BELARUS

This October, a group of congregants from Temple Isaiah will be venturing on a Jewish Heritage tour of Eastern Europe and St. Petersburg. The highlight of this trip to the former Soviet Union will be the presentation of a Torah Scroll to the progressive congregation in Grodno, Belarus.   With 70 children in their cheder, and no Torah for a Bar Mitzvah, they are eagerly awaiting our arrival on Simchat Torah.   We look forward to celebrating with Rabbi Grisha Abramovich and the Grodno community on this special day. Our congregants will explore Jewish life, past and present, in Eastern Europe, from Warsaw to St. Petersburg and many communities along the way, including Minsk, Vilnius and Riga. Led by our Rabbi Emeritus Robert Gan and Sheila Gan, we will be returning to places from which our ancestors fled because of pogroms at the turn of the century, places where Jewish life was destroyed during the Holocaust. We have the wonderful opportunity, yes the mitzvah, of enriching Jewish life by our presence, our encouragement and by sharing the gift of Torah.

Belarus Itinerary

OCTOBER 1 -14, 2007

DAY ONE: Monday, October 1, 2007

• Depart Los Angeles International Airport.

Overnight: Flight

DAY TWO: Tuesday, October 2, 2007

• Arrive in Warsaw.
• Welcome by our representative and assistance with arrival formalities.
• Check into hotel.
• Balance of the afternoon at leisure to walk around the cobblestone streets of Warsaw.
• Enjoy a welcome dinner at a local restaurant including drinks and a Klezmer Show.

Overnight: Warsaw, Poland

DAY THREE: Wednesday, October 3, 2007,

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Enjoy a walking tour which begins with an introduction to Jewish Warsaw.
• Visit Nozyk Synagogue, once a thriving center of Jewish life, followed by a visit to the Yiddish Theater for a glimpse of the glory of pre-Holocaust Jewish Life.
• Walk through the cobblestone streets of old Warsaw to the Baroque Market Square where you will find hidden gems among the many stalls.
• In the evening, visit Beit Warszawa, Warsaw's Progressive Synagogue for a meeting with the local Jewish Community members.
• Dinner on own.

Overnight: Warsaw, Poland

DAY FOUR: Thursday, October 4, 2007

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Visit the Okopova Cemetery with its close to 300,000 graves which tell the story of the glory days of Polish Jewry.
• Continue to the Warsaw Ghetto Memorial, and Mila 18-Headquarters of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, and the Umschlagplatz-site of the deportation of the Warsaw Jewish community to Treblinka.
• Balance of the day at leisure.
• Dinner on own.

Overnight: Warsaw, Poland

DAY FIVE: Friday, October 5, 2007

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Check out of hotel and depart to Grodno, Belarus.
• Arrive in Grodno, one of the oldest towns in the country.At one time it had a flourishing Jewish Community and today, it has a growing Progressive Jewish community.
• Check into hotel.
• Lunch on own.
• This evening, Simchat Torah, we will present the Grodno Progressive Jewish community with a torah, on permanent loan from Temple Isaiah and join with them in the celebration of Shabbat and the joyous holiday of the giving of the Torah.

Overnight: Grodno, Belarus

DAY SIX: Saturday, October 6, 2007

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Morning program with the local Jewish Community.
• Lunch on own.
• After lunch, enjoy a Jewish Heritage tour of Grodno.
• Depart for Minsk, Belarus.
• Arrive in Minsk and check into hotel.
• Dinner at local restaurant with folklore show.

Overnight: Minsk, Belarus

DAY SEVEN: Sunday, October 7, 2007

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Depart to Vilnius, Lithuania via Mir.
• In Mir, visit the Jewish Heritage sights of the Yeshiva and the Holocaust Memorial.
• Visit Mir Castle.
• Enjoy lunch in a local restaurant.
• Continue the journey to Mir with a stop in Novogrudok.
• Visit the former Jewish ghetto with a memorial to the Holocaust.
• Visit the town of Lida where the Yeshiva of Lida was created in 1905.
• Arrive into Vilnius and check into hotel.
• Dinner at the hotel.

Overnight: Vilnius, Lithuania

DAY EIGHT: Monday, October 8, 2007

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Enjoy a full day of touring Jewish history in Vilnius: See the present and the past of the Jewish cemeteries, including Dambuka Cemetery, the grave of the Vilna Gaon.
• See the "Cheap Houses" built by Baron Hirsch for poor Jewish people after the great flood.
• See the building of the printing-house "Widow and Brothers Romm".
• Lunch on own.
• After lunch, enjoy a walking tour in the Ghettos of Vilna: see the Medieval Jewish quarter, Gaon and Jewish streets. You will hear about the history of the Great Vilna Synagogue, the personality of Gaon of Vilna; the famous Jewish sculptor Antokolski; the territory of the Large Ghetto and Small Ghetto; the courtyard of the Judenr at the fight of the Ghetto prisoners against the Nazis.
• Visit the Synagogue "Taharat Hakodesh"
• Dinner on own.

Overnight: Vilnius, Lithuania

DAY NINE: Tuesday, October 9, 2007

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Depart Vilnius for Kaunas.
• En route, stop at Zezmariai (Zhezhmer), where a remarkable Jewish community settled before the war and see its surviving wooden Synagogue.
• Arrive in Kaunas.
• Enjoy a full day excursion around Kaunas, the former capital of Lithuania.
• Visit Sugihara's Museum, the Museum of Japanese consul Chiune Sugihara who issued Japanese visas for over six thousand Jews during World War II.
• Lunch on own.
• Excursion to the 9th Fort, in which during World War II many Jews were imprisoned. Today there is an exhibition, reflecting the Jewish genocide during World War II.
• Check into hotel.
• Dinner on own.

Overnight: Kaunas, Lithuania

DAY TEN: Wednesday, October 10, 2007

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Depart Kaunas for Riga.
• Enjoy a short en route visit to Kedainiai, a town where the Vilna Gaon lived and worked. See the buildings of three synagogues which have remained.
• Visit the old Jewish cemetery and the Multicultural Centre.
• Cross border into Lativa.
• Lunch on own at Rundale Palace.
• Visit Rundale Palace, an 18 th century masterpiece designed by the same architect as the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg.
• Arrive into Riga and check into hotel.
• Dinner on own.

Overnight: Riga, Latvia

DAY ELEVEN: Thursday, October 11, 2007

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Enjoy a walking city tour of Old Riga. View Riga Castle, the Dome Square and Dome Cathedral, the Town Hall Square and the House of Blackheads, the Great and Small Guild Halls, the fortification wall of Riga and the Swedish Gate.
• Visit the St. Peter's Cathedral Tower for a beautiful panorama view of the city.
• Lunch on own in the city center.
• Visit the Synagogue, the Jewish Community Center and the Museum of Jews in Latvia.
• Continue to the previous Ghetto area and Old Jewish Cemetery.
• Enjoy dinner in a local restaurant.
• After dinner, depart for Riga's Train Station for an overnight train to St. Petersburg.

Overnight: 1st Class Train to St. Petersburg, private berths

DAY TWELVE: Friday October 12, 2007

• Arrive in St. Petersburg around 9am.
• Breakfast at a local restaurant.
• Enjoy a full-day city tour, including Jewish historic and modern sights.
• Visit the Grand Choral Synagogue.
• Drive along the Neva river embankment and stop by the Bronze Horseman.
• Walk along the Spit of Basil Island.
• Lunch on own.
• Enjoy a guided tour of Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral.
• Check into hotel and relax before Shabbat.
• Celebrate Shabbat with the Progressive Jewish Community of Shaarei Shalom.
• Shabbat Dinner with guests from Shaarei Shalom at a local restaurant.

Overnight: St. Petersburg, Russia

DAY THIRTEEN: Saturday, October 13, 2007

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Drive to Tsarskoye Selo. You will visit the 18th century Baroque style Catherine's Palace, the largest Royal summer residence, designed by Italian architect Rastrelli.
• Pay homage to a memorial called the "Formula of Sorrow". The memorial was erected at the site where the Jewish citizens were exterminated.
• Lunch on own in the city center of St. Petersburg.
• Visit the Hermitage Museum with your guide - one of the world's finest art museums. It contains more than two and a half million works of art representing different ages, cultures and peoples.
• Return to the hotel for a leisurely dinner.
• Optional visit to ballet or opera (starts at 7:00 p.m. or 8:00 p.m.)

Overnight: St. Petersburg, Russia

DAY FOURTEEN: Sunday, October 14, 2007

• Breakfast at the hotel.

Departure flight to USA, arriving home on same day.

*Itinerary is tentative and subject to change.

Trip at a Glance

• Includes:
• 3 nights in Warsaw
• 1 night in Grodno
• 1 night in Minsk
• 2 nights in Vilnius
• 1 night in Kaunas
• 1 night in Riga
• 1 overnight train in 1 st class deluxe compartment sleeper train
• 2 nights in St. Petersburg