancelations made from April 2nd 2023 to 46 days prior to departure incur the loss of 50% of the full trip cost. Cancelations made 45 days or less prior to the departure incur the loss of 100% of the full trip cost.
- Cancelation fees may also include: Hotel or supplier cancelation fees. J² Adventures reserves the right to adjust its terms of payment, including cancelation policies and initial deposits. Please refer to the small print tab on your trip’s webpage or in your proposal for your cancelation policy and fees.
- Protect your investment for $495 p/p: Should you cancel your trip up to 5 days before your departure for any reason, our POM program offers you a trip refund. Call 888-230-6008 or e-mail: [email protected].
- Please click here to view our full terms (T&C’s). These T&C’s apply to all reservations created within J2 Adventures.
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JEWISH JOURNEYS.
A family vacation to Israel. An adventure of a lifetime traveling with friends to Morocco. A trip to Poland or Portugal with your community. What do these trips have in common? No matter where you go, you will come back with a fresh perspective and appreciation of the place you visited as well as a heightened awareness of your identity as part of the global Jewish community.
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