Renee Halpert - Your Guide to Israel

10/10/2024

354 days! That's the number of days between October 5, 2023 when I guided Alison and Amanda on a fun Sukkot tour in crowded Jerusalem, and my next Jerusalem tour which took place on September 23, 2024 with Debbie Zimelman and visitors.
So much has changed in the past year.
We started this recent visit at the concrete piano near City Hall, with one clear reminder of what has changed: 101 people are still unaccounted for and held captive by Hamas in Gaza, including 22 yr old musician Alon Ohel.

And in Jerusalem's Old City, the alleys, stones, and structures are quieter, softer, less obscured with crowds.
Yet, life in the Old City remains vibrant, curious, and colourful.

I've really missed exploring this fascinating city with visitors & am so grateful to have returned!
Let's meet there sometime soon!

11/09/2024

Hi!
On Monday, September 16th, I am offering another guided visit to the 'Otef' (Gaza frontier/ Hevel Tkuma) memorials and communities, with transportation from/to Jerusalem.
See comments for a link to the Google doc pre-registration form with further details.

Send a message to learn more

07/08/2024

The love keeps pouring in. Kay, Karen, and Joann arrived from the USA to give support to Israel. I led them on a visit to the Hevel Tkuma (aka Gaza frontier) communities in Israel.
We stopped in Moshav Shuva to support "Arugot" , an internationally known, but very local, organic cosmetics company.
Then, we visited the nearby 24-hr rest stop for soldiers, Shuva Achim אחים שובה. Here, we chatted with M, an IDF reserve volunteer who has spent the last 220 days supporting and protecting the small local communities. In his 'other' life, he is a global sales executive for Israeli hi-tech.
In the Arugot bag - a special kit for soldiers with organic foot cream, sun protection, and deodorant.

27/07/2024

In a space far from noise and conflict, under a moonlit starry night, I joined with 50 hikers to cover 13 km and raise funds & awareness for Jerusalem's Alyn rehabilitation center. Jews in the Judean desert...

20/07/2024

THIS TRIP IS POSTPONED.

I am guiding another visit to the "Otef" from Jerusalem with a minibus on Wednesday, July 24th. PM me or see the comments for Pre-Registration and details.

Send a message to learn more

02/07/2024

On Sunday, I had the honour of bringing two visitors who have senior positions at the Florida Holocaust Museum on a visit to the Gaza frontier/ Otef Aza. One was a first time visitor to Israel.
They had the opportunity to connect with the landscape, support the locals, and hear stories from 7.10 and up to the current situation.
We had a unique visit with another educator, Hugo Wolf, of kibbutz Be'eri.
The wind and blowing sand adds to the anguish felt at the Nova festival memorial site.
In contrast, a visit with soldiers at the Shuva junction was uplifting, as we pampered them with fresh treats.
In the photos, the vehicle belonging to Nova festival participant Ben Binyamin Shimoni. He fled the festival safely with 3 unknown passengers, then returns to rescue others. And again brings several revelers to safety.. and returns again to the festival site, putting himself in harms way each time. The last time, he picked up Gaia, Romi and Ofer. They were ambushed by Hamas terrorists. Ben and Gaia were murdered. Romi and Ofer were kidnapped to Gaza. We pray for their speedy and safe return.

27/06/2024

I am offering another guided group visit to the 'Otef'/ Gaza Envelop / Hevel Tekuma on July 11, 2024. See the link for details and registration in the comments.

23/06/2024

In the good news corner. I recently received this message:

"Birthright is a life changing experience, and for your group it is also a life saving one!
On *May 15, 2019*, a group that you led and inspired throughout Israel attended a Gift of Life drive in Kalia. We are thrilled to inform you that a donor recruited at that drive has donated stem cells for a 66 year old woman battling Myelodysplastic Disorder.We are truly grateful for all you have done to help grow the Gift of Life Marrow Registry, and we thank you for being a part of our family of dedicated volunteers."

The group was a Birthright Mayanot trip. If the donor happens to read this, way to go! כל הכבוד.

If you haven't registered with Gift of Life, please consider doing so. You could save a life.

19/06/2024

Due to a special request, I now have 2 spots available for my guided group visit to the Otef Aza/Hevel Tekuma region for this Sunday, June 23. Pick up in Tel Aviv at approx. 7:30 am (exact time and location TBD).

This tour is part of a larger group tour that I am leading. We will be joining other participants who are arriving in their own vehicles.
For cost and other details, please contact me directly.

06/06/2024

Dear friends,
I'm offering another guided visit in English to the Otef Aza / Hevel Tekuma region, on Sunday, June 23, 2024. This is a group visit using your own transportation, with the option for joining a carpool.

Details can be found in the comments, below.

I am also available for private guided tours to this region, or anywhere else in Israel. Contact me to discuss. Regards,

Renee Halpert
Israeli Tour Guide & Educator
052350659

We are all grappling with the tragedies of October 7 - Shabbat Simchat Torah - and our subsequent state of war. During this day trip we will learn about the region and the people most directly affected by the attacks in October, in a sensitive and meaningful manner to learn, bear witness, discuss, a...

02/06/2024

What could be better than Friends, Nature, and good Wine?
On Friday, I took overseas visitors to Mony Winery. After their 2 weeks of volunteering with SarEl and the IDF, this was a perfect way to unwind and appreciate the beauty of our country.
Mony Winery is perched next to the Deir Rafat monastery overlooking the lush Sorek Valley, near Beit Shemesh. Mony Winery was founded in 2001 by the Ertol family, a Christian-Arab family of olive-oil producers from the Galilee who moved to the Judean mountains. Dr. Mony Ertol for whom the winery is named and the founder's son, was a physician who passed away suddenly in Italy in 1995.

Only in Israel!
Since 2005, the wines are certified kosher, as is the vast selection of cheeses, olive oil, spreads and other treats sold in the wine shop. On Friday, the winery's balcony is filled with locals from near and far who opt for a wine & cheese social getaway among the vineyards and olive groves. But since the owners are not Jewish, the winery also opens on Shabbat to the interested public.

Above the winery is a monastery founded in 1927 which today houses about 18 nuns French-speaking nuns from the monastic "Sisters of Bethlehem". The nuns sell ceramics and body creams made from the nearby winery's olive oil and special essential oils from herbs they grow at the monastery.

In the Sorek Valley below lies a modern train line along the same 'mesilla' (route) that the biblical Ark of the Covenant was returned by the Philistines in Ekron to the Israelites in Beit Shemesh [I Samuel 6:2-3, 6:13-15].

30/05/2024

I am leading another visit to the "Otef"/ Hevel Tkuma to support, learn, and reflect. This is an open group trip taking place next Monday, June 3rd, using your own transportation.

See the link for details and registration in the comments.

- Renee

30/05/2024

Last week, I again visited sites and communities along the Hevel Tkuma (Region of Revival), also known as the Gaza frontier or Otef Aza in South western Israel. This time, with a small group who came to learn, bear witness, and support.
There is a memorial site containing over 1,600 vehicles attacked by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023/ Shabbat SimchatTorah. It is a haunting site. The terrorists attacked with bullets, RPGs, & grenades to kill as as many people in these vehicles and elsewhere as they could, then they mutilated, r@ped, tortured and burned. The vehicle occupants included Nova music festival revelers, families on vacation, cyclists heading to the trails, first responders, fire fighters, police, and hostages that the terrorists were stealing into Gaza! The vehicles were brought to this lot so each vehicle could be carefully checked and cleaned to provide an honorable burial for every remnant of every Israeli occupant, according to Jewish law.
At the site, we heard the chilling account of brave Tali, a Nova festival participant who somehow managed to survive in the caravan she and 6 others were hiding as it was continuously attacked but never penetrated by the terrorists. She witnessed Hamas atrocities during the many hours she was in hiding. She provided testimony for Cheryl Sandberg's film From Screams to Silence. Tali, and the rest of us, will not be silenced.

29/05/2024

Soil therapy!
Trimming clementine trees in a fragrant orchard.
Finding hidden blueberries in a moshav greenhouse.
Bonus, gathering the season's last crop of strawberries.

07/05/2024

Yesterday was Yom HaShoah - Holocaust Memorial Day - as commemorated in Israel and by Jews worldwide. There are still several thousand survivors alive, most of whom live in Israel today. Six of them lit torches representing the 6 million murdered Jews, at the annual ceremony the previous evening. Read their stories here:
https://www.yadvashem.org/remembrance/archive/torchlighters.html
The connecting theme this year was "A Lost World: The Destruction of the Jewish Communities". Within those communities, in 1939, there were about 18 million Jews world-wide. Today, 85 years later, we have not reached this number of Jews globally (estimated at 15 million, with almost half living in Israel).

Several Holocaust survivors personally witnessed the atrocities of the Hamas & Hamas-supporters attack on their communities in Israel on 7.10.2023 - Shabbat Simchat Torah. Some of their family members were killed or taken hostage and are still unaccounted for somewhere in Gaza. 85-year-old survivor Yaffa Adar was paraded into Gaza by gleeful Arabs in a stolen golf cart, and gratefully released after 48 days in captivity. Shlomo Manzur, kidnapped by young Palestinians, is now Gaza's oldest hostage at 86 years old. Moshe Ridler, הי"ד, a 91-year-old Holocaust survivor, was murdered by Hamas terrorists in his home in Kibbutz Holit on October 7, 2023.
We learn that in every generation new enemies will rise up to try to defeat us. They use lies and intimidation, libels and treachery, violence in words and action, and unspeakable crimes to rid the world of Jews. The enemies of the past are long gone. The newest generation of them will also not last.
The Jewish nation will.
We will continue to dance.
We will continue to thrive.
We will continue to bring amazing innovation to the world to stave off thirst, hunger, and disease.
Am Yisrael Chai עם ישראל חי

07/05/2024