What would you like to do most on your next trip to Israel? Explore the outdoors? Experience people and culture? See where history happened? Sarah Bank-Wolf, a licensed Israeli tour guide, started Judean Journeys to show visitors the Israel she knows and loves, with custom-crafted itineraries based on each family’s interests and goals. Whether this is your first time in Israel or you visit frequently, Judean Journeys will help you make the most of your trip.
“I love helping people deepen their connection to Israel,” said Bank-Wolf. “It’s exciting to show them places that reveal Israel in a deeper way.” Just recently she received this note from an appreciative family: “I can’t tell you how much we loved having you with us yesterday. You helped the city come alive for our kids.” She wrote back, “I truly get a lot of nachat and my heart swells watching kids being so engaged and sharing their thoughts with me as I guide.”
Bank-Wolf takes people throughout the country but has a special fondness for Shefalet Yehuda, the Jerusalem foothills between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, where she lives. Wolf calls this area the Bible Belt. “There’s a lot of Torah to be taught and shown here,” she said. She has one tour devoted to history called “In the Footsteps of Heroes” about both biblical and modern personalities who once lived here. This is where it is believed that King David fought Goliath, and the Maccabees lived. You can bike through the underground caves and visit Second Temple villages where parts of the Bar Kochva revolt took place. Learn about the soldiers of the Haganah who fought and died to bring about the state of Israel. There are several fascinating museums in the area, such as the Khan Shaar Hagai, an experiential museum about the siege of Jerusalem before the War of Independence. Wolf said the area is great for hiking, biking, jeeping or just walking the beautiful terrain. Visit wineries, the Biblical Museum of Natural History and studios where exquisite blown glass is created.
Your Judean Journey could also be a culinary tour or off-the-beaten-track tour with gems that most people miss. Bank-Wolf plans activities for one or two days or more. She will make the arrangements for specific requests or build an itinerary after learning what a family likes to do and see. She knows the best interactive, engaging, hands-on workshops for children.
Bank-Wolf gained her in-depth knowledge of the area from 22 years of living and studying in Israel after making aliyah in 1994. She was inspired to become a guide after taking a tour in Boston. She realized that she could be leading tours in Israel. She already had an MA in Jewish history from Hebrew University. She took a course to learn about Jerusalem, and then a rigorous course to become certified as a tour guide. “It was fantastic—more challenging than a Master’s degree,” she said. The final test took four hours, with half written and half oral. “Everything was on that test—biology, zoology, botany, history, archeology, to where the bathrooms are in each place.” She is also getting a master’s degree in land of Israel studies and archeology at Bar Ilan University.
For more information, visit www.judeanjourneys.com, Judean Journeys on Facebook, or sara_tours__judean__journeys_ on Instagram. To arrange your own Judean Journey, email [email protected].
By Bracha Schwartz
