Samuel Green
Samuel has been a licensed tour guide in Israel since 2014 and has won multiple industry awards. In addition to his tour guide license, he has a BA and MA from the University of Cambridge in Hebrew and Israeli Studies. You can follow Samuel's adventures around Israel on his Instagram @myisraeliguide.
128 articles
128 articles
Launch of new website
I've passed my exams, so the site is getting a refresh — a new landing page, an updated about section and a set of testimonials from previous clients. The blog stays.
I passed!!
After two years of study, an oral exam in front of four senior guides, and the wait for results, the verdict came in a single Hebrew word: 'avarta' (you have passed).
Flying falafel at Mifgash Golani
Mifgash Golani in Afula is famous for its falafel, but really for the falafel acrobatics performed by the staff. Quite remarkable, and well worth a stop on the way north.
The Israel tour guide exam, Part One: the written exam Part B (summer 2014)
The actual Part B paper from my written tour-guide exam: a three-hour itinerary marathon where you build a two-day tour for one of three groups – synagogues, Crusader pilgrimage or human heritage in the South.
The Israel tour guide exam, Part One: the written exam Part A (summer 2014)
How the Israeli Ministry of Tourism's written tour-guide exam works: 50 multiple-choice questions on Part A, a three-hour itinerary marathon on Part B, with a 65% pass mark.
Just testing…
I swore off exams after graduating. The tour guide course had me sitting more tests than my entire degree: a written exam after every subject, then mid-term and final exams before the Ministry of Tourism's national exams could even begin.
In the Classroom
Although the blog has mostly tracked our weekly field trips, the tour guide course also involved a huge amount of classroom time. Here's what we actually had to study: history, geography, the main religions, contemporary Israel and the practical side of guiding.
Bethlehem
A brief first visit to Bethlehem, just over the line in Area A, to see the Church of the Nativity, shared between Greek Orthodox, Armenian and Catholic communities, and the crypt marking the traditional site of Jesus’ birth.
Looking back – the video
With studies done and exams looming, the course gathered for a mesibat siyum (final party). One of our group had stitched together a slideshow of the past year and a half — touching, amusing, mostly in Hebrew.
Jerusalem: a summary and a conclusion
The final field trip of the course: a day around Jerusalem taking in the tomb of the prophet Samuel at Nabi Samuel, the Jaffa Gate, the Tower of David, Christ Church, a walk along the Old City ramparts, and Nachlaot and the Machane Yehuda market, before reflecting back on the past year and a half.
If you are going to Israel, you would be mad not to give him a call.
Amol Rajan, BBC presenter and broadcaster
Having been on trips in Israel with seven different tour guides, Samuel stood above all the rest.
Seasoned Israel traveller
Samuel is one part walking encyclopedia, one part storyteller, one part stand-up comedian.
Berkeley Haas Business School student