Exploring Russian Jewish Heritage: a new generation of Russians is reconnecting with Jewish heritage and welcoming those who want to explore their ancestry.
DAY 1
• Arrive in Moscow
• Meeting at the Airport, transfer to the hotel
• Check in, time for dinner, rest. Preparation for Shabbat.
DAY 2
• 08:00 Breakfast in the hotel
• 10:00 Meeting with the guide for a walking city tour:
Visiting the world-famous Moscow Underground, Red Square, St Basil Cathedral, Lenin Tomb, Alexander Garden, GUM department store
• 12:30-13:30 time for lunch
• 14:00 Excursion to the Kremlin and it’s grounds
• Evening: visiting Bolshoi theatre for the ballet (on request, walking distance from the hotel)
• Time for dinner, rest
DAY 3
• 08:00 Breakfast in the hotel
• 10:00 Meeting with the guide for a walking tour “Jewish Heritage”:
Start the walk with a visit to the place where in the XIX century Glebovskoye Compound was located — the only district of Moscow at that time where Jewish merchants could stay. The Jewish markets were roaring in the streets, and the smell of fresh matzo was in the air. The area actually turned into a kind of Jewish ghetto.
Walk to the Great Choral Synagogue — the largest and oldest in Moscow. Here is the main Rabbinate of Russia.
Near the Moscow Choral Synagogue there is a monument “The Wailing Wall” and a monument in memory of the Holocaust “Bird of Happiness” — in the shape of a hand releasing a dove.
The next stop is the monument to Osip Mandelstam, located near the synagogue, in the courtyard of the house number 10 on Starosadsky Lane. On the square where the monument stands, the windows of the house number 10 on Starosadky Lane overlook. Due to the proximity to the synagogue, representatives of the Jewish community of Moscow mainly settled in the apartments.
• Time for lunch
• Continue the walking tour:
Another significant place on the Jewish map of the capital is the Prayer House of the family of Lazar Polyakov (the synagogue Chabad Lyubavich) on Bolshaya Bronnaya. Today, inside the building, there is the “Eshel” humanitarian aid fund, a Jewish book store and the editors of the “Lechaim” magazine. There is also a kosher dining room at the prayer house.
In the place where Bolshaya Bronnaya rests on Malaya, a monument to one of the most famous Jewish writers and playwrights, Sholom Aleichem, is erected. In the building opposite, where the Maly Drama Theater on Malaya Bronnaya is now located, the Jewish Theater
worked from 1921 to 1949. The basis of the repertoire were performances based on the works of the famous writer.
• Return back to the hotel
• Time for dinner, rest
DAY 4
• 08:00 Breakfast in the hotel, check out
• 10:00 Meeting with the guide for a bus tour: visiting Jewish Museum
The permanent exhibition of the museum includes 12 themed spaces. The city’s coffee house of the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th century — the cafe “Fanconi” was recreated here. Each table is a separate interactive story where you can choose films to watch and learn about the issues that troubled the Jewish community at that time. The museum has organized a space that takes it to the cell of the Lubyanka Prison, the times of the Stalin anti-Semitic campaigns. There is a hall where the life of a Jewish family is recreated in a typical Soviet apartment of the 70s.
• Time for lunch
• Transfer to the Railway Station
• Sapsan high speed train to Saint Petersburg of economy+ class
• Arrive in Saint Petersburg
• Transfer to the hotel, check in
• Time for dinner, rest
DAY 5
• 08:00 Breakfast in the hotel
• 10:00 Meeting with the guide for a general sightseeing tour with visiting Jewish Heritage sights:
Nevsky Prospekt, Kazan Cathedral, Church of the Savior on Spilt blood, central bridges and embankments, the Admiralty, General Staff building, Palace Square
• 11:00 Visiting Grand Choral Synagogue with an excursion
• 13:00 Time for lunch
• 14.30-15.30 Exhibition “History and Culture of Jews in Russia” in the Museum of
Ethnography
• Visit to the ESOD Jewish Community Center
• Evening: free time (folklore show/ ballet/chamber concert — on request)
• Time for dinner, rest
DAY 6
• 08:00 Breakfast in the hotel
• 10:00 Meeting with the guide for an excursion (walking
distance from the hotel):
11:00 -12:30 Excursion in the Hermitage
• 13:00-14:00 Time for lunch
• Continue the tour by bus with an excursion to famous suburbs of the Northern Capital:
Option 1.
Tour to Pushkin city. Visiting the Catherine Palace and Amber room, walk in the Catherine Park.
Visiting the Monument to Holocaust victims in Pushkin: Just 500 meters from the majestic Catherine Palace, on the very spot where the fascist ghetto was located during World War II, is a mournful bronze monument to the victims of the Holocaust. The monument is made in the shape of the letter “Alef” which is a symbol of beginning and unity.
Option 2.
Tour to Peterhof. Visiting Grand Palace and fascinating fountain park.
On the way back visiting the Preobrazhenskoe Jewish cemetery: Most of the monuments of the ancient Preobrazhensky Jewish cemetery (1875) are of particular artistic value, as is the “House of washing and funeral”. Many famous people of St. Petersburg were buried here at different times: sculptor Mark Antokolsky, outstanding scientist David Ginsburg, senior rabbi of the St. Petersburg synagogue Abraham Lubanov, famous writer Moses Altman.
• Return back to Saint Petersburg
• Time for dinner, rest
DAY 7
• Breakfast in the hotel, check out
• Transfer to the Airport
• Departure