Israel—A Spiritual Travel Guide, 2nd Edition: A Companion for the Modern Jewish Pilgrim

Be spiritually prepared for your journey in Israel.

The only travel guide to Israel that will help you to prepare spiritually for your visit. Combining, in quick reference format, ancient blessings, medieval prayers, biblical references, and modern poetry, it helps today’s pilgrim tap into the deep spiritual meaning of the ancient—and modern—sites of the Holy Land. For each of 25 major tourist destinations—from the Western Wall to Masada to a kibbutz in the Galilee—it gives guidance in sharply focused, four-step sections:

Anticipation: To read in advance. Information to help orient you in the site’s historical context.

Approach: To read on the way there. Readings from traditional and modern sources to orient you in the site’s spiritual context.

Acknowledgment: To read at the site. A prayer or blessing to integrate the experience into your spiritual consciousness.

Afterthought: Journaling space for writing your own thoughts and impressions.

More than a guidebook: It is a spiritual map of the Holy Land.

** A copy of The Israel Mission Leader's Guide is free with the purchase of 10 or more copies of Israel—A Spiritual Travel Guide.

“At last, the missing guidebook—one that can spiritually deepen any trip to Israel. I can’t imagine anyone going to Israel without it.”

—Rabbi Richard Jacobs, Westchester Reform Temple;
member, Board of the New Israel Fund

“This is an adult guide to Israel, ancient and modern Jewish sources and the inner spirit. Excellent readings, prayers and meditations help the Jewish pilgrim see Israel through new, spiritually sensitive eyes.”

—Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman, Kehilat Kol HaNeshamah, Jerusalem

“To add a spiritual dimension to your journey, pack this extraordinary new guidebook to Israel. I’ll be bringing it on my next visit!”

—Gabe Levenson, Travel columnist for The New York Jewish Week

“Exquisitely helps us ritualize and spiritualize one of the most profound of our Jewish experiences: our journeys to Israel.”

—Rabbi J. Rolando Matalon, Congregation B’nai Jeshurun, New York City

“A guide like no other, this book will take you to Israel even before you get there, and do so with unusual power and delight at the same time.”

—Rabbi Joy Levitt, The Reconstructionist Synagogue of the North Shore, Plandome, N.Y.

“A wonderful guide—Rabbi Hoffman’s book will enhance your travel, and enrich your soul.”

—Rabbi David Wolpe, Sinai Temple, Los Angeles; author of Why Be Jewish?

“Use this book and turn your trip to Israel into a journey of personal discovery and profound enrichment of Jewish identity. A book of a thousand spiritual delights.”

—Rabbi Irving (Yitz) Greenberg, President, Jewish Life Network; author of The Jewish Way