These trips are custom-built around what your group or family wants from the week. For some it’s a bar mitzvah at the Western Wall or Masada; for others, a youth movement programme introducing teenagers to the country for the first time; for synagogue or federation groups, a community visit with the rabbi or programme leader at the centre; for families, a week shared across three generations.
What I bring
Before guiding I spent ten years as a youth counsellor and eventually executive director of FZY (the Federation of Zionist Youth), the UK’s biggest Jewish youth movement. I’m a Cambridge graduate (BA and MA in Hebrew and Israeli Studies) and an Israel Ministry of Tourism licensed guide; I’ve been guiding in Israel since 2014. I have my own kids, so the dynamic of a family trip isn’t theoretical. I work with Jewish groups from every stream and background, and I’m practicing myself; happy to talk traditions, deeply respectful of everyone’s approach to the faith.
With families
The challenge is to pace things around the kids while keeping the adults engaged. Most of the time it isn’t about showering you with facts and figures; it’s about positive experiences you’ll remember forever.
I always talk to you beforehand to learn the specific interests of everyone coming and build the trip around them. One family wanted to focus on interactions with local Israelis, another wanted to build in a lot of arts and crafts; one even briefed me to find an interesting local dessert for tea time every day (I was delighted to oblige!).
With groups
I want you to see me as a true partner. For synagogue groups, youth movements and federations we design together with you (the rabbi or community leaders), and the trip leaves you space to take a leading role on the ground; this is your group, and we’re a team for the week. I’m not interested in stealing the show.
Shabbat
Every group experiences Shabbat differently. The work is finding a way to make it relevant, appropriate and inspiring for the people in front of me. That can be a Friday-night dinner with a local family, a service at a synagogue I know well, a drumming circle at the beach or something else entirely.
Where these trips go
The classics: Jerusalem’s Old City, the Western Wall, Yad Vashem, Masada, the Dead Sea, Caesarea, Tzefat, the Galilee, Tel Aviv. The less obvious: a Druze village in the Golan, the Yemenite quarter of Tel Aviv, a working kibbutz, the small synagogues you only find if someone takes you to them.
I will try hard to find the places that are specific to your group: a particular family interest, a community connection, a shared passion (if you all love cycling, for instance, we can build in a cycling day or multiple days!). The trip is yours; I build it completely around your interests and needs.
Tour examples
A two-week trip across the country for a Jewish day school
A Jewish day school sent its teenagers to Israel for two weeks across the country. The programme covered heritage sites, meetings with local Israelis, hikes, sports, the major museums and evening discussions on what they’d seen each day.
A five-day three-generation bar mitzvah trip
A three-generation trip honouring a grandchild’s bar mitzvah: grandparents, parents, the bar mitzvah boy and his siblings, uncles, aunts, cousins, family friends. Five days across the country, tailored throughout to the family’s interests. Fun for the kids; engaging for the adults. The bar mitzvah boy loves football, so we arranged a private tour of a major Israeli stadium and tickets to a league match while the family was there. The ceremony itself was held at Masada.
What groups and families say
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“Pre-teens, teenagers, parents and grandparents – he inspired us all.”
Samuel guided our family track of 30 men, women and children through Tel Aviv and Jerusalem for a period of 8 days.
It is not easy to involve and inspire pre-teens, teenagers, parents and grandparents all at the same time, but Samuel managed to accomplish this feat with a combination of humor, intellect, perspective and patience.
My wife and I have been on tours to Israel with very excellent guides, but Samuel is clearly our favorite.
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“Ancient and modern Jewish texts opened up Tel Aviv.”
We asked Samuel to give students (ages 18-19) a tour of “Jewish Tel Aviv”. He led a fantastic tour that included interesting and unexpected destinations and information about the modern city.
Samuel was able to really engage the students through ancient and modern Jewish texts, which helped pieced together a Jewish perspective of Tel Aviv that they had never considered before.
Samuel was very generous with his time and hospitality. He has wealth of knowledge and is very good at tailoring the tour to fit the requirements and requests of the group. Additionally he is very responsible, communicative, and will do everything to ensure the tour goes smoothly. Highly recommended!
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“Three summers running, he holds teenagers’ attention.”
For the third summer in a row, I was lucky enough to have Samuel guide my teen leadership group’s summer travel days. Knowing I would be working alongside Samuel made everything easier for me before and during the trip.
Samuel has many strengths (extremely knowledgeable, creative problem solver, knows all the good ice cream places!), but being a guide who has a clear vision of what he is going to share, and being able to hold the interest of teenagers while doing so, are rare qualities.
Samuel also goes above and beyond the call of duty - he is always looking out for the best interests of the group, advocates on our behalf, and remains available to participants (and leaders!) even after the trip has ended. I know that my teens can always email him with questions about the places we visited or about Israel in general, and he is always happy to answer my questions or give me suggestions even when unrelated to our work together.
I can’t recommend him enough!
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“A bespoke tour, accommodating the little ones.”
Samuel is a talented guide who took us around Jerusalem with our 2 young daughters (2&3 years old).
He was very flexible and tried to accommodate everyone including the little ones by designing a bespoke tour according to our experiences, preferences and passions.
We started with a visit of the old city: Western Wall, Church of the Holy Sepulchre. We carried on in the afternoon with the science museum for the little ones and an Israeli wine tasting. On top of being very knowledgeable and educated (MA in Hebrew and Israeli studies from Cambridge) Samuel pays a lot of attention to small details even for the little ones.
We had an unforgettable experience and even found some time to speak about geopolitics in the region. We would recommend Samuel without any hesitation.
